Talk:1980s/Archive 1

Angry People

This article seems to be a venting point for a few groups, everything is oppression at the hands of a cruel society. There is no real attempt to capture the facts about the 1980's, but rather to collect and perpetuate opinions. I think it would be nice to have some of these "discrimination" issues backed up with solid references to the issues in question. The article is a collection of opinions. It sucks. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Danbousho (talk • contribs) 23:54, 16 May 2008 (UTC)

Economic info?

"The 1980s refers to the years from 1980 to 1989. The decade saw social and economic upheaval as wealth and production capability migrated from the west to new industrializing economies."

The first paragraph says the decade saw economic upheaval, but there is no mention of the economy anywhere in this article... -Kasha4890 (talk) 15:02, 14 April 2008 (UTC)

Too USA Specific

The first part of this article reads as if it were about "the U.S.A. in the 1980's", but is not labelled as such. Hairstyles in this one nation are irrelevant to the majority of readers.

Agreed!

90% of the sentences in the article start with 'In America'. A lot of 80's style and culture was not just America-specific. A more global view is needed. —Preceding unsigned comment added by I am fonzyy (talk • contribs) 00:58, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

Events of 1989

UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher joined the Greens - this either needs a citation or re jjjjcrapich is what is implied. In fact, I wonder if it is just plain wrong.

How are events of 1989 described in English? I remember term "Autumn of Nations" in Polish TV, in 1989, widely used then, now nobody seems to remember that... And Talks of round table in Poland?

This is quite irony of history that effect of changes in Europe (fall of Berlin Wall), which was one of last of events in Autumn of Nation, became its symbol... szopen

Good question. As an Aussie, it's generally just referred to as "the fall of the Wall", or "The End of the Cold War", I suppose. Yes, I know that ignores the many other changes that took place across Eastern Europe. --Robert Merkel

I combined the "fall of communism" events into one item, since they are not only several events but also describe a single trend. Aleph4 14:42, 30 Nov 2003 (UTC)

Sports figures

Do Ric Flair and Hulk Hogan seriously count as sports figures? Surely their form of wrestling is entertainment rather than sport, no matter what its apologists say.

Also, as with the "Sports figures" sections from most of the other 20th century decades, there is a strong bias towards U.S. sports. I've tried to expand the range a bit by adding players from sports that are followed in the rest of the world, and am wondering whether all the baseball, basketball, ice hockey and American football players in the lists are really outstanding enough to earn a place there (although undoubtedly many of them are). In my opinion, only people who stood out as being the best in their field during that decade, or perhaps achieved lasting fame or notoriety for some reason should be in these lists. Any of you U.S. sports fans care to edit the lists, or argue against my POV? --Lancevortex 12:46, 1 May 2004 (UTC)

• I agree wholeheartedly. When I first read the article, I actually expected to see Hogan and Flair under Entertainers. I think they SHOULD be moved. As for the other professionals, (I don't want to take anything away from the wrestlers...they are in phenomenal condition) I think that the list should be revamped to list each sport along with two or three outstanding competitors. This isn't meant to be a comprehensive list of all players for all sports for all ten years...that would be...well...ugly. It's just meant to have highlights. You know...give you a feeling when you read it of "Oh, yeah! I remember watching him/her!". --Alcalde 18:16, 23 November 2005 (UTC)

WWE is entertainment NOT sport. (Though I'd argue ice skating isn't a sport for the same reason..no OBJECTIVE means of determining "the winner". It all relies on subjective judging.)GBrady (talk) 14:46, 12 June 2008 (UTC)

Early, mid, and late 1980s

I am wondering what years are the early 1980s, what years are the mid-1980s, and what years are the late 1980s. Please give me an answer on my talk page. Heegoop 15:26, 19 Oct 2004 (UTC)

I think about it in 3-4-3 stages. So...

1980 to 1982 - early '80s

1983 to 1986 - mid '80s

1987 to 1989 - late '80s

But that's just me. Mike H 01:22, Nov 24, 2004 (UTC)

Mike H's breakouts make sense to me. GBrady (talk) 14:47, 12 June 2008 (UTC)

That's about how I would classify any decade. So I guess he summed it up.Mads13 (talk) 04:36, 18 June 2008 (UTC)

geographic scope

Have added Geographic scope tag as limited to U.S. mostly currently Andrewferrier 81.130.179.202 17:56, 24 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Why do you account for the inclusion of American Soldiers who were killed by a suicide bomber in Lebanon yet there is nothing about the Lebanese Casualties during the Israeli Invasion of Lebanon.

