Happy Days and Wonder Years: The Fifties and the Sixties in Contemporary Cultural PoliticsIn the twenty-first century, why do we keep talking about the Fifties and the Sixties? The stark contrast between these decades, their concurrence with the childhood and youth of the baby boomers, and the emergence of television and rock and roll help to explain their symbolic power. In Happy Days and Wonder Years, Daniel Marcus reveals how interpretations of these decades have figured in the cultural politics of the United States since 1970. From Ronald Reagan's image as a Fifties Cold Warrior to Bill Clinton's fandom for Elvis Presley and John F. Kennedy, politicians have invoked the Fifties and the Sixties to connect to their public. Marcus shows how films, television, music, and memoirs have responded to the political nostalgia of today, and why our entertainment remains immersed in reruns, revivals, and references to earlier times. This book offers a new understanding of how politics and popular culture have influenced our notions of the past, and how events from long ago continue to shape our understanding of the present day. |
Contents
| 1 | |
| 9 | |
The Conservative Uses of Nostalgia | 36 |
Nostalgia Embodied Ronald Reagan as Icon | 60 |
Popular Culture and the Response to Conservative Nostalgia | 92 |
Contests and Contestations The Sixties Legacy during the Decline of Reagan | 119 |
The Reinflection of the Past The Presidential Election of 1992 | 150 |
Elvis Has Left the Building The Resurgence of the Right | 171 |
Conclusion | 204 |
Notes | 207 |
Index | 245 |
About the Author | 265 |
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activists administration African Americans agenda American Graffiti appeal asserted associated attacks Bill Clinton Bush Bush’s campaign celebrated challenges civil rights movement claim Clinton contemporary continued counterculture criticism David decades decline defined Democratic depicted discourse domestic dominance early economic election elites Elvis and JFK Elvis Presley experience fans federal feminist figure film Gingrich Happy Days historical issues Kennedy’s late legacy liberal major memories ment Michael middle-class Mississippi Burning narrative neoconservatives Newsweek Newt Gingrich NewYork nostalgia nostalgic November ofAmerican ofthe political popular culture position presidency presidential Presley programs racial radical reports Republican response rhetoric Robert Kennedy rock and roll role Rolling Stone Ronald Reagan seemed sense sexual Sha Na Na Sixties social conservatives social movements society spending styles teenagers television themes tion traditional University Press values Vietnam voters White House working-class York youth