Congress passed the Flag Protection Act of 1989,
which removed the proviso of the Texas law that the
act of desecration had to be intended to offend
someone. It sought instead to craft a law that was
more content neutral, and President George H. W.
Bush signed the act into law in late October. The pas-
sage of the Flag Protection Act—which made it a
crime not only to burn a flag but also to “maintain
[it] on the floor or ground”—set off a spate of U.S.
flag-burning incidents. Protesters were arrested, and
a new set of court hearings worked their way up
through the legal system. On June 11, 1990, inUnited
States v. Eichman, the Supreme Court upheld its ear-
lier rationale and declared the Flag Protection Act of
1989 invalid, again by a vote of 5 to 4. The majority
observed that, while the law attempted some con-
tent neutrality, it included an exemption for burn-
ing “worn or soiled” flags in a respectful ceremony,
thereby confirming that it was designed to encour-
age patriotism and discourage dissent.
Impact After theEichmanruling, the brief outbreak
of flag-burning incidents involving the American
flag abated, and media attention turned elsewhere.
However, some Americans and many members of
Congress remained upset by the ruling. As a result, a
movement began to amend the U.S. Constitution
explicitly to prohibit the desecration of the flag. The
congressional vote on a measure to pass a constitu-
tional amendment and send it to the states for ratifi-
cation became an annual event in Washington, and
often the vote was extremely close.
Further Reading
Goldstein, Robert Justin.Burning the Flag: The Great
1989-1990 American Flag Desecration Controversy.
Kent, Ohio: Kent State University Press, 1996.
Leepson, Marc.Flag: An American Biography.New
York: St. Martin’s Press, 2005.
Scot M. Guenter
See also Congress, U.S.; Conservatism in U.S. poli-
tics; Elections in the United States, 1984; Liberalism
in U.S. politics; Reagan, Ronald; Rehnquist, Will-
iam H.; Supreme Court decisions.
Flashdance
Identification American film
Director Adrian Lyne (1941- )
Producers Don Simpson (1943-1996) and Jerry
Bruckheimer (1945- )
Date Released April 15, 1983
Flashdancecombined elements of the sexually suggestive
music video, traditional romance, and 1980’s mainstream
feminism to appeal to men and women alike. It was the sec-
ond highest grossing film released in 1983, narrowly edg-
ing outTrading Placesfor that honor.
Flashdanceis set in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, “a cold
world of steel,” where Alex Owens (Jennifer Beals)
works as a welder by day and as a nightclub dancer by
night, while entertaining the dream of becoming a
legitimate ballet dancer. The film depicts her clash
with a world of competition, envy, and strenuous
work, in which only a privileged few can make it. Vi-
sually, the film plays heavily on the juxtaposition of
the harsh reality of a steel mill job and the ephemer-
al and majestic world of classical ballet.
The film was conceived as a mixture of music
video and drama. It did not fall within the category
of traditional musical, because it had no vocal score.
Much of the talent was the work of voice-over and
stand-in performers, including French actress Ma-
rine Jahan, break-dancer Crazy Legs, and profes-
sional gymnast Sharon Shapiro. The music sound
track by Phil Ramone and the choreography by
Jeffrey Hornadays featured high-tech effects and
eroticism to increase audience appeal. The sound
track also gained fame for its hit songs, including
“Flashdance... What a Feeling,” composed by
Giorgio Moroder with lyrics by Keith Forsey and
sung by Irene Cara, which won an Academy Award
for Best Original Song, and “Maniac,” which was also
nominated in that category. The film’s lighting and
staging effects, including a famous scene in which
water splashed down upon Beals at the end of a
dance number, won it success among MTV watchers.
Despite—or perhaps because of—all the flashy
costumes and the sexual overtones for which it re-
ceived an “R” rating from the Motion Picture Associ-
ation of America (MPAA), the movie received bad
reviews. Roger Ebert, columnist for theChicago Sun-
Times, pointed out its artificial contrivances, flashy
production numbers, undeveloped characters, and
improbable plot. He even accused it of “grabbing aThe Eighties in America Flashdance 375