type of program, the prime-time soap opera, in-
cludedDallasandDynasty—shows that featured the
wealthy and extravagant lifestyles of two families of
oilmen and cattle ranchers. These shows influenced
not only fashion but home interiors as well. Women
and men found it difficult to redecorate their homes
without an interior designer, and people entered
that profession in record numbers.
Auctions of famous artworks reached record
prices. By 1987, Van Gogh’sSunflowerssold for $39.9
million and hisIrisesfor $53.9 million. The Museum
of Modern Art in New York began renovations that
would double its size, and cities like San Antonio
built multimillion-dollar museums. In music, pop,
rock, country, and especially rap and hip-hop became
popular, as music videos, especially those broadcast
on cable channel MTV, exerted an enormous influ-
ence on the development and marketing of new
music. The digital compact disc (CD) changed the
entire industry and made fortunes for music compa-
nies.
A study conducted by the University of California,
Los Angeles, and the American Council on Educa-
tion in 1980 found that those entering college were
more interested in status, power, and money than
enrolling students had been in the previous fifteen
years. The Dow Jones Industrial Average tripled in
seven years and quickly bounced back from the 1987
stock market crash, driving a student preference for
business management as the most popular major.
New Markets Social attitudes toward minority
groups in the United States remained complex dur-
ing the 1980’s, but overt racism became less socially
acceptable. As people of color began to be taken
more seriously, companies began to see minority
communities as potential new markets for their
products. Thus, concepts of multiculturalism began
to influence advertising. Although the advertising
agencies explained this trend as a desire to include
everyone, it constituted the first recognition that
many minorities had achieved middle-class lifestyles
and had begun to subscribe to the same consumerist
values as the rest of the American middle class.
New uses for technology developed rapidly in the
1980’s, and the term “consumer electronics” came
into use to describe an exploding sector of technol-
ogy that included personal computers, electronic
games, stereo equipment, handheld mobile phones,
and many data storage technologies such as com-
pact discs. Although popularity of video games
started in the late 1970’s, video-game technology de-
veloped during the 1980’s kept the market hot. Per-
sonal computers became popular in households as
well as at work, and consumers snapped up Sony
Walkmans and videocassette recorders (VCRs). Ap-
ple’s Macintosh computer was introduced in 1984
and became commercially successful, as did other
computers of the decade including the IBM PC,
Atari ST, and Commodore 64. Microsoft introduced
the early versions of the Windows operating system,
which dominated market for several decades follow-
ing the 1980’s.
The film industry boomed in the 1980’s, but it be-
came more focused, as Hollywood competed with
home entertainment technologies by concentrating
on producing a limited number of mass-market
blockbusters rather than a wider variety of modestly
successful films that appealed to more specific audi-
ences. However, the Sundance Institute opened in
1981 to promote independent filmmakers, and the
first Sundance Film Festival was held in 1986, spawn-
ing a national craze for film festivals that provided
venues and opportunities for new directors who
could not compete directly with Hollywood block-
busters. Special effects in movies advanced in sophis-
tication as computer technology developed, a trend
that decisively shaped Hollywood’s output history.
Film consumers who loved videocassettes fre-
quented the new video rental outlets that became
national chains. In 1981, VCR sales rose 72 percent
in twelve months. Science-fiction films surged in
popularity, best exemplified by Steven Spielberg’s
E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial(1982), which broke rec-
ords for gross receipts and became the biggest
earner of the decade. Another science-fiction film-
maker, George Lucas, had reaped incredible profits
by exploiting the possibilities of film merchandising,
creating an extensive line of toys based on hisStar
Warstrilogy (1977-1983). The rest of Hollywood
quickly responded to Lucas’s success, creating tie-in
merchandise in association with films whenever pos-
sible, especially merchandise aimed at youngsters.Impact Although other decades—especially the
1950’s—were known in the United States for their
commodity consumption, the 1980’s was one of the
first to be marked not merely by consumption but
by unabashed consumerism. Baby boomers became
known for their self-obsession and demand for in-250 Consumerism The Eighties in America