Your comment implies that there is a "you" who wrote or has editorial control over this article. There isn't. Due to the nature of the bulk of the English Wikipedia's contributors, many articles have a perspective that is biased towards the prevailing opinion in English-speaking countries. You can help alleviate this problem by editing the page yourself to remove this bias. Of course, if by so doing you introduce a different bias, then it's likely that someone else will edit your changes again. Happy editing! --Lancevortex 17:00, 2 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Television criteria

What is the criteria for television shows (and everything else really)? Is is enough to be popular in the 80s? For example, General Hospital started in the early 1960s, and it is not something that pops to my mind when I think of the 80s. Turnstep 18:54, Apr 6, 2005 (UTC)

General Hospital was the highest-rated soap opera of the 1980s, with ten million viewers tuning in each day. Mike H (Talking is hot) 23:57, 26 October 2005 (UTC)

• In my mind, it wasn't so much General Hospital as it was Luke/Laura, which was a cultural phenomena occuring in the 80s. --Alcalde 18:20, 23 November 2005 (UTC)

Well, the action storylines did take the place of more domestic melodrama, and that wasn't just a Luke/Laura thing (although they did popularize it). There was also Frisco and Felicia, and Duke and Anna. Mike H. That's hot 21:39, 8 February 2006 (UTC)

How exactly does Lebanese casualties fit under "Television criteria"? You're complaining in the wrong section, bucko. GBrady (talk) 14:49, 12 June 2008 (UTC)

Response to 80s spans

Early 80s is considered to be 1980-'82/'83, mid 80s '83 or '04 to '86, late 80s is '87 to '89.

Video Games

The 80's were probably the most important time in video game history. This was a time when home consoles were begining to be popular, it made a jump to 16 bit, the most popular games of today began here, and the video game crash happened too. I think they're should be a small section on it or at least a list of the prominent games. --198.147.225.136 22:31, 21 December 2005 (UTC)

John Lennon- Murder or assasination?

I thought the only murders that can be classed as assasination are those of leaders (politicians). Lennon although a cutural icon was not a leader, discuss. Medscin 16:53, 28 December 2005 (UTC)

Assassination is the "murder of a public figure by surprise attack," according to princeton's wordnet. JDoorjam Talk 15:15, 19 February 2006 (UTC)

Agreed. Lennon was murdered not assassinated. Unless they're talking about him as prime minister of Nutopia ;) GBrady (talk) 14:50, 12 June 2008 (UTC)

Cleanup

Maybe this article should be cleaned up to the standard of the 1970s article, with prose instead of lists. Mike H. That's hot 05:42, 19 February 2006 (UTC)

I kinda like it the way it is -- it's easy to read and easy to find things. MusicMaker5376 22:33, 9 March 2006 (UTC)

Music/ Decline of Disco

Why are there two music sections? MusicMaker5376 22:31, 9 March 2006 (UTC)

Someone ruined the page... —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 82.193.172.74 (talk • contribs).

Yes, that would be you. It's been reverted. Turnstep 12:53, 22 March 2006 (UTC)

Actually it wasn't me. It was a friend of mine in my school. I'm of course very sorry about it, and I thank you for reverting it. I would have done it, but sadly enough I don't know how you do it.

In that case, thanks for letting us know. You can learn how to revert at this page. You might also want to consider creating an account, which generally makes editing Wikipedia easier. Turnstep 13:17, 22 March 2006 (UTC)

As much as i am a fan of Morrissey.. the last two entries come across more as Morrissey fanspeak than actual defining items of the 1980s. Seems the "This Charming Man" item could fit in with the gender in music item? AeternNull 2006-04-11 Why aren't the Misfits mentioned anywhere?! They were one of the leading punk rock bands during the 1980's!

--Anybody know what this is about (ref bullet point in Music)??? Googling turns up this article. "olympic schoolboy gold" sounds hokey. I could be wrong though....

