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While the music video was still in its infancy as a cultural phenomenon, two films were released that were accused of aping the “MTV aesthetic”: Adrian Lyne’s Flashdance, and Risky Business, which turned Tom Cruise into a major star. Today we’ll talk about what the “MTV aesthetic” was and why it was considered a big deal for movies to be influenced about it, and we’ll examine how both of these movies treated sex work and race within the context of 80s social mores and Reagan capitalism.
SHOW NOTES:
Sources:
Hollywood Animal by Joe Esterhas
They Can Kill You But They Can’t Eat You by Dawn Steel
Imagining the Mulatta: Blackness in U.S. and Brazilian Media Paperback by Jasmine Mitchell, May 25, 2020
Pittsburgh And Dance, by Janet Maslin, the New York Times, April 15, 1983
Movie Review: When The Plot Is Just A 'Flashdance' In The Pan by Sheila Benson, Los Angeles Times, April 15, 1983
Ok, Jennifer, Who Did The Dancing? by Deborah Caulfield, Los Angeles Times, April 1983
Truth In Dancing by Marvin Jones, Los Angeles Times, May 1, 1983
Sure-footed Beals, Screen International, Issue 402, July 9, 1983
The Real Flashdancer Finally Gets Her Due, by Fawn Vrazo, Philadelphia Inquirer, August 8, 1983
High Concept: Don Simpson and the Hollywood Culture of Excess by Charles Fleming, apnews.com
Flashdance, by Roger Ebert April 19, 1983
Film Reviews: Flashdance, Variety, Apr 20, 1983
Film View; Under The 1983 Chic, Movies Still Leer At Women by Janet Maslin, May 22, 1983 the New York Times
'Invisible Marketing' Helps 'Flashdance' Sell by Aljean Harmetz, Special To the New York Times June 4, 1983
MTV Aesthetics At The Movies: Interrogating A Film Criticism Fallacy, Journal of Film and Video, Vol. 59, No. 3, Fall 2007, pp. 15-31, Published By: University of Illinois Press
Beals Would Prefer Yale to Stardom, Los Angeles Times, Oct 8, 1982
Flashdance' Star Taps Her Own Beat London, Michael. Los Angeles Times, May 8, 1983
Flashdance, The Dead End Kid by Kathryn Kalinak, Jump Cut: A Review of Contemporary Media, no. 29, February 1984, pp. 3-5
Bein’s Believing by Gary Susman, Time Magazine, April 14, 2013
‘Flashdance,’ 30 Years Later: B-Boy Recalls Girling Up for Final Scene, Yahoo.com, April 15, 2013
What Hurt Feelings: The Untold Story Of The 31-Year Battle Over "Flashdance" Buzzfeed.com, Aug 14, 2014
‘I’ve Had Letters From Klansmen’: Jennifer Beals on Flashdance, The L Word and fighting to get Diverse Stories Told by Zoe Williams, The Guardian, Mon Feb 7, 2022
The Flashdance Phenomenon When 'Flashdance' Premiered 17 Years Ago, Movies and Music Were Welded Together by Rebecca Ascher-Walsh, Entertainment Weekly, April 21, 2000
Jennifer Beals: Sultry Student Strikes Stardom In 'Flashdance', Jet Magazine, June 6, 1983
Risky Business by Duane Byrge, The Hollywood Reporter, Vol. 277, Iss. 45, Jul 25, 1983
Film Reviews: Risky Business CART.Variety (Archive: 1905-2000); Los Angeles Vol. 311, Iss. 13, (Jul 27, 1983): 21
Film: Paul Brickman's 'Risky Business' by Janet Maslin, The New York Times, Aug. 5, 1983
He Coos And She Bills In 'Risky Business': 'Risky Business' by Sheila Benson, Los Angeles Times, Aug 5, 1983
Risky Business: Kid Cruise Critiques Capitalism, In honor of the Drafthouse's Summer of '83 screening, resident Tom Cruise expert Amy Nicholson talks RISKY BUSINESS! by Amy Nicholson, birthmoviesdeath.com, May. 31, 2013
Cameron Crowe on Tom Cruise, Interview Magazine via theuncool.com, May, 1986
My Wild Summer With Tom Cruise: Women, Sean Penn and the Making of ‘Risky Business’ By Curtis Armstrong, The Hollywood Reporter, June 21, 2017
"Risky Business" Director: “Some People Like The Visibility. I Don't", The Reclusive Director Of The 1983 Hit Talks To Salon About The Film, Tom Cruise, And Turning Down "Forrest Gump by Jake Malooley, Salon.com, September 2, 2013
Why It Took So Long For MTV To Play Black Music Videos by Margena A. Christian, Jet Magazine, October 9, 2006
Flashback: David Bowie Rips Into MTV for Not Spotlighting Black Artists, Interview from MTV, 1983, Rollingstone.com
The 500 Greatest Songs Since You Were Born: Number 1, Blender, October 2005
How the 'Billie Jean' Video Changed MTV by Tamara Palmer, theroot.com, March 10, 2013
Jets, Jeans and Hovis by Sam Delaney, The Guardian, Aug 23, 2007
Special Section on MTV, Film Comment, July/August 1983
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Tom Cruise in Risky Business, 1983
Music:
The music used in this episode, with the exception of the intro, was sourced from royalty-free music libraries and licensed music collections. The intro includes a clip from the film Casablanca.
Excerpts from the following songs were used throughout the episode:
"Rumoi Night" - Kokura Station
"Dimming Circuit" - Limoncello
"Pxl Htra" - The Fence
"Kovd" - Fjell
"Even Dreams of Beaches" - Resolute
"Trek VX" - Limoncello
"Pxl Deter" - The Fence
"Hutter" - Pglet
"Still Nite" - Pglet
"Pxl Cray" - The Fence
"The Killjoy Brothers" - Kittyhawk
"Gamboler" - Pglet
"Readers Do You Read" - Chris Zabriskie
Credits:
This episode was written, narrated, and produced by Karina Longworth.
Our editor this season is Evan Viola.
Research and production assistant: Lindsey D. Schoenholtz.
Social media assistant: Brendan Whalen.
Logo design: Teddy Blanks.
Rebecca de Mornay and Tom Cruise, Risky Business, 1983