History UsefulNotes / The80s

* ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes'', a strip involving a boy and his tiger (to which everyone else sees as just a stuffed toy tiger) debuted in 1985. It quickly became popular and achieved wide circulation across the United States. Its creator Creator/BillWatterson won the Reuben award for ''Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year'' in both 1986 and 1988 for his work on the strip.

* In the early '80s, the aforementioned protectionist mentality was common in Canada too, by no means a Latin-American country. Though there were a few Canadian acts who made it in the US, like Bryan Adams and later the aforementioned Celine Dion, much of the material you'd hear on Canadian radio circa 1984 never made its way to the US. Artists like Music/CoreyHart and Men Without Hats are seen as one-hit wonders now, but had many hits in Canada at the time (and in Hart's case, "Sunglasses at Night" was almost the least of them); the now-forgotten Platinum Blonde were as big in their native country as Duran Duran at the time.

* In the early '80s, the aforementioned protectionist mentality was common in Canada too, by no means a Latin-American country. Though there were a few Canadian acts who made it in the US, like Bryan Adams and later the aforementioned Celine Dion, much of the material you'd hear on Canadian radio circa 1984 never made its way to the US. Artists like Corey Hart and Men Without Hats are seen as one-hit wonders now, but had many hits in Canada at the time (and in Hart's case "[[{{Music/Corey Hart}} Sunglasses at Night]]" was almost the least of them); the now-forgotten Platinum Blonde were as big in their native country as Duran Duran at the time.

* In the early '80s, the aforementioned protectionist mentality was common in Canada too, by no means a Latin-American country. Though there were a few Canadian acts who made it in the US, like Bryan Adams and later the aforementioned Celine Dion, much of the material you'd hear on Canadian radio circa 1984 never made its way to the US. Artists like Corey Hart and Men Without Hats are seen as one-hit wonders now, but had many hits in Canada at the time (and in Hart's case "Sunglasses at Night" was almost the least of them); the now-forgotten Platinum Blonde were as big in their native country as Duran Duran at the time.

* In the US, Creator/{{NBC}} started the decade in the DorkAge to end all Dork Ages, but ended it as the top dog in the ratings (a trend that would continue through [[TheNineties the following decade]]), chiefly on the strength of its {{sitcom}} lineup. Creator/{{CBS}} and Creator/{{ABC}}, meanwhile, notably lost ground during the '80s; while they were still on seemingly solid footing by 1990, they were both facing severe problems that would prove devastating in the decade to come. The Creator/{{Fox}} network premiered in 1986, and while it did make something of a splash at the time, its GoldenAge was still ahead of it.
* In the UK, meanwhile, Creator/TheBBC went through a DorkAge due to funding problems and allegations of political bias from both [[UsefulNotes/MargaretThatcher the Thatcher government]] and the unions. Creator/{{ITV}} took advantage, its edgier programming allowing it to sap viewers from what was seen as a stale, safe, and dry "Auntie Beeb". Lastly, Creator/{{Channel 4}} was established in 1982 in order to break the [=BBC/ITV=] duopoly, and at the time was known as the most high-brow and intellectual of Britain's TV networks -- [[NetworkDecay a far cry]] from [[LowestCommonDenominator its current reputation]].

** They were also, at first, incredibly expensive: in the early part of the decade, they could cost upwards of $500.00. VHS tapes were also initially very expensive, especially early in the decade, when they sold for $70 a pop -- they were expected to be rented rather than purchased, and video rental stores sprang up like weeds across the U.S. Only at the end of the decade did the industry switch to selling rather than renting, and even then $40 was the standard price for a single title. The rise of home video also killed the second-run theater, as people who wanted to watch older movies could simply rent or buy them on VHS instead of going to a theater.

* Music/{{Prince}}, a flamboyantly dressed pop-rock-funk-musician who got his career jumpstarted in the late 1970's finally rose to prominence with his smash hit album ''[[Music/PurpleRainAlbum Purple Rain]]'' and the [[Film/PurpleRain slightly bad movie of the same name]]. Unlike Michael Jackson however, by 1985 he had lost his third wheel due to his increasingly varied musical preferences and by the early 90's he was demoted to slight obscurity at the same time Michael's career fell tumbling after.

* ''Film/{{Flashdance}}'' in 1983 popularized off-the-shoulder [[http://www.liketotally80s.com/images/flashdance-poster.jpg sweatshirts]], usually with the collar ripped off.

* Hot Pockets, a brand of microwaveable sandwiches, are introduced in 1983. Its original flavor was Ham & Cheese though it has since produced a variety of sandwiches.

* ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes'', a strip involving a boy and his tiger (to which everyone else sees as just a stuffed toy tiger) debuted in 1985. It quickly became popular and achieved wide circulation across the United States. It's creator Creator/BillWatterson won the Reuben award for ''Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year'' in both 1986 and 1988 for his work on the strip.

* Hot Pockets, a brand of microwaveable sandwiches, are introduced in 1983. It's original flavor was Ham & Cheese though it has since produced a variety of sandwiches.

* The "Satanic Panic" took off and reached its peak in this decade. Spurred on by alleged "true stories" like ''Michelle Remembers'' and ''The Satan Seller'' (both of which are now widely believed to be [[BasedOnAGreatBigLie fraudulent accounts]]), there was widespread fear among communities, churches, and even law enforcement and social services that there existed an underground network of devil-worshippers who kidnapped, abused, and sacrificed children and other "innocents" in order to gain power from [[{{Satan}} the Dark Lord]]. Your next-door neighbors could be conducting {{virgin sacrifice}}s in their basement and you wouldn't know about it -- [[YouCanPanicNow until they came for you and your loved ones!]] Some of [[ConspiracyTheorist the wackier theories]] even alleged that the Satanists had [[GovernmentConspiracy infiltrated the government, business, and the military]], and were using their resources to not only cover up their evil but facilitate it. Hundreds of people saw their lives destroyed by [[WitchHunt allegations that they were Satanists]], with one of the most notable (and [[IfItBleedsItLeads sensationalized]]) incidents being the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McMartin_preschool_trial McMartin preschool case.]] It got to the point where even Procter & Gamble was accused of being Satanic due to their logo, which they had to change -- they later wound up suing the people who spread the rumors (which caused their stock to plummet) for $19 million. To this day, only one group of this model was ever known to exist -- that being the Finders, whose existence was only made public by the FBI during the tail end of the 2010's after decades of investigation -- but while this single organization is generally acknowledged as being real, the idea that Satanic child abuse cults were everywhere and influencing society on a major scale is generally regarded as a moral panic.

* Western pop music began to draw from WorldMusic after two albums in 1980 featured prominent African influences: Music/TalkingHeads' ''Music/RemainInLight'' and Music/PeterGabriel's third SelfTitledAlbum, nicknamed ''Music/{{Melt}}'' by fans. Music/PaulSimon had a CareerResurrection with 1986's ''Music/{{Graceland}}'', but the controversy over Simon breaking a cultural boycott in South Africa over apartheid by recording there with black musicians [[GenreKiller put a damper on the trend]], exposing the UnfortunateImplications of white rock musicians [[PrettyFlyForAWhiteGuy appropriating African music]].

