I Want My MIRV: MTV as Cold War History Lesson

[Tegyrius]

While skimming threads elsenet, I came across this article from The Atlantic regarding the Cold War cultural phenomenon that was MTV and its contemporary music:

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/05/my-mtv-cold-war-retrospective/618812/

Perhaps we should start putting together a Cold War cultural reference list for arriving new players who didn't live through that era.

(@Raellus, the article may have extra relevance for your day job.)

- C.

[Raellus]

@Raellus, the article may have extra relevance for your day job.)

Awesome find, Teg! I have an '80s Cold War songs playlist that I drop occasionally but it never occurred to me to show music videos to my students (slaps forehead). I'm definitely going to bookmark this for next year.

:cool:

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[Silent Hunter UK]

Since we're focussing on the 1980s, I would suggest the James Bond films For Your Eyes Only, Octopussy and The Living Daylights for some of the depictions of the 'Russians' in the Cold War.

It's also important to not ignore Libya in all of this, with Gaddafi very much a villainous figure in Western popular culture - he armed the IRA and other terrorist groups. See Airwolf and the "Bilya"-set Iron Eagle.

[Raellus]

Since we're focussing on the 1980s, I would suggest the James Bond films For Your Eyes Only, Octopussy and The Living Daylights for some of the depictions of the 'Russians' in the Cold War.

It's also important to not ignore Libya in all of this, with Gaddafi very much a villainous figure in Western popular culture - he armed the IRA and other terrorist groups. See Airwolf and the "Bilya"-set Iron Eagle.

Good call. IIRC, Libyan terrorists are the ones after Doc Brown's plutonium in Back To The Future (1985).

Yeah, the "Russians" were the bad guys in many a film during the Cold War (Red Dawn, Rocky IV, Rambo II & III, are just a few examples). There are also some pretty harrowing films about nuclear war (The Day After traumatized me as a kid and I didn't even watch it!). The trouble is, teachers generally don't have time to show full-length feature films in class, and admin tends to frown on the practice. We've been trying to get a History in Film elective going at my high school for the past 10 years or so but it would have to be an elective course, and we've never had enough kids sign up to make it fly.

Music videos are bite sized, though, so it's not a big time investment for a potentially big impact/connection, and some kids get a kick out of how pop sounds and looks have changed since the 1980s.

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[Ancestor]

This...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gf1GIrZWOig&list=RDGf1GIrZWOig&start_radio=1

[Ancestor]

Since we're focussing on the 1980s, I would suggest the James Bond films [I]For Your Eyes Only

My grandparents got HBO in the summer of 1982. They had a pool. I often pretended that I was 007 saving Melina Havelock from the KGB. What a gorgeous woman. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carole_Bouquet

[Raellus]

Inspired by the article that Teg linked in the OP, a few years ago, I created this bonus lesson for my AP US History students (16-17yo). I thought they'd really get into it, but the overall response has been a bit more muted than I expected/hoped. Maybe some of you GenX'ers out there will appreciate this.


The Cold War on MTV

“Everybody's got a bomb
We could all die any day, aw
But before I'll let that happen
I'll dance my life away”

-1999, Prince (1982)


Big Question: How were anxieties about the Cold War- especially the possibility of a nuclear war between the USA and USSR- reflected in the pop music of the 1980s?

Directions: Watch the music videos and listen to the song lyrics. How does the imagery in the video reflect anxiety about the Cold War? How do the lyrics of the song reflect anxiety about the Cold War? (Lyrics for the first four songs are provided on p. 3 of this doc.*)


1999 (1982) by Prince (USA)- peaked at #12 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in the USA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rblt2EtFfC4

It’s a Mistake (1983) by Men at Work (Australia)- peaked at #6 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in the USA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0AxrOUJ62E

99 Red Balloons (1984) by Nena (West Germany)- German version peaked at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in the USA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiwgOWo7mDc

Russians (1985) by Sting (UK)- peaked at #16 the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in USA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHylQRVN2Qs

Distant Early Warning (1984) by RUSH (Canada)- peaked at #4 on the US Billboard Mainstream Rock Chart in the USA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wrDj5XvZXX4

Two Tribes (1984) by Frankie Goes to