The famous Calum Beedling won the Olympic Schoolboy Gold in the 1987 CSAA Schoolboy race, he was also one of the first people to do this.Bachtor 2007-08-10

Regarding this sentence "In the United States, the early 1980s were characterized by a disco backlash connected with a religious revival". Unless someone finds concrete evidence that the Moral Majority killed disco, this is NOT-NPOV. Disco probably just ran its course. Intensely popular fads often "burn out" after a time. I feel this should be removed unless someone has concrete arguments to the contrary that are verifiable? GBrady (talk) 15:05, 12 June 2008 (UTC)

"Radio stations drop disco music in 1980 and many stations refuse to play music by minorities during the early 1980s." This should be removed as vague and unverifiable. Are they attempting to portray a "racist" attitude among radio stations in the 1980s? Most outlets for heavy metal even today will not play many "minority" bands simply because there AREN'T many in that style. Ditto country. I suggest that leaving at radio stations dropping disco..or better yet the "all disco" format stations ending...is sufficient.GBrady (talk) 15:14, 12 June 2008 (UTC)

south american drug politics

someone should include something about colombian drug cartels and the pablos escobar, he was the criminal who made the 80s.

MacGyver?

Why is there a picture of MacGyver? Surely Miami Vice defined more aspects of 80's society than MacGyver did. (Still kicks as though.) Jack Daw 23:58, 12 May 2006 (UTC)

Since MacGyver has more camp-value and thus makes the page looks more fun. It is also wider known outside US than Miami Vice. --128.214.205.6 13:15, 4 July 2006 (UTC)

The term 'MacGyver' actually became a verb during the 80's. As in, "How are you going to MacGyver your way out of this?" Miami Vice had no such thing.Mads13 04:43, 18 June 2008 (UTC)

The Decade That Taste Forgot

I was about to rv to "correct" this as I'd originally heard the phrase applied to the '70s, but having consulted the oracle of all knowledge a.k.a. Google, I see it's often applied to the '80s now. In fact it's even being applied to the '90s by some people, although the '90s didn't have enough substance to manage tastelessness in my opinion. Personally it still makes me think of the '70s in all their lurid technicolour prog-rock glory; the '80s are positively tasteful in comparison! Chris 12:57, 31 July 2006 (UTC)

People who think the 80s is a decade that taste forgot don't know what taste is. The 80s was the best decade in the last century, with the 90s being the worst. But if the 2000s featured quite some 80s retro maybe the 2010s will be 90s retro. The horror! Jack Daw 16:04, 31 July 2006 (UTC)

I agree, though I'd argue that the first half of the 90s were excellent as well (e.g. grunge). 66.229.160.94 06:15, 10 August 2006 (UTC)

No arguing with you there! :D Jack Daw 18:12, 20 August 2006 (UTC)

I tend to agree that 80s was decade that taste forgot. At least it's so very true about early and mid eighties i.e. 1980 - 1986. Nothing whatsoever of any lasting significance happened in this period. It was only towards the end of the decade that the global revolutions of all sorts strated happening and it was the decade of 90's that made a hyperjump that changed the face of the world. Even the PC revolution started happening only in 1989 when Windows came on the scene, (Apple came up with their version only a little while before that). : sachin, 20 August 2006 —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Sigma 7 (talk • contribs) 11:00, 6 May 2007 (UTC).

Who cares about world events, I'm talking about Miami Vice, female CEOs with shoulder pads, pumps, the music etc etc etc :D Jack Daw 18:12, 20 August 2006 (UTC)

Definitely; all those pastel colors, synth-laden funky pop, and other experimental stuff. If anything, the 1970's were the worst, as the counterculture finally bottomed out and gave way to pure pleasure seeking. The 90's are a close second to most horrible. --Zeality 03:53, 11 September 2006 (UTC)

I was a baby in the eighties and I'm currently reading Uncanny X-Men issues from the eighties (circa 86) and I've a question: what's up with all the belts? I mean what is that? All the female characters are wearing two or even three belts, just kinda hanging from their hips. I'd be real pleased if anyone had an answer, LOL 62.194.0.236 11:35, 22 October 2006 (UTC)

The whole thing with calling a specific decade tasteless is stupid and shortsighted. People always think that the current trends and fashions are so much better than what was, and a number of years after ANY decade people will call it tasteless. That's also because they compare the worst of that decade (or what people view as the worst, or often even a prevalent charicature of that!) with what they themselves choose to think of in the current decade, i.e. the trends THEY like, how THEY dress, what THEY listen to etc. The reality is that most things are tasteless, always. You know, 90% of everything is crap. Does any intelligent person seriously think that people have BETTER taste now than during the 1980s, or any other decade for that matter?? 193.91.181.142 00:57, 2 November 2006 (UTC) (Nick)