* While Creator/DonBluth used to work for [[Franchise/DisneyAnimatedCanon Disney Animation Studios]], he left in 1979, feeling that Disney was sacrificing quality in order to save money. He then formed his own animation studio in 1980 with some other former Disney employees. His films tended to have dark sequences and emphasize the quality of animation. While his debut ''WesternAnimation/TheSecretOfNimh'' ended up doing poorly commercially despite positive critical reception, it did gain the attention of businessman Mark Sullivan who moved the studio to Ireland in exchange for a huge grant from the Irish Government. They teamed up with Steven Spielberg to create ''WesternAnimation/AnAmericanTail'' and ''WesternAnimation/TheLandBeforeTime'', both of which performed very well at the box office [[note]] the former was the highest grossing animated film in initial release at the time while the latter outgrossed Disney’s ''WesternAnimation/OliverAndCompany'' worldwide despite being released on the same day [[/note]] and received positive critical reception. Bluth cut ties with Spielberg after he kept making changes to the films due to disagreements over what was appropriate for children. Bluth’s success convinced Disney animation that they needed to step up their game. They responded with ''WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaid1989'' which proved to be one of their most successful films in years and kickstarted the "Disney Renaissance," which would continue throughout the following decade. While Bluth’s work in this decade helped kickstart the UsefulNotes/TheRenaissanceAgeOfAnimation that would occur throughout the 90s, his fourth film, ''WesternAnimation/AllDogsGoToHeaven'''s poor box office performance (due to being released at the same time as ''The Little Mermaid'') [[note]] it would later find huge success on VHS [[/note]] began a string of flops for Bluth that would cause his studio to collapse in the 90s.

* While Creator/DonBluth used to work for [[Franchise/DisneyAnimatedCanon Disney Animation Studios]], he left in 1979, feeling that Disney was sacrificing quality in order to save money. He then formed his own animation studio in 1980 with some other former Disney employees. His films tended to have dark sequences and emphasize the quality of animation. While his debut ''WesternAnimation/TheSecretOfNimh'' ended up doing poorly commercially despite positive critical reception, it did gain the attention of businessman Mark Sullivan who moved the studio to Ireland in exchange for a huge grant from the Irish Government. They teamed up with Steven Spielberg to create ''WesternAnimation/AnAmericanTail'' and ''WesternAnimation/TheLandBeforeTime'', both of which performed very well at the box office [[note]] the former was the highest grossing animated film in initial release at the time while the latter outgrossed Disney’s ''WesternAnimation/OliverAndCompany'' worldwide despite being released on the same day [[/note]] and received positive critical reception. Bluth cut ties with Spielberg after he kept making changes to the films due to disagreements over what was appropriate for children. Bluth’s success convinced Disney animation that they needed to step up their game. They responded with ''WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaid1989'' which proved to be one of their most successful films in years and kickstarted the "Disney Renaissance," which would continue throughout the following decade. While Bluth’s work in this decade helped kickstart the UsefulNotes/TheRenaissanceAgeOfAnimation that would occur throughout the 90s, his fourth film,''WesternAnimation/AllDogsGoToHeaven'''s poor box office performance (due to being released at the same time as ''The Little Mermaid'') [[note]] it would later find huge success on VHS [[/note]] began a string of flops for Bluth that would cause his studio to collapse in the 90s.

** But an even bigger PR screw-up was caused by the tobacco industry itself at the same time: In an effort to improve sales, Camel introduced the sophisticated Joe Camel as its mascot in 1987. Things soon backfired however, as studies showed that the character became popular among children. The ensuing scandal decimated the reputation of cigarette companies among the public and gave pharmaceuticals a decisive lead in their future stalemate against tobacco (that would become a key part of American politics), as well as led to an eventual ban on ''all'' tobacco advertising by the late 1990s.

* While Creator/DonBluth used to work for [[Franchise/DisneyAnimatedCanon Disney Animation Studios]], he left in 1979, feeling that Disney they was sacrificing quality in order to save money. He then formed his own animation studio in 1980 with some other former Disney employees. His films tended to have dark sequences and emphasize the quality of animation. While his debut ''WesternAnimation/TheSecretOfNimh'' ended up doing poorly commercially despite positive critical reception, it did gain the attention of businessman Mark Sullivan who moved the studio to Ireland in exchange for a huge grant from the Irish Government. They teamed up with Steven Spielberg to create ''WesternAnimation/AnAmericanTail'' and ''WesternAnimation/TheLandBeforeTime'', both of which performed very well at the box office [[note]] former was the highest grossing animated film in initial release at the time while the latter outgross Disney’s ''WesternAnimation/OliverAndCompany'' worldwide despite being released on the same day [[/note]] and received positive critical reception. Bluth cut ties with Spielberg after he kept making changes to the films due to disagreements over what was appropriate for children. Bluth’s success convinced Disney animation that they needed to step up their game. They responded with ''WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaid1989'' which proved to one of their most successful films in years and kickstarted the "Disney Renaissance," which would continue throughout the following decade. While Bluth’s work in this decade helped kickstart the UsefulNotes/TheRenaissanceAgeOfAnimation that would occur throughout the 90s, his fourth film,''WesternAnimation/AllDogsGoToHeaven'' poor box office performance (due to being released at the same time as ''The Little Mermaid'') [[note]] it would later find huge success on VHS [[/note]] began a string of flops for Bluth that would cause his studio to collapse in the 90s.
* While Saturday morning cartoons remained popular during the decade, the subgenre of band centered cartoons declined as real life bands turned to music videos to promote themselves [[note]] Some artists though like Music/DireStraits, Music/AHa and Music/PeterGabriel would go on to create animated based music videos that proved to be quite popular[[/note]]. One exception was ''WesternAnimation/{{Jem}}'', which proved to be successful in the mid-80s.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', a primetime animated series that would on to reach massive popularity (and at times, controversy) premiered on December 17, 1989.

* The early part of the decade saw the fall of the UsefulNotes/NewHollywood era. While the 70s saw the success of a number of director controlled films with minimal interference from the major studios that invested in them, it eventually saw a number of [[BoxOfficeBomb Box Office Flops]]. These included ''Film/HeavensGate'' (which contributed huge losses to Creator/UnitedArtists, leading it to get sold to [[Creator/MetroGoldwynMayer MGM]]) and One From The Heart, both of which also [[CreatorKiller derailed the careers]] of [[Creator/MichaelCimino their]] [[Creator/FrancisFordCoppola directors]]. The failure of some of these later films along with the commercial opportunities that Blockbusters provided led to cutbacks on ‘’Auteur’’ driven films and instead led to the establishment of UsefulNotes/TheBlockbusterAgeOfHollywood.

