The Eighties in America - Salem Press (2009)

released the movie on video in 1987 at a price of
$29.95 and, by 1988, had sold 3.2 million copies—a
record that would last until the video ofE.T.: The
Extra-Terrestrialsold some 14 million copies by 1993.

Impact By the late 1980’s, the home video rental
business had started to migrate from small mom-
and-pop stores to huge video rental chains such as
Blockbuster. Video rentals began to account for a
significant portion of a motion picture’s total reve-
nue, and Hollywood began to plan for videocassette
revenues in setting the budgets of films. Moreover,
the studios began to modify the format of their films
in anticipation of the home rental market, because
theatrical widescreen films would not fit unmodified
on television screens.

Further Reading
Levy, Mark R., ed.The VCR Age: Home Video and Mass
Communication. Newbury Park, Calif.: Sage, 1989.
Focuses on patterns of home video use.
Levy, Mark R., and Barrie Gunter.Home Video and the
Changing Nature of the Television Audience. London:
Libbey, 1988. Explains how recording devices al-
tered film and television viewing habits.
Lyman, Peter.Canada’s Video Revolution: Pay-TV,
Home Video, and Beyond. Toronto: J. Lorimer/
Canadian Institute for Economic Policy, 1983.
Catalogs changes in communications technolo-
gies at the start of the 1980’s and their effects on
Canadian society.
The Video Age: Television Technology and Applications in
the 1980’s. White Plains, N.Y.: Knowledge Indus-
try, 1982. Overview of devices such as the VCR.
Wasko, Janet.Hollywood in the Information Age: Beyond
the Silver Screen. Austin: University of Texas Press,

1995. Analyzes the effects of new technologies on
      film marketing and distribution.
      Paul Dellinger

See also Cable television; Camcorders; Coloriza-
tion of black-and-white films; Compact discs (CDs);
Film in Canada; Film in the United States; Mini-
series; Multiplex theaters; Music videos; PG-13 rat-
ing; Pornography.

Homelessness

Definition The state of being without permanent

shelter, an emerging urban social issue of the

1980’s

During the 1980’s, homelessness in urban areas of North

America increased at a rapid rate. No longer identified with

single male alcoholics, the ranks of the homeless began to in-

clude entire families and the working poor.

While homelessness was not new to the United States

during the 1980’s, it did start taking on new charac-

teristics as the reported number of homeless individ-

uals began to increase during the decade. Prior to

the 1980’s, the homeless were frequently character-

ized as vagrants and were often men with alcohol

or substance-abuse problems. As the number of in-

dividuals found living on the streets and in emer-

gency shelters began to increase, this characteriza-

tion started to change. Beginning in 1983, theNew

York Times Indexbegan using the term “homeless per-

sons” instead of “vagrancy and vagrants” to classify

articles dealing with the homeless. This marked a

significant change in attitude, as homelessness be-

gan to be seen as a problem that afflicted not only

the “undeserving” but also the “deserving” poor.

Moreover, the role of post-traumatic stress disorder

in homelessness came to be discussed more promi-

nently, as Americans took notice of the number of

military veterans living on the streets.

Defining Homelessness During the 1980’s, the term

“homeless” signified two very different but overlap-

ping groups. In one context, the word “homeless”

was used to refer to a social class that included pan-

handlers, bag people, the shabbily dressed, and other

visibly poor individuals seen in public places and ap-

parently lacking social ties. This common usage of

the term, however, clouded the issue of who was truly

without housing. Lacking a universally accepted defi-

nition of homelessness, America found itself mired

in controversy regarding the number of homeless

individuals and how to deal with homelessness.

Homeless advocate Mitch Snyder, in the early

1980’s, claimed that there were 3 million homeless

people in the United States. Although Snyder later

admitted that this figure was made up to signify the

importance of the issue—big problems require big

numbers—this figure was often quoted in the news

and by those seeking to help the homeless. A study

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Homelessness The Eighties in America