I have removed the 'decade that taste (or style) forgot' phrase. It is unnecesarily controversial, and so fails to set the broad picture for this page - which the 'Me/Greed decade' does, for UK/US at least. (I also note from a Google search on "decade that * forgot" that the 1970s received this epithet much more - as noted by Chris, above.) Earthlyreason 03:50, 13 March 2007 (UTC)

Good call. There's no NPOV way to name a decade "tasteless" no matter how one feels about it personally. I can live with "The Decade of Greed" as it's often been affixed to the decade by historians (as the 70s are the "Me Decade").GBrady (talk) 14:43, 12 June 2008 (UTC)

The Fall of the Soviet Union and the "Liberation" of Third World Countries from "Despotism"

This article talks about the fall of the Soviet Union as being "positive". This would be only be true according to a Capitalist or Pro-Capitalist and not according to a Communist. Leon Trotsky 14:15, 13 November 2006

Yeah, but communism sucks. Besides, all the communist countries in the world are blocked from viewing wikipedia, so I'm sure they won't mind. --Bri 11:16, 26 November 2006 (UTC)

Well, "communism sucks" is a matter of opinion. I'm not really a fan of communism or anything, but I'm sure some people, including many not living in China, are. You can't really put opinions like that on Wikipedia pages, anyway." Semishadow (talk) 02:08, 16 May 2008 (UTC)

Nostalgia

I loved the 80's...

Vandalised

Someone has vandalised this article, 'i hate you' was not an important part of the 1980s.--Candlewicke Consortiums Limited 00:29, 29 November 2006 (UTC)

And So is 'The 80s Rockked!..End Of!

Judas Priest was top 'o the charts!' So I will delete it —Preceding unsigned comment added by Tomvasseur (talk • contribs) 19:19, 12 June 2008 (UTC)

People

What's the deal with the "People" section? I checked 4-5 names, and none of them neither died nor born in '80s. `'mikkanarxi 01:42, 17 December 2006 (UTC)

This article needs lots of work

This article sucks - I am thinking of making lots of bold changes as the 80s is one of my favorite decades. A good article is NOT full of lists like this one. Every section needs rewriting into sentences and paragraphs. Some of the section names and the organization of the ToC is questionable as well. More pictures also needed. — Wackymacs 20:34, 24 December 2006 (UTC)

OK, well I've already done quite a bit - reorganized the sections, renamed. Film, Video games and Fashion sections have been cleaned up. — Wackymacs 21:30, 24 December 2006 (UTC)

You're right, it does suck. If you wanted to research about the 1980's, I wouldn't start here! For starters, the rise of Punk Rock, after it's 1970's beginnings is overlooked. For trivia, the movie "Flashdance" (1983) did not popularize a fashion, "Leg warmers", they were worn by the cast of "Fame" (1980). Dance students were wearing them out of the studio in 1979. The section on hair styles is all wrong. "Mullets" did not really appear as bad hair styles on heavy metal musicians and working class kids until mid 1980's. The layered hair cut came courtesy of Vidal Sassoon in the 60's. A Sassoon salon cut is NOT a "mullet". Many people who do not actually remember the 1980's have a poor sense about the aesthetics of the decade they did not actually live in and seemed to have formed their opinions from poor 2nd hand information. VH1 might be a culprit here. The Jaguar (talk) 07:10, 18 December 2007 (UTC)

This article is a mess. It has no cohesiveness. It looks like it is half rant and half fashion book report. It is fiercely ethnocentric and seems to have been written by someone who has no historical perspective. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.51.226.58 (talk) 13:01, 13 June 2008 (UTC)

time was liberal?

NOT!! this article is POV. A few hairstyles and what not are not enough to say it was liberal. Was a conservative decade. YankeeRoman(70.187.232.85 00:54, 23 January 2007 (UTC)) You made the article POV. How was it a socially and culturally conservative decade? Was the 1920s a conservative decade? The 80s and the 20s are very similar: greedy prosperity in the upper middle class, new technology, dance music, widespread use of illegal substances controlled by organized crime (cocaine in the 80s, liquor in the 20s), and clothes and hairstyles that were thought to look ridiculous in after the decades. How can a decade be conservative if during the decade the following happen: a song about masturbation goes to the top 10 of the hot 100, a movie about exotic dancer has a huge impact on mainstream fashion, prince and madonna both make lots of music about sex, fast times a ridgemont high and porky's are hugely popular, in some states people could legally drink at age 18 in the early 80s, the president says his favorite movie is Back to the future (a 90 minute joke about incest) which was rated PG after there was PG-13 and some parents took their kids to see it, many popular R rated movies showed breasts, and PG movies like Big could say fuck. If the 80s are socially conservative what are the 90s and 2000s? The 2000s have had not only the most conservative president, but an evangelical christian which Reagan was not. Reagan was liberal on some issues especially compared to bush jr, Reagan put the first woman ever in the supreme court and is the only president ever to have been divorced in his life. So why do you consider the 80s socially conservative?