** At home, however, things were not as well as they seemed-- many people were tired of living in a strict, postwar society, many people were ''not'' part of the economic boom or were only so much as working 20 hour days, and while, at the time, Japanese technology was at the top of the world, it would become obsolete. {{Yakuza}} and other criminals infested nearly every part of business and politics and all of the other expanding industries, and the amount of people who were the ObstructiveBureaucrat or outright corrupt involved in every part of the bubble businesses were too numerous to even be counted, as was the financial fraud at nearly every point of it, which often got a pass due to CultureJustifiesAnything and cultural ignorance overseas (meaning someone could run an outright {{Ponzi}}, for example, and say it was Japanese business practice, and a lot of more gullible overseas financial industry people would happily shovel in money, not realizing that native Japanese would spot the scam instantly). Many disaffected young men became ''bosozoku'' (biker gang members) or ''yankii'' (JapaneseDelinquents) who, alongside Visual bandmen (all of whom readily mixed as subcultures drawing from each other) would get into truly violent and dangerous fights involving knives, baseball bats, fists, improvised weapons, and occasionally fire via Zippo lighters and occasionally ''pyrotechnics''. Mental illness were often unrecognized and poorly treated (in case these were treated at all), working conditions could best be described as "hell on earth," and the use of alcohol and tobacco was irresponsible and off the charts by almost anyone who was an adult, and some who weren't-- and the country and several subcultures in it, including the bosozoku, experienced the first "speed boom," with first diverted pharmaceutical pill methamphetamine and soon crystal methamphetamine becoming somewhat available for the first time via the yakuza since the end of WWII. AIDS denialism existed as ''national policy'' and many thought that no Japanese could or would contract HIV/AIDS.
** Notice the thing about guns NOT being mentioned in those fights above? Japan has and had ''very'' strict gun control policy. As a result, yes, only cops and serious yakuza had guns at the time-- which spared a massive death toll from violent young men fighting and criminal activity in general, because the use of firearms ''was'' limited to police vs. yakuza battles and/or yakuza hits. Japan as a society, therefore, never had a gun violence/gun crime epidemic, nor were guns and drugs connected as they became in many other places, with people at the "drug dealer" level generally not being permitted to carry guns (if they were real yakuza) or not being able to easily obtain and use them, and choosing knives or lighters instead (bikers or other small time crooks who contracted with them to buy supply). As a result, the Japanese also became outraged in the incidents where Japanese tourists or students were shot while in the US, and in such cases would lodge diplomatic protests over US gun policy. That said, it may seem a bit hypocritical that Japan is a country that manufactures and exports firearms and ammunition.

* While Creator/DonBluth used to work for [[Franchise/DisneyAnimatedCanon Disney Animation Studios]], he left in 1979, feeling that Disney they was sacrificing quality in order to save money. He then formed his own animation studio in 1980 with some other former Disney employees. His films tended to have dark sequences and emphasize the quality of animation. While his debut ''WesternAnimation/TheSecretOfNimh'' ended up doing poorly commercially despite positive critical reception, it did gain the attention of businessman Mark Sullivan who moved the studio to Ireland in exchange for a huge grant from the Irish Government. They teamed up with Steven Spielberg to create ''WesternAnimation/AnAmericanTail'' and ''WesternAnimation/TheLandBeforeTime'', both of which performed very well at the box office [[note]] former was the highest grossing animated film in initial release at the time while the latter outgross Disney’s ''WesternAnimation/OliverAndCompany'' worldwide despite being released on the same day [[/note]] and received positive critical reception. Bluth cut ties with Spielberg after he kept making changes to the films due to disagreements over what was appropriate for children. Bluth’s success convinced Disney animation that they needed to step up their game. They responded with ''WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaid1989'' which proved to one of their most successful films in years and kickstarted the "Disney Renaissance," which would continue throughout the following decade. While Bluth’s work in this decade helped kickstart the UsefulNotes/TheRenaissanceAgeOfAnimation that would occur throughout the 90s, his fourth film,''WesternAnimation/AllDogsGoToHeaven'' poor box office performance (due to being released at the same time as the ''Little Mermaid'') [[note]] it would later find huge success on VHS [[/note]] began a string of flops for Bluth that would cause his studio to collapse in the 90s.
* While Saturday morning cartoons remained popular during the decade, the subgenre of band centered cartoons declined as real life bands turned to music videos to promote themselves [[note]] Some artists though like Music/DireStraits, Music/AHa and Music/PeterGabriel would go on to create animated based music videos that proved to be quite popular[[/note]]. One exception was WesternAnimation/{{Jem}} which proved to be successful in the mid-80s.
* WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons, a primetime animated series that would on to reach massive popularity (and at times, controversy) premiered on December 17, 1989.

* ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes, a strip involving a boy and his tiger (to which everyone else sees as just a stuffed toy tiger) debut in 1985. It quickly became popular and achieved wide circulation across the United States. It's creator Creator/BillWatterson won the reuben award for ''Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year'' in both 1986 and 1988 for his work on the strip.

** This changed around 1986 in pretty much the biggest way possible-- VisualKei roared from the underground into the public consciousness, starting with bands such as [[Music/XJapan X]], Music/SexMachineguns, Music/BuckTick, Music/SeikimaII, and Music/{{COLOR}}, with a loud, aggressive, in-your-face combination of PunkRock, HardRock, and HeavyMetal fused with GlamRock aesthetics, purposeful [[AttentionWhore attention whoring]], and troublemaking to force themselves not to be ignored. Meanwhile, the metal bands Loudness and [[Music/MasakiYamada EZO]] got signed and performed in the US, and Music/ShowYa would be the first and only metal band to perform in UsefulNotes/NorthKorea with a concert in Pyongyang. The first VisualKei labels, Creator/ExtasyRecords and Creator/FreeWillRecords, were founded, and [[Music/XJapan X]] would become the first Visual band and first metal band to ever top the Japanese charts, ''repeatedly'' starting in 1989. At the time, VisualKei had become something new and interesting, yet was still "underground and dangerous" enough it didn't generally have mass appeal until the very end of the decade-- it took until 1989 for X to top the charts and go major with ''Blue Blood.''

* There was also a new and terrifying plague: AIDS, whose etiology and pathology was unknown at the time. People were basically dropping dead, and no one knew why. No one even knew how it spread. At first, the public lashed back at the groups hardest hit-- gay men and intravenous drug users-- as causing or deserving the disease. That eventually began to fade as the disease forced many people out of the closet (actor Rock Hudson was one of the most famous examples) and suddenly the public finally had to face the fact that gay people were ''everywhere'', hiding because of the social bullying they were suffering from the public.

