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1988 Movies and Images of Reality DERON OVERPECK This was the year in which things were not as they seemed. As the Reagan administration wound to a close in this, its last full year in office, a dialogue began that examined how well the retiring president had delivered on his promise of restoring America to its traditional values of godliness and family and thus to its former greatness. For eight years, Reagan had used his ease with the media to promulgate his message. More than any president before him, Reagan understood the importance of image to the presidency. His public appearances were coordinated for maximum televisual impact (Weiler and Pearce 36–38). Reagan’s communicative strategy was “light on substance but quick on slogans (for example, ‘Are you better off today than you were four years ago?’ . . . ). Reagan knew that the public neither understands the intricacies of issues nor focuses much attention on their resolution. What matters is the short, memorable response that electrifies the viewing audience” (Dunn and Woodard 117). The electrifying image Reagan presented was of a dedicated patriarch come to restore America to greatness. He frequently appeared in a cowboy hat, jeans, and denim shirt, a rugged everyman with the moral certitude to guide the nation back to strength and security. But Reagan and his wife also struck the contradictory image of the unapologetic rich who did not understand the meaning of thrift. Their taste for expensive goods justified the decade’s renowned conspicuous consumption and, according to their critics, condoned the culture ’s increasingly callous attitude toward the poor and needy (see Carter 35–38, 58–60; Erie and Rein; Imig 74–78; Michener). By the end of Reagan’s second term, the results of this contradiction were apparent. Reagan positioned himself as fiscally responsible but had put the federal government over two trillion dollars in debt. The economy had improved but the wealthiest one percent of the nation received most of the benefits, while more families lived below the poverty line than before Reagan took office. With the convictions of Ivan Boesky and Michael Milken for securities fraud and the stock market crash of 1987, materialism 188 seemed to slip from fashion: the Reagans, who had once appeared as symbols of the joys of profligacy, now were becoming whipping posts for its failures . At the beginning of the new year the cover of Newsweek prematurely announced, “The Eighties Are Over,” and with it the decade’s singleminded pursuit of lucre; the authors of the accompanying article seemed mildly perplexed that the First Family’s materialist indulgences had managed to comfort the nation for most of the decade (Barol et al.). And the president’s image as a man who knew the difference between right and wrong also faltered. Throughout its two terms in office, the Reagan administration was racked by various scandals, including the ongoing Iran-Contra affair. Further, the president’s conservative Christian supporters were disappointed to learn that, despite Reagan’s religious rhetoric, he and especially the first lady relied on astrology when making key decisions. Nevertheless, Reagan ended his second term with the highest approval ratings of any president since Eisenhower, and some commentators have glossed this to mean that he enjoyed public support for the entirety of his presidency (Berman 3–7; Kengor 369–70; Goode). But this elides the difference between public approval of Reagan as a person and public approval of his policies. Voters liked the image he projected but were not as fond of the real effects of his policies (Davies 215–16; Schneider, “Political” 62). Indeed, his job performance ratings swung wildly throughout his presidency (Public Opinion 40), and in January, for the first time during his tenure, polls indicated that the American public felt pessimistic about the future of the country (Roberts 1; Barol 45; Schneider, “Political” 97–98). Even his admirers admitted that the president’s image had been as much a hindrance as a benefit to the nation. Columnist George Will wrote that the always-smiling Reagan seemed addicted to “the narcotic of cheerfulness” that clouded his ability to face the fiscal realities of supply-side economics (16). Donald Regan, who served in the administration as secretary of treasury and later as White House chief of staff, described Reagan as “a master of illusion and deception” (qtd. in “Goodbye” 23). In this chapter, I read the year’s films as attempts to deal with the contradictions...

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