Be careful with that word 'liberal' - it means a whole lot of different things to different people. In politics in the UK, US, Australia there are Liberals who stand for different things, and that is even before you get on to the more general social aspects. Find a more specific word. Earthlyreason 03:59, 13 March 2007 (UTC)

You obviously did not live through the period. The 1980's was a very conservative decade that is more akin to the 1940's and 1950's. Late in 1979, a religious and conservative revival led to a racist and homophobic backlash against disco music. Gays were treated horribly in the early 1980's compared to the relative acceptance they received in the 1970's Black and Minorities were likewise discriminated against. For example, radio and television refused to play music by black or latino artists during the early 1980's. Donna Summer recorded a rock album in 1980 that was popular with the public but many stations refused to play it because she was black. All the black shows on television were cancelled in 1980 (Good Times, What's Happening?, Sanford & Son, etc.) When AIDS came along, the bitter hatred and homophobia of the 1980's manifested itself with people blaming gay people for their lifestyle. I could go on for pages.... Why don't you search some newspapers from the time or read some books? Or ask someone who lived through the period. For minorities and gay people, the early 1980's was a terrible time. If any period can be compared to the 1920's, it is the 1970's. In both decade minorities and gays were more accepted. Dance music was popular in both decades (dance music was not popular among mainstream Americans in the early 80's as it was associated with disco) and fashions were quite similar... (three piece suits, wavy hair, etc.) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.6.20.226 (talk) 08:15, 3 October 2007 (UTC)

Speaking as a gay man, I do think you have a bad problem with the 1970s, the 1980s and objectivity. I think this is a big problem with the 1980s article in general.

(Dorgan65 (talk) 01:14, 21 May 2008 (UTC))

I think it's a stretch to say the backlash against disco music was homophobia. Lots of people simply didn't like the musical style. And I doubt the author is speaking for every gay person by implying dance music is the music of the homosexual ("In both decade minorities and gays were more accepted. Dance music was popular in both decades ..") GBrady (talk) 14:56, 12 June 2008 (UTC)

1980s ARE 1981 - 1990!

The sentence "The 1980s refers to the years from 1980 to 1989", the very first sentence in the 1980s article is false! Just like the new century actually started after midnight on the night of 31.12.2000 / 01.1.2001; 1980s started with January 1st 1981 and ended on 31st December 1990! —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 212.200.202.98 (talk) 10:45, 14 May 2007 (UTC).

Actually, no. When we say, e.g., "the twentieth century," we're counting centuries, starting with the first century CE (the years 1-100 inclusive). But when we say "the 1980s," it's not as if we're saying "the ninth decade of the twentieth century." A better analogy is the term "teenager." Someone becomes a teenager when he or she turns thirteen, and remains a teenager through age nineteen. One's teenage years don't exclude 13 or include 20. Similarly, the 1980s contain any year with "nineteen eighty" in the name. --Cholling 00:09, 22 May 2007 (UTC)

Seriously!

We got to stop this zeroist crap! —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 212.200.202.98 (talk) 10:57, 14 May 2007 (UTC).

Additional external link

This is a suggestion to add external link http://www.inthe80s.com as its at least as good as the http://www.80snostalgia.com site (if not better). Louisthird 00:58, 15 May 2007 (UTC)—The preceding unsigned comment was added by Louisthird (talk • contribs) 00:54, 15 May 2007 (UTC).

