A Tale of Two Summers: 1989, Pt. 3

A Tale of Two Summers: 1989, Pt. 3

By Keith Uhlich on August 28, 2009 in Film Jump to Comments (0)

By Matt Zoller Seitz and Aaron Aradillas

This is the final installment in a five-part series about the evolution of the modern summer blockbuster, edited by yours truly, written by Aaron Aradillas and narrated by Dave Bunting, Jr. It concentrates on three films aimed at teens: Heathers, Dead Poets Society and Say Anything. The series, which ran this past week on The L Magazine's website, re-examined summer movies released in 1984 (Parts 1 and 2) and 1989 (Parts 3, 4 and 5), put them in context of the politics and popular culture that surrounded their release and tried to show how they led to the entertainment that dominates today. To watch the videos on The L's website, click here.

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[Editor's Note: This is the original comments section for this entry, which did not transfer in the Blogger to WordPress import.] GLI said... This is a very interesting, thought-provoking series. As usual, great job. I graduated high school in 1989 and remember seeing most of these films. I never thought about how much was going on as the Summer Blockbuster underwent its formative stages. As I think about what you presented, I'm trying to reconcile the projects made back in '84 and '89 with what is being released now. From what I've read these last few years, it seems to be pretty much gospel that in 2009 the only audience that matters is 10-18 year old boys. For everybody else, it's pop-culture adaptations, the yearly offering from one of the few A-list actors left, or torture-porn. It's like the '80s were American mainstream cinema's last gasp of trying to make interesting movies for adults. I there's a lot of reasons for this, many of them having to do with movie studios transforming into profit centers for multi-national corporations. But that's an exploration for another day... 8/29/2009 1:35 PM omar said... I am beginning to realise the significance of 1989 now in terms of both mainstream and independent cinema - 'Batman' was perhaps the perfect summer blockbuster of the 80s. 'Heathers' continues to act as a benchmark today for the youth film. I'm not sure so sure about 'Dead Poets Society', it felt very sentimental and pretentious even then, however, it did influence 'Good Will Hunting' in many ways. Could we compare the impact of 1989 to that of 1999 which is also a hugely important year - maybe this is where you guys could venture next? 8/29/2009 6:57 PM Narrim said... I had no idea the depth and context most of these movies had and their impact on cinema. I was born in 1987. Any movies discussed I've had to have seen long after their initial impact in theatres and their more unique attributes filtered into other projects through the years until it wasn't uncommon to see something like Sixteen Candles or Dead Poets' Society in other movies. They're all very memorable, though, even to a kid whose first cinematic adventure was to The Lion King. We don't have anything like this now, do we? I believe it was in your first video you made the point by showing how MTV video culture pervaded movies and started or strengthened a trend towards sensationalism over story. And following that, there was the scene where films, the internet, videos, and more outspoken news commentators created a collage of our current situation. Instead of movies and events absorbing, channeling, and reflecting the times we're in and the history being made, our daily events are all about the little things that make big headlines while ignoring everything else in the world, downplaying the real problems and victories. A man died recently who maybe did more for mankind than anyone else in the last century. Norman Borlaug won a Nobel prize for his work in increasing the food supply through wheat yields. This is a man who helped feed us, feed our children, and feed our neighbors and I only barely heard a mention of him a few days ago. He is a man who we should continue to recognize and honor. And yet, the death of Patrick Swayze after his battle with cancer and Kanye West's interruption at the VMAs are all I've heard about. And it wouldn't be a problem if I didn't already know some new thing will be talked about tomorrow (well... Kanye's bit is going to be around a while). Nothing lasts. Maybe I've gone off on a tangent, but this is what I thought about after watching this final part. We don't reflect the world anymore; we reflect pop culture. Our pop culture reflects pop culture and parodies it. Youtube, blogs, many news programs... a person's opinion broadcast to an audience with only the discussion and context the voicer wants to allow. And I've completely lost where I was going. Definitely a tangent, my apologies. I've recommended this series to friends for them to discuss more rationally and coherently. 9/16/2009 1:57 AM
Posted by Keith Uhlich on 2010-06-06 03:46:17

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