“Reaganite” Entertainment

“Reaganite” entertainment is chiefly a label for a large variety of movies that were released throughout the 1980s until the early 1990s, unsurprisingly coinciding with Ronald Reagan’s presidency. In this time period, movies were characteristically jingoistic, dramatically reductionist in their portrayals of good and evil, and sought to reassure an audience of a return to simpler times in the midst of technology. In some ways, “Reaganite” entertainment was bald-facedly opportunistic and preyed upon the fears and frustrations of American society after the good-intentioned, yet disappointing administration of Jimmy Carter. Nevertheless, “Reaganite” entertainment encompassed the need for individuality depicted in movies such as Bonny and Clyde, The Graduate, Easy Rider, and An Officer and a Gentleman. While not all films followed these trends, such as Martin Scorsese’s The Color of Money, which illuminated the folly of regular citizens achieving the American Dream legitimately, “Reaganite” films often exhibited the world as highly caricaturized and simple because a happy ending was almost all but assured.

Despite the common sentiment paving way for a radically new form of American exceptionalism, subversive films such as Barry Levinson’s Rain Man often saw the Reaganite protagonist condemned for his behavior. For instance, protagonist Charlie Babbit is markedly self-centered and financially motivated, yet he grows to love his autistic brother Raymond. In addition, it seems that Babbit learns money is not the most important element in his life. On the other hand, Scorsese’s The Color of Money’s protagonist Eddie is a scrupulous hustler, who corrupts the talented young pool player Vincent to skillfully hustle. In other aspects, films such as Top Gun seemed almost as if they were relics of an endless war against the Soviet Union all the while being fascinatingly stylish. Moreover, Top Gun’s reliance on the loner Maverick exudes “Reaganite” entertainment due to its unsurprising happy ending. Evidently, “Reaganite” entertainment identified with its society as it emphasized happy endings transpire, but individuals had to earn their happy endings by coming to a grand epiphany.

Bibliography

Belton, John. "Into the Twenty-First Century." In American Cinema/American Culture, 387-422. 4th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2012.