World Affairs

I think this article could use some more about world affairs, like Ronald Reagan's talks with Mikhail Gorbachev, and what those did for the world. Or how drastically the Cold War was escallated by Reagan. What about Margaret Thatcher? Also, I think it should concentrate less on pop culture and music, and more on what happened on the world stage during the 80s. Happyme22 01:44, 17 May 2007 (UTC)

Grammar

Recent edits greatly improved grammar issues and the 'grammar' template was removed. The template was added back today, without comment. Please provide some examples of poor grammar or confusing sentences for correction. —Adavidb 11:07, 22 May 2007 (UTC)

More grammar

I have made some further grammar fixes and reworded some sentences to improve comprehension and clarity (not that much needed doing after Adavidb's work). I believe that this page now reads well, so I have removed the {{grammar}} tag. --Archaro 10:55, 27 May 2007 (UTC)

'International Affairs' not very International

The International Affairs section seems to deal more with US domestic affairs than real international affairs such as negotiations between the US and the Soviet Union, the continued invasion of Afghanistan and the Soviet pullout and pretty much anything that went on in Europe, Asia, Africa, Latin America and Australasia during the decade, such as the ascendance of Spain and Portugal to the EU among many other things. Please get rid of it or tidy it up so that it classes events that are at least partly international rather than completely domestic, and so that it has much more on "the rest of the world" outside of the United States. [do we need to know, for example, about the drugs epidemic in the United States? Not really an international event was it?] 172.159.30.62 07:50, 10 August 2007 (UTC)

Agreed that the U.S. drug epidemic in the U.S. is not "international affairs" unless it is re-written to address how trafficking in illegal drugs affected U.S. relations with the countries of origin of said drugs. It might fit in that case. i.e. how the war on drugs played out in terms of diplomacy/trade GBrady (talk) 14:59, 12 June 2008 (UTC)

People section

What on earth is the purpose of the "People" section? It's completely unexplained. Is it supposed to be a list of all the people that existed in the 1980s?

As a list with no criteria for inclusion, I will delete it in the near future, unless someone can think of a reason for its existence!

Oli Filth 00:05, 30 August 2007 (UTC)

US-centric

This article really primarily deals with the 1980s from a US perspective, despite the occasional mention of UK trends. The "International Issues" section is poorly organised - it should instead of country-specific details have the major political issues worldwide that are mentioned from a US perspective earlier in the article. Rather than detailing trends in each country, the article should give more of an idea what things were like in say, North America (not specifically USA), Central America, South America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe and USSR, Africa, Asia, Australasia.

All the details about specific trends in the USA should be moved off this page to 1980s in the United States.

zoney ♣ talk 14:31, 29 September 2007 (UTC)

If the article is too U.S. Centric, then its up to people from outside the U.S. to make relevant changes to it. Nar Matteru (talk) 23:44, 5 June 2008 (UTC)

To the comment above,??? I think there should be some Americans educated enough to understand the 80s through a broader perspective than Arsenio Hall and Flashdance. A poor, ignorant, ethnocentric article shouldn't be justified by lack of international participation. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.51.226.58 (talk) 13:07, 13 June 2008 (UTC)

Culture isn't something you can educate yourself on, you have to experience it. And how are all Americans supposed to know how a decade was like in every single country in the world? Please make some sense. Nar Matteru (talk) 14:28, 13 June 2008 (UTC)

"Greed Decade"

Utter POV. The only people who refer to the decade that way are people on the far left, who were overwhelmingly in the minority during that period of time. The fact that many of those people are in the media does not make it legitimate. It was a time of economic liberalization, and should be referred to as such. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.171.0.143 (talk) 18:25, 31 October 2007 (UTC)

You obviously didn't live in Ireland in the 1980s... zoney ♣ talk 11:24, 27 November 2007 (UTC)

Your view of "Greed" is far too biased to the Right-wing. If I may, you come off like a typical sociopath. We have too many people in America with this attitude.The Jaguar (talk) 16:32, 4 January 2008 (UTC)

I'm a conservative and feel it's fair to include the term as it IS commonly used in media when doing retrospectives. Rather than complaining about the tag, include conservative criticism of that viewpoint to keep it NPOV. GBrady (talk) 15:00, 12 June 2008 (UTC)

Separated Entertainers section

I have sperated the directors, actors and muscians into smaller section so that it makes more sense and is easier to read Triceratops9 16:37, 13 November 2007 (UTC)

Having second- and third-level section headers adjacent to each other seemed confusing; I removed an additional 'Entertainment' header and added introductory text to the Entertainers section. —Adavidb 11:05, 20 November 2007 (UTC)

John Lennon's death in the USA category?