* Similarly, "[[PaedoHunt Stranger danger]]" first began to appear in this decade, with parents concerned that their children could be abducted off the street by predatory pedophiles and/or killers. This was the era of the FaceOnAMilkCarton. However, the fact that most sexual abusers are people known and trusted by their victims-- i.e. family members, coaches, etc.-- was exposed to the public's horror as well. And in a related issue...
* The "Satanic Panic" took off and reached its peak in this decade. Spurred on by alleged "true stories" like ''Michelle Remembers'' and ''The Satan Seller'' (both of which are now widely believed to be [[BasedOnAGreatBigLie fraudulent accounts]]), there was widespread fear among communities, churches, and even law enforcement and social services that there existed an underground network of devil-worshippers who kidnapped, abused, and sacrificed children and other "innocents" in order to gain power from [[{{Satan}} the Dark Lord]]. Your next-door neighbors could be conducting {{virgin sacrifice}}s in their basement and you wouldn't know about it-- [[YouCanPanicNow until they came for you and your loved ones!]] Some of [[ConspiracyTheorist the wackier theories]] even alleged that the Satanists had [[GovernmentConspiracy infiltrated the government, business, and the military]], and were using their resources to not only cover up their evil but facilitate it. Hundreds of people saw their lives destroyed by [[WitchHunt allegations that they were Satanists]], with one of the most notable (and [[IfItBleedsItLeads sensationalized]]) incidents being the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McMartin_preschool_trial McMartin preschool case.]] It got to the point where even Procter & Gamble was accused of being Satanic due to their logo, which they had to change-- they later wound up suing the people who spread the rumors (which caused their stock to plummet) for $19 million. To this day, only one group of this model was ever known to exist-- that being the Finders, whose existence was only made public by the FBI during the tail end of the 2010's after decades of investigation-- but while this single organization is generally acknowledged as being real, the idea that Satanic child abuse cults were everywhere and influencing society on a major scale is generally regarded as a moral panic.

* When the decade began, {{disco}} was on its last legs in the United States and Canada after the anti-disco backlash had been growing among the public during the last few years of the 1970s. Although disco would remain popular in Europe for a few more years, in the US and Canada disco had become such a popular target for jokes and ridicule that [[DeaderThanDisco most people became embarrassed to admit that they had ever liked it in the first place.]]

* The end of the 80's also put another name from the medical textbooks into the minds of the general public: autism. While the condition was known to exist to some degree, most of the general public were either unaware or ambivalent towards its presence, with the very few and far-between portrayals of it being so misleading and fabricated that they could hardly qualify as even HollywoodAutism. That all changed with the release of ''Film/RainMan'' in 1988, which featured what was perhaps ''the'' most accurate portrayal of an autistic person up to that point, based on extensive consultation with psychologists and actual autistic individuals (who also heavily informed Creator/DustinHoffman's portrayal of the autistic Raymond Babbit). Of course, this would become a gigantic double-edged sword for real autistic people: while it helped dispel many harmful stereotypes about autism and gave it mainstream recognition for the first time, it also introduced new stereotypes that would only serve to put the autistic community into another, equally limiting pigeonhole (most notably the idea that [[TheRainMan autistic people automatically have incredibly niche talents that they are obligated to constantly showcase in order to be recognized]]). Additionally, the fact that the film still depicted autism as something to be pitied ensured that it would forever remain a thorn in the side of actually autistic individuals, especially after the recognized spectrum broadened in the decades since the film's release.

* The SummerBlockbuster came to prominence in this decade, spearheaded by the work of Creator/GeorgeLucas and especially Creator/StevenSpielberg (carrying on from the second half of TheSeventies). Spielberg's success with ''Film/ETTheExtraTerrestrial'' in particular made him THE biggest name in Hollywood. Beyond his directorial efforts, he executive produced a number of diverse films that used his input as a selling point and also did well at the box office: ''Film/{{Poltergeist}}'', ''Film/TheGoonies'', ''Film/{{Gremlins}}'', ''Film/BackToTheFuture'', ''WesternAnimation/AnAmericanTail'', etc. Many were "High-Concept Films" which meant that their plots that could be summarized easily and this in turn made them easy to market to a mass audience.

** There were PG options -- Spielberg produced ''Film/{{Poltergeist}}''. '''Disney''' experimented with chilling content in such films as ''Literature/SomethingWickedThisWayComes''. Most successfully, there was a run of horror/comedy hybrids starting with ''Film/Ghostbusters1984'' and climaxing with ''Film/{{Beetlejuice}}'', the successful sophomore effort of up-and-coming ex-Disney animator Creator/TimBurton.

* [[TabletopRPG Role-playing games]], invented in the mid [[UsefulNotes/TheSeventies 1970s]], became mainstream (more or less) in the 80s. At the same time, the hobby came under fire with fundamentalists and others accusing [=RPGs=] for promoting anything from satanism to bullying to players turning into their characters.

'''Daily Life:'''

** At home, however, things were not as well as they seemed - many people were tired of living in a strict, postwar society, many people were ''not'' part of the economic boom or were only so much as working 20 hour days, and while, at the time, Japanese technology was at the top of the world, it would become obsolete. {{Yakuza}} and other criminals infested nearly every part of business and politics and all of the other expanding industries, and the amount of people who were the ObstructiveBureaucrat or outright corrupt involved in every part of the bubble businesses were too numerous to even be counted, as was the financial fraud at nearly every point of it, which often got a pass due to CultureJustifiesAnything and cultural ignorance overseas (meaning someone could run an outright {{Ponzi}}, for example, and say it was Japanese business practice, and a lot of more gullible overseas financial industry people would happily shovel in money, not realizing that native Japanese would spot the scam instantly.) Many disaffected young men became ''bosozoku'' (biker gang members) or ''yankii'' (JapaneseDelinquents) who, alongside Visual bandmen (all of whom readily mixed as subcultures drawing from each other) would get into truly violent and dangerous fights involving knives, baseball bats, fists, improvised weapons, and occasionally fire via Zippo lighters and occasionally ''pyrotechnics''. Mental illness were often unrecognized and poorly treated (in case these were treated at all), working conditions could best be described as "hell on earth," and the use of alcohol and tobacco was irresponsible and off the charts by almost anyone who was an adult, and some who weren't - and the country and several subcultures in it, including the bosozoku, experienced the first "speed boom," with first diverted pharmaceutical pill methamphetamine and soon crystal methamphetamine becoming somewhat available for the first time via the yakuza since the end of WWII. AIDS denialism existed as ''national policy'' and many thought that no Japanese could or would contract HIV/AIDS.
** Notice the thing about guns NOT being mentioned in those fights above? Japan has and had ''very'' strict gun control policy. As a result, yes, only cops and serious yakuza had guns at the time - which spared a massive death toll from violent young men fighting and criminal activity in general, because the use of firearms ''was'' limited to police vs. yakuza battles and/or yakuza hits. Japan as a society, therefore, never had a gun violence/gun crime epidemic, nor were guns and drugs connected as they became in many other places, with people at the "drug dealer" level generally not being permitted to carry guns (if they were real yakuza) or not being able to easily obtain and use them, and choosing knives or lighters instead (bikers or other small time crooks who contracted with them to buy supply). As a result, the Japanese also became outraged in the incidents where Japanese tourists or students were shot while in the US, and in such cases would lodge diplomatic protests over US gun policy. That said, it may seem a bit hypocritical that Japan is a country that manufactures and exports firearms and ammunition.