Why is John Lennon's death in the USA category? He was English —Preceding unsigned comment added by 90.194.81.15 (talk) 21:19, 19 December 2007 (UTC)

His death happened in New York maybe? Web Warlock (talk) 21:29, 19 December 2007 (UTC)

That is most likely explanation. He was shot outside The Dakota in Manhattan. I saw that place in 2004. MalwareSmarts (talk) 19:40, 28 December 2007 (UTC)

Who cares if he was english. Everything important happens in the US. Nobody cares about non-Americans. Stay home. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.145.231.29 (talk) 15:50, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

Power Ballads

Stop puting Bon Jovi into this section. Their rock anthems were way more popular than their ballads. Livin' On a Prayer spent 4 weeks on the #1 spot on billboard and it wasn't a ballad. Bad Medicine spent 2 weeks at #1 spot and it is a heavy metal song. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 78.2.84.59 (talk) 19:03, 16 February 2008 (UTC)

"Political correctness became a concern in mainstream politics."

I removed this because of the following:

What exactly does this sentence MEAN? "Political correctness became a concern in mainstream politics." HOW was it, or is it, a "CONCERN"? Was it rather just a "characteristic," or perhaps simply a new term that was formulated in the 1980s (or during the 90's?) Was it something that was there for a while before the 80's, but a name wasn't concocted to identify it before then??? The sentence needs to be explained. It is far too emorphous for the article, in my opinion. In addition, I, for one, never heard the term until the early 1990s; maybe I was late in hearing of the term. But I mainly edited it out because I felt that it was a meaningless sentence that was not concrete, and is open to many interpretations.Slater79 (talk) 16:27, 1 March 2008 (UTC)

PC didn't become a concern until the 90s, as far as politics is concerned, although the phrase has 80s origins. In Britain "right on" was used to define left-wing views or people, but wasn't used formally. Totnesmartin (talk) 17:03, 1 March 2008 (UTC)

I'm removing it again for same reasons cited by User:Slater79.GBrady (talk) 15:20, 12 June 2008 (UTC)

What's this?

• The decade began poorly for minorities and gays. Music videos featuring minorities were not played by MTV and gays were portrayed poorly by the media, especially by a widely seen homophobic documentary (which aired in 1980) about gays in San Francisco. With the rise of AIDS, shows which portrayed gays or gay friendly characters were quickly pulled off the air (Three's Company, Bosom Buddies). *

Ok, I don't know that minorities were worse off in 1989 than 1979, if so, someone has to explain how. MTV was originally a hard rock format, not many minority hard rock acts. (not a lot of them on Hee Haw either:) It later expanded and helped launch rap. As to the gay references, that baffles me. The two TV shows mentioned did not actually involve homosexuals (Jack Tripper claimed to be gay for a couple seasons only to his landlord), today Bosom Buddies might be seen as non-PC toward gays. Either cite this or it should be deleted. This is an encyclopedia, not a free for all op/ed forum. Also, Dico died b/c it sucked. Note that's my opinion, not worth of Wikipedia... —Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.72.215.225 (talk) 20:42, 2 April 2008 (UTC)

Just to clarify, the 1980's was not the start of this nation's war on drugs. That would be 1970 with Nixon and the implementation of the Controlled Substance Act that made all illegal drugs as we know today a federal offense under the schedule system (i.e. classification of Schedule I, Schedule II, etc..) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.223.87.42 (talk) 06:27, 15 June 2008 (UTC)

This page has multiple "issues"

Does this mean this page multiple problems, concerns, questions, topics or matters ? Why is the word "issue" being incorrectly used in a banner that apparently chastises the page in some way ? How can anyone hope to improve the article when the guidance to improve is written in such a tepid style ? 193.203.82.194 (talk) 16:52, 10 April 2008 (UTC) "In my dictionary I don't see 'problem' as a definition for 'issue'"

Power Ballads

Stop putting Bon Jovi into this section. Their rock anthems were way more popular than their ballads. Livin' On a Prayer spent 4 weeks on the #1 spot on billboard and it wasn't a ballad. Bad Medicine spent 2 weeks at #1 spot and it is a heavy metal song.

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This Is Not An Objective Article About The 1980s

Sorry, I don't mean to sound rude, but this article simply does not represent the 1980s as they actually were.

"Messy hairstyles like the 1940s"? Sorry, no - there were 1940s revivals in the 1970s and 1980s in the UK, but the often bizarre hairstyles of the 1980s cannot be described as "1940s".