'''Entertainment:'''

* While Creator/DonBluth used to work for [[Franchise/DisneyAnimatedCanon Disney Animation Studios]], he left in 1979, feeling that Disney they was sacrificing quality in order to save money. He then formed his own animation studio in 1980 with some other former Disney employees. His films tended to have dark sequences and emphasize the quality of animation. While his debut ''WesternAnimation/TheSecretOfNimh'' ended up doing poorly commercially despite positive critical reception, it did gain the attention of businessman Mark Sullivan who moved the studio to Ireland in exchange for a huge grant from the Irish Government. They teamed up with Steven Spielberg to create ''WesternAnimation/AnAmericanTail'' and ''WesternAnimation/TheLandBeforeTime'', both of which performed very well at the box office [[note]] former was the highest grossing animated film in initial release at the time while the latter outgross Disney’s ''WesternAnimation/OliverAndCompany'' worldwide despite being released on the same day [[/note]] and received positive critical reception. Bluth cut ties with Spielberg after he kept making changes to the films due to disagreements over what was appropriate for children. Bluth’s success convinced Disney animation that they needed to step up their game. They responded with ''WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaid1989'' which proved to one of their most successful films in years. While Bluth’s work in this decade helped kickstart the UsefulNotes/TheRenaissanceAgeOfAnimation that would occur throughout the 90s, his fourth film,''WesternAnimation/AllDogsGoToHeaven'' poor box office performance (due to being released at the same time as the Little Mermaid) [[note]] it would later find huge success on VHS [[/note]] began a string of flops for Bluth that would cause his studio to collapse in the 90s.

'''Fashion:'''

'''Education/School:'''

'''Food and Drink:'''
* Coca-Cola and Pepsi were at each other's throats during the "Cola Wars," pulling out all the stops with their advertising. In 1985, Coke garnered quite a bit of controversy by reformulating their classic recipe, causing sales to plummet. They had quickly switched back to the old, marketing it as "Coca-Cola Classic", thus saving sales.

* A dog by the name of SpudsMckenzie was the mascot for Budweiser Beer.

'''Headlines:'''

'''The Home:'''

'''Music:'''
* When the decade began, {{Disco}} was on its last legs in the United States and Canada after the anti-disco backlash had been growing among the public during the last few years of the 1970s. Although disco would remain popular in Europe for a few more years, in the US and Canada disco had become such a popular target for jokes and ridicule that [[DeaderThanDisco most people became embarrassed to admit that they had ever liked it in the first place.]]
* [[NewWaveMusic New Wave]] and SynthPop became two of the signature sounds of the '80s, starting in the Britain in the '70s but really garnering popularity in the United States around this decade. Artists such as Music/AFlockofSeagulls, Music/DuranDuran, Music/TalkingHeads, Music/TheBuggles, Music/NewOrder and Music/DepecheMode garnered big hits.
* Creator/{{MTV}} was born August 1, 1981, playing music videos all day, everyday.

* Music/MichaelJackson immortalized himself as the King of Pop during this time, scoring hits such as "Billie Jean", "Thriller", and "Beat It". The album ''Thriller'' remains to be the best selling album of all time and has shipped over 33 million copies in the United States alone.
* Music/{{Prince}}, a flamboyantly dressed pop-rock-funk-musician who got his career jumpstarted in the late 1970's finally rose to prominence with his smash hit album Purple Rain and the slightly bad movie of the same name. Unlike Michael Jackson however, by 1985 he had lost his third wheel due to his increasingly varied musical preferences and by the early 90's he was demoted to slight obscurity at the same time Michael's career fell tumbling after.

* Jazz music enjoyed its last period of mainstream popularity with the rise of the "smooth jazz" genre, led by 70s-era stalwarts such as Dave Grusin and George Benson as well as new faces such as Kenny G and Pat Metheny. Across the pond, jazz influenced the "sophisti-pop" movement led by Sade, Spandau Ballet and Johnny Hates Jazz.

*** These genres exploded outside the US, probably due to the fact that they were, at first, mostly black-oriented genres (with some LGBT thrown in), and so, they didn't get much exposure in the US (whose music and radio industries were still very much white-oriented). In Europe, [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff it was a different thing.]]
* In Japan, meanwhile, the main music industry was dominated by pop, the IdolSinger, and similar. HardRock and HeavyMetal were pretty much limited to two bands, Music/{{Loudness}} and the then-upstart band Anthem, at the beginning of the 80s, with other HardRock and HeavyMetal acts being pretty much strictly underground or at the local club scene level. This changed around 1986 in pretty much the biggest way possible - VisualKei roared from the underground into the public consciousness, starting with bands such as [[Music/XJapan X]], Music/SexMachineguns, Music/BuckTick, Music/SeikimaII, and Music/{{COLOR}}, with a loud, aggressive, in-your-face combination of PunkRock, HardRock, and HeavyMetal fused with purposeful [[AttentionWhore attention whoring]] and troublemaking to force themselves not to be ignored. Meanwhile, the metal bands Loudness and [[Music/MasakiYamada EZO]] got signed and performed in the US, and Music/ShowYa would be the first and only metal band to perform in UsefulNotes/NorthKorea with a concert in Pyongyang. The first VisualKei labels, Creator/ExtasyRecords and Creator/FreeWillRecords, were founded, and [[Music/XJapan X]] would become the first Visual band and first metal band to ever top the Japanese charts, ''repeatedly'' starting in 1989. At the time, VisualKei had become something new and interesting, yet was still "underground and dangerous" enough it didn't generally have mass appeal until the very end of the decade - it took until 1989 for X to top the charts and go major with ''Blue Blood.''

* The UsefulNotes/CompactDisc was introduced in 1982, the first digital audio consumer product. Although the sound quality was much higher than vinyl or cassette, the players were expensive so the format was considered a toy for audiophiles. As prices of players began to drop, the discs began to rapidly replace the older analog formats toward the end of the decade.

'''Hobbies:'''

'''Local Issues:'''

'''Social Concerns:'''

* There was also a new and terrifying plague: AIDS, whose etiology and pathology was unknown at the time. People were basically dropping dead, and no one knew why. No one even knew how it spread. At first, the public lashed back at the groups hardest hit -- gay men and intravenous drug users -- as causing or deserving the disease. That eventually began to fade as the disease forced many people out of the closet (actor Rock Hudson was one of the most famous examples) and suddenly the public finally had to face the fact that gay people were ''everywhere'', hiding because of the social bullying they were suffering from the public.
* The fact that John Hinckley attempted to assassinate President Reagan to impress Jodie Foster led to a state of hysteria among single women about the dangers of [[AllMenArePerverts stalkers and casual relationships]], which had already been the focus of a major panic ever since ''Looking for Mr. Goodbar'' was released. Films such as ''Kramer v. Kramer'' and human-interest stories about the adverse effects of divorce and single motherhood further dampened the 70s-era ideal of the self-sufficient woman (and would not come back until the 2010s), and during the 1980s, the average marrying age for women plummeted and those who still desired to have careers attempted to balance work and family life.
* Similarly, "[[PaedoHunt Stranger danger]]" first began to appear in this decade, with parents concerned that their children could be abducted off the street by predatory pedophiles and/or killers. This was the era of the FaceOnAMilkCarton. However, the fact that most sexual abusers are people known and trusted by their victims -- i.e. family members, coaches, etc. -- was exposed to the public's horror as well. And in a related issue...
* The "Satanic Panic" took off and reached its peak in this decade. Spurred on by alleged "true stories" like ''Michelle Remembers'' and ''The Satan Seller'' (both of which are now widely believed to be [[BasedOnAGreatBigLie fraudulent accounts]]), there was widespread fear among communities, churches, and even law enforcement and social services that there existed an underground network of devil-worshippers who kidnapped, abused, and sacrificed children and other "innocents" in order to gain power from [[{{Satan}} the Dark Lord]]. Your next-door neighbors could be conducting {{virgin sacrifice}}s in their basement and you wouldn't know about it -- [[YouCanPanicNow until they came for you and your loved ones!]] Some of [[ConspiracyTheorist the wackier theories]] even alleged that the Satanists had [[GovernmentConspiracy infiltrated the government, business, and the military]], and were using their resources to not only cover up their evil but facilitate it. Hundreds of people saw their lives destroyed by [[WitchHunt allegations that they were Satanists]], with one of the most notable (and [[IfItBleedsItLeads sensationalized]]) incidents being the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McMartin_preschool_trial McMartin preschool case.]] It got to the point where even Procter & Gamble was accused of being Satanic due to their logo, which they had to change -- they later wound up suing the people who spread the rumors (which caused their stock to plummet) for $19 million.
** A woman in the U.K. claimed that 1 in 4 British adults was a member of the satanist underground.
* In 1985 a committee called the Parents Music Resource Center ([=PMRC=]) managed to get Senate hearings after accusing record companies of making albums with obscene lyrics available to children. Musicians such as Frank Zappa, John Denver, and Dee Snider (of Twisted Sister fame) testified before the committee in opposition to what they viewed as attempts to censor music. In the end, the record industry agreed to voluntarily label albums with lyrics that may be offensive, and that's how the "Parental Advisory: Explicit Content" label that appears on some album covers was born.

'''Technology:'''

* Western pop music began to draw from WorldMusic after two albums in 1980 featured prominent African influences: Music/TalkingHeads' ''Music/RemainInLight'' and Music/PeterGabriel's third SelfTitledAlbum, nicknamed ''Melt'' by fans. Music/PaulSimon had a CareerResurrection with 1986's ''Music/{{Graceland}}'', but the controversy over Simon breaking a cultural boycott in South Africa over apartheid by recording there with black musicians [[GenreKiller put a damper on the trend]], exposing the UnfortunateImplications of white rock musicians [[PrettyFlyForAWhiteGuy appropriating African music]].

* The SummerBlockbuster came to prominence in this decade, spearheaded by the work of Creator/GeorgeLucas and especially Creator/StevenSpielberg (carrying on from the second half of TheSeventies). Spielberg's success with ''Film/ETTheExtraTerrestrial'' in particular made him THE biggest name in Hollywood. Beyond his directorial efforts, he executive produced a number of diverse films that used his input as a selling point and also did well at the box office: ''Film/{{Poltergeist}}'', ''Film/TheGoonies'', ''Film/{{Gremlins}}'', ''Film/BackToTheFuture'', ''WesternAnimation/AnAmericanTail'', etc.

* While Creator/DonBluth used to work for [[Franchise/DisneyAnimatedCanon Disney Animation Studios]], he left in 1979, feeling that Disney they was sacrificing quality in order to save money. He then formed his own animation studio in 1980 with some other former Disney employees. His films tended to have dark sequences and emphasize the quality of animation. While his debut ''WesternAnimation/TheSecretOfNimh'' ended up doing poorly commercially despite positive critical reception, it did gain the attention of businessman Mark Sullivan who moved the studio to Ireland in exchange for a huge grant from the Irish Government. They teamed up with Steven Spielberg to create ''WesternAnimation/AnAmericanTail'' and ''WesternAnimation/TheLandBeforeTime'', both of which performed very well at the box office [[note]] former was the highest grossing animated film in initial release at the time while the latter outgross Disney’s ''Disney/OliverAndCompany'' worldwide despite being released on the same day [[/note]] and received positive critical reception. Bluth cut ties with Spielberg after he kept making changes to the films due to disagreements over what was appropriate for children. Bluth’s success convinced Disney animation that they needed to step up their game. They responded with ''Disney/TheLittleMermaid'' which proved to one of their most successful films in years. While Bluth’s work in this decade helped kickstart the UsefulNotes/TheRenaissanceAgeOfAnimation that would occur throughout the 90s, his fourth film,''WesternAnimation/AllDogsGoToHeaven'' poor box office performance (due to being released at the same time as the Little Mermaid) [[note]] it would later find huge success on VHS [[/note]] began a string of flops for Bluth that would cause his studio to collapse in the 90s.

* The screws really got turned on smoking during the late 1980s as the threat of second-hand smoke became fully accepted and gave the tobacco companies the ultimate PR nightmare: It is one thing to deal with that smoking is hazardous to consumers and making them aware of that, but it is quite another to deal with the fact smoking is also hazardous to anyone who enters in contact with the smoke. While cigarette vending machines were still a common sight in the United States at the beginning of the decade, these were on their way out by its end.
* An ever bigger PR screw-up was caused by the tobacco industry itself at the same time: In an effort to improve sales, Camel introduced the sophisticated Joe Camel as its mascot. Things soon backfired however, as studies showed that the character became popular among children. The ensuing scandal decimated the reputation of cigarette companies among the public and gave pharmaceuticals a decisive lead in their future stalemate against tobacco (that would become a key part of American politics), as well as led to an eventual ban on ''all'' tobacco advertising.
* In a related trend, the deadly traffic menace of drinking and driving was fully publicized in North America. That in turn led to firmer public disapproval of alcohol consumption while, for the first time since the repeal of Prohibition, booze became subject to tougher laws and stricter enforcement.

* The screws really got turned on smoking during the late 1980s as the threat of second-hand smoke became fully accepted and gave the tobacco companies the ultimate PR nightmare: One thing is that smoking is hazardous to consumers and making them aware of that, but it is quite another to deal with the fact smoking is also hazardous to anyone who enters in contact with the smoke. While cigarette vending machines were still a common sight in the United States at the beginning of the decade, these were on their way out by its end.

* Society was ambivalent about yuppies even at the time. It is true that the "self-made man" (read: greedy, rapacious bastard) was idolized, but yuppies were viewed in roughly the same way that the dot com millionaires of the '90s were: a class of smart, driven young men and women, who made vast fortunes nearly instantly by trading on mumbo-jumbo that nobody else understood. They came in for plenty of ribbing as self-interested, too, much as {{hipster}}s are today.

* An ever bigger PR screw-up was caused by the tobacco industry itself at the same time: In an effort to improve sales, Camel introduced the sophisticated Joe Camel as its mascot. Things soon backfired however, as studies showed that the character became popular among children. The ensuing scandal decimated the reputation of cigarettes among the public and gave pharmaceuticals a decisive lead in the future stalemate against tobacco that would become a key part of American politics, as well as led to an eventual ban on ''all'' tobacco advertising.

** At home, however, things were not as well as they seemed - many people were tired of living in a strict, postwar society, many people were ''not'' part of the economic boom or were only so much as working 20 hour days, and while, at the time, Japanese technology was at the top of the world, it would become obsolete. {{Yakuza}} and other criminals infested nearly every part of business and politics and all of the other expanding industries, and the amount of people who were the ObstructiveBureaucrat or outright corrupt involved in every part of the bubble businesses were too numerous to even be counted, as was the financial fraud at nearly every point of it, which often got a pass due to CultureJustifiesAnything and cultural ignorance overseas (meaning someone could run an outright {{Ponzi}}, for example, and say it was Japanese business practice, and a lot of more gullible overseas financial industry people would happily shovel in money, not realizing that native Japanese would spot the scam instantly.) Many disaffected young men became ''bosozoku'' (biker gang members) or ''yankii'' (JapaneseDelinquents) who, alongside Visual bandmen (all of whom readily mixed as subcultures drawing from each other) would get into truly violent and dangerous fights involving knives, baseball bats, fists, improvised weapons, and occasionally fire via Zippo lighters and occasionally ''pyrotechnics''. Mental illness were often unrecognized and poorly treated (in case these were treated at all), working conditions could best be described as "hell on earth," and the use of alcohol and tobacco was irresponsible and off the charts by almost anyone who was an adult, and some who weren't - and the country and several subcultures in it, including the bosozoku, experienced the first "speed boom," with first diverted pharmaceutical pill methamphetamine and soon crystal methamphetamine becoming somewhat available for the first time via the yakuza since the end of WWII. AIDS denialism existed as ''national policy'' and as many people's personal belief, that no Japanese could or would contract HIV/AIDS.

* This decade saw the rise of the sequel. While there had been successful film series going back to the 1930s-'50s, they had mostly been seen as B-level productions. Aside from the long-running Franchise/JamesBond series, sequels to previous hits were rare -- and usually stopped at Part 2. But with the massive success of ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack'' and ''Film/SupermanII'' as the decade dawned, studios were much quicker to capitalize on previous hits for as long as audiences could stand them. It was particularly common for any action and horror film that turned a substantial profit (which wasn't hard given the often-low budgets they had) to have a sequel greenlit. At the end of the decade, four of the top ten grossing films were sequels -- and five other films on that list would receive at least one sequel!

* In live theater, the 1980s was the decade of the "megamusical" -- lavish productions with premises ranging from whimsical (''Theatre/{{Cats}}'', ''Theatre/StarlightExpress'') to highly dramatic (''Theatre/LesMiserables''), but all marked by scores that mixed pop sounds with "traditional" and operatic styles and a tendency towards BIG emotions and BIG showstoppers. The theatrical equivalents of the SummerBlockbuster, and often regarded with just as much disdain by professional critics, SceneryPorn and CostumePorn were the order of the day in these shows. Many were the musical work of British composer Creator/AndrewLloydWebber, and most premiered in London's West End before launching sister productions in New York City and elsewhere. Lloyd Webber's career and the megamusical as a whole reached a peak with 1986's ''Theatre/ThePhantomOfTheOpera'', with the media hype surrounding the show's Broadway debut in 1988 comparable to that of any Hollywood blockbuster of the era.

* EightiesHair tended towards the big and foofy. This was true for men, too -- though never as big as women's hair, men's hair was longish by today's standards, and buzz cuts were extremely rare. Especially in the early '80s, 'fros (afros) hung on from the '70s. Side ponytails and big neon scrunchies were popular among little girls and teenagers. Crimping irons with swappable plates were a must-have, including [[http://i54.tinypic.com/rhjvo4.jpg some]] that did not work at all as intended, unless you turned your hair into a sheet of hairspray and then didn't move. The [[SeventiesHair slightly longer hairstyles from the '70s]] like the bowl cut remained popular for boys and young men into the early '80s.
* While makeup in the decade was truly bold, expressive, and outrageous, in contrast to the bare-faced tanned look of the '70s, makeup in the 1980s wasn't always in neon. Makeup for everyday women, especially in the workplace, favoured pastel shades or the throwback look of TheForties and TheFifties, and updated them to the decade with heavy eyeliner, blush overlapping the temples, and red glossy lips. To find reference on what 1980s everyday makeup looked like, check out young Music/{{Madonna}}, the works of Patrick Nagel or the music videos of Robert Palmer.

* Lingerie became fashionable (again), though bras remained optional. Many women wore soft lingerie such as camisoles and teddies instead of bras.

* Mcdonalds introduced Chicken Mcnuggets in select markets in 1981. They became an instant hit with other locations across the nation wanting them, eventually being done so in 1983.
* Hot Pockets, a brand of microwavable sandwiches, are introduced in 1983. It's original flavor was Ham & Cheese though it has since produced a variety of sandwiches.
* Lunchables, a pre-package lunch often containing crackers, cheese, a beverage (cola or kool aid like drink) and candy, is introduced in 1988. It was particularly aimed at mothers who felt stressed over the lack of time they had to prepare lunches for their children while they were at school.

* The fact that John Hinckley attempted to assassinate President Reagan to impress Jodie Foster led to a state of hysteria among single women about the dangers of [[AllMenArePerverts stalkers and casual relationships]], which had already been the focus of a major panic ever since ''Looking for Mr. Goodbar'' was released. Films such as ''Kramer v. Kramer'' and human-interest stories about the adverse effects of divorce and single motherhood further dampened the 70s-era ideal of the self-sufficient woman, and during the 1980s, the average marrying age for women plummeted and those who still desired to have careers attempted to balance work and family life.

* Television was going through a rough patch. While many shows were holdovers from TheSeventies, the networks had a very hard time keeping new shows on. What shows did survive were massive hits: ''Series/TheCosbyShow'', ''Series/{{Cheers}}'', ''Series/MiamiVice'', etc.

* In the UK, meanwhile, Creator/TheBBC went through a DorkAge due to funding problems and allegations of political bias from both [[UsefulNotes/MargaretThatcher the Thatcher government]] and the unions. Creator/{{ITV}} took advantage, its edgier programming allowing it to sap viewers from what was seen as a stale, safe, and dry Auntie Beeb. Lastly, Creator/{{Channel 4}} was established in 1982 in order to break the [=BBC/ITV=] duopoly, and at the time was known as the most high-brow and intellectual of Britain's TV networks -- [[NetworkDecay a far cry]] from [[LowestCommonDenominator its current reputation]].

* This is the decade where ''[[SoapOpera Telenovelas]]'' began to be known beyond their secluded local markets, with several countries actually knowing for the fisrt time what soaps where being done in other countries of the region (Mexico, the biggest producer of the region, being the exception). Also, productions from Mexico and Venezuela were imported heavily to Spain and other European countries. Spain got such a fever with ''Crystal'', a Venezuelan soap, that their protagonist actors eventually moved and had a quite long career across the pond. Brazilians soaps algo got an small boom, and began to experiment with newer themes and more socially relevant plots, albeit most of these productions began to be more known on other countries on the next decade.

* "[[PaedoHunt Stranger danger]]" first began to appear in this decade, with parents concerned that their children could be abducted off the street by predatory pedophiles and/or killers. This was the era of the FaceOnAMilkCarton. However, the fact that most sexual abusers are people known and trusted by their victims -- i.e. family members, coaches, etc. -- was exposed to the public's horror as well. And in a related issue...

* The screws really got turned on smoking as the threat of second-hand smoke became fully accepted and gave the tobacco companies the ultimate PR nightmare: It is one thing to manipulate their addicts to rationalize what they are doing to their own bodies, but it is quite another to deal with non-smokers who are being threatened by smoking as innocent bystanders. While cigarette vending machines were still a common sight in the United States at the beginning of the decade, they were long gone before its end.
** In a related trend, the deadly traffic menace of drinking and driving was fully publicized in North America. That in turn led to firmer public disapproval, tougher laws and stricter enforcement of them.
* For the most part, the middle class still existed during TheEighties in the US.

** A bubble economy began to rapidly expand from reasons including the acquisition of cheap real estate and the resale of it, political deals, and many other factors, although the most publicly known reason was the overwhelming production of quality electronic goods and quality, safer, and gas-sipping for the time vehicles- to the extent that the US domestic auto industry was absolutely ''destroyed'', as was much of the US domestic consumer electronics manufacturing industry. (By the mid 90s however, it wasn't as much [[YellowPeril the fault of the Japanese]] as the fault of the Detroit auto industry and much of the US consumer electronics industry being absolutely insistent on refusing to change and compete. They instead demanded protection and were outright racist, which did ''nothing'' to improve their products or save their employees' jobs. It wasn't until over 20 to 25 years after TheEighties that US consumer electronics and US auto manufacturing began to rebound, with US-based companies finally changing and improving, and Japanese companies beginning to stagnate just like the US. In some cases they themselves became the US autoworking industry).
** It was a period where almost everyone who wasn't dirt poor was either rich, becoming rich, or knew someone who was well off (even the middle class, though insanely overworked and living in tiny homes, had a lot of disposable income for the first time, which led to the massive growth of the entertainment and hospitality industries), and being Japanese was often equated with being rich. As a result, the JapanTakesOverTheWorld and the JapaneseTourist tropes developed, with rich Japanese moving to the US and Europe as well either for business or personal reasons.
** It was the first and only time until ''much'' later on that Japanese music acts toured widely outside the country with the HairMetal/proto-visual act Music/{{Loudness}} touring with Music/MotleyCrue and filming in the US, the HairMetal/proto-visual act [[Music/MasakiYamada EZO]] getting signed to Geffen Records and performing in the US, and even Music/XJapan trying for what would be (for [[FrivolousLawsuit various reasons]]) an abortive attempt at performing in the US and still filming within it anyway.

** At home, however, things were not as well as they seemed - many people were tired of living in a strict, postwar society, many people were ''not'' part of the economic boom or were only so much as working 20 hour days, and while, at the time, Japanese technology was at the top of the world, it would become obsolete. {{Yakuza}} and other criminals infested nearly every part of business and politics and all of the other expanding industries, and the amount of people who were the ObstructiveBureaucrat or outright corrupt involved in every part of the bubble businesses were too numerous to even be counted, as was the financial fraud at nearly every point of it, which often got a pass due to CultureJustifiesAnything and cultural ignorance overseas (meaning someone could run an outright {{Ponzi}}, for example, and say it was Japanese business practice, and a lot of more gullible overseas financial industry people would happily shovel in money, not realizing that native Japanese would spot the scam instantly.) Many disaffected young men became [[JapaneseDelinquents ''bosozoku'']] (biker gang members) or ''yankii'' (JapaneseDelinquents), and occasionally bosozoku, yankii, and Visual bandmen (all of whom readily mixed as subcultures drawing from each other) would get into truly violent and dangerous fights involving knives, baseball bats, fists, improvised weapons, and occasionally fire via Zippo lighters and occasionally pyrotechnics. Mental illness was often unrecognized and untreated (or poorly treated), working conditions could best be described as "hell on earth," and the use of alcohol and tobacco was irresponsible and off the charts by almost anyone who was an adult, and some who weren't - and the country and several subcultures in it, including the bosozoku, experienced the first "speed boom," with first diverted pharmaceutical pill methamphetamine and soon crystal methamphetamine becoming somewhat available for the first time via the yakuza since postwar times. AIDS denialism existed as ''national policy'' and as many people's personal belief, that no Japanese could or would contract HIV/AIDS.

* Jeans weren't baggy -- they were worn [[PaintedOnPants as tight as possible]]. Given that skintight jeans could be very hard to get on or off over one's feet, some styles had zippers at the back of the ankle. While not terribly widespread, this hung on into the early nineties, until such tight jeans fell out of style.

* Latin-American countries were another thing completely. Most countries were in a "One song by local artist for one from foreign ones" model of protectionism, which created small musical ecosystems whose artists rarely crossed over frontiers. No artist really believed they could make it on the American market, so the idea of "crossover" didn't really exist, or just was limited to playing in either a neighboring country or making it on Mexico, the biggest market at the time. Most of the music done at the time were done in the style of American pop music, just blander. There were also the apex of the trend of covers from American or European songs done by local artists in other styles, like Ballads by Celine Dion or Dolly Parton covered by Dominican band Las Chicas del Can as dominican merengue. Salsa musicians softened their sound, and an style named "Salsa Erotica", with quite risque lyrics soon emerged. In the Caribbean, Dominican Merengue reigned supreme, with Wilfrido Vargas and Juan Luis Guerra as the kings genre. Spain managed to send some of their budding pop-rock artists to its former colonies, with some success. And the Rock En Español scene, while still semi-isolated to their respective countries was brewing and maturating quickly, specially in Argentina.