"1970s Punk Rockers"? Punk Rock fashion really took wing in the UK in 1977, and became mainstream after the death of Punk icon Sid Vicious in 1979. Punk fashions were prevalant in the UK from the late 70s to the early 1980s, but I think defining Punk as simply "1970s" implies that the Punk fashion scene was revived in the 1980s, which was not so. After all hippies, flares and bell bottoms all originated in the 1960s, the first Summer Of Love was 1967, but the 70s article does not indicate that hippie fashion was originally a 60s thing.

There is far too much emphasis on the 1980s being a "retro" fashion decade. Most decades are - simply putting a spin on various details to make things distinctive. The 1960s had a 1920s influence - and many others. The 1970s plundered the 1930s (platform shoes), the 1950s (Teddy Boys) and the 1960s (Mods and Rockers), amongst many other eras.

I don't believe that the 1980s were "strangely like the 1950s" with "neo-Conservatism". Actually, the 1980s were a combination of many things. I do not recall any part of this decade as being reminiscent of the 1950s. I do recall the 1980s as being very turbulent - and as a decade of frantic change.

The technological explosion of the 1980s, which saw the introduction of the first commercially available mobile phones, the first commercially available computer mouse, huge leaps forward in computing and the invention of the World Wide Web in 1989, is not terribly evident in the article.

I barely recognise the decade.

The 1980s arouse strong emotions. But I'm afraid that this article appears to have been largely written by people who do not actually like the decade, have various axes to grind and are not prepared to be objective about it. The 1970s section is flawed because it is a hyped, highly rewritten version of the decade, which was actually a very grim time for many.

I'm glad this article is tagged as having "mutiple issues". —Preceding unsigned comment added by Dorgan65 (talk • contribs) 01:02, 21 May 2008 (UTC) (Dorgan65 (talk) 01:10, 21 May 2008 (UTC))

I always thought the 1960s influenced the 1980s hairstyles, and also the hairstyles of the 1970s had an influence. but I agree a lot of stuff needs to be fixed, look at the film section, there were more genres in the 1980s than just horror. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.118.123.207 (talk) 06:00, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

"Gay people"

"Gay people faced renewed discrimination which started with a backlash against disco music which was derided as "fag" music. In 1980, an anti-homosexual documentary was televised by ABC across the nation. The rise of AIDS led to increased public disdain of homosexuality and homosexuals. The Supreme Court upheld laws which criminalize gay sex in the Bowers v. Hardwick decision. MTV banned Dead or Alive music videos because of their homosexual content."

This whole section is heavily POV. If author wants to leave disco being derided as "fag" music, he needs to have a citation by a respected music critic of the time or something similar to back that up. Likewise, the 1980 "anti" homosexual documentary should be NAMED and those who perceived it to be "anti-gay" also named in order to make it more encyclopedic. The Supreme Court sentence is a good example of what is better for Wikipedia cases. It simply states what the Court did without stating if it was "bad" or not. It is also readily verifiable thanks to the name of the case, rather than vaguely stating "The Supreme Court upheld gay sex bans..". If I can figure out the code, I'll try and link to that decision directly so it has a citation. GBrady (talk) 15:29, 12 June 2008 (UTC)

Television Two of these sections basically contradict each other as written:

"The decade began poorly for minorities and gays. Music videos featuring minorities were not played by MTV (e.g. they refused to play Donna Summer's video for the 1980 rock hit "The Wanderer", the video of "Let's Get Physical" by Olivia Newton John (1981) was edited to remove all gay references) and gays were portrayed poorly by the media, especially by a widely seen homophobic documentary (which aired in 1980) about gays in San Francisco. With the rise of AIDS, shows which portrayed gays or gay friendly characters were quickly pulled off the air (Three's Company, Bosom Buddies)."

"The gay community received an upsurge in popular exposure, with U.S. prime time ratings giants Dynasty and The Golden Girls and UK soap operas Brookside and EastEnders, featuring either regular or recurring gay characters throughout their long runs. These shows were highly influential in increasing the visibility of regular gay characters on television."

I didn't really watch the TV series referenced so it could be that the 1st paragraph was correct for early 1980s and these shows in 2nd paragraph developed in LATE 1980s, but this should really be combined into 1 NPOV paragraph with chronologies made more explicit if that is indeed what is happening here.GBrady (talk) 15:48, 12 June 2008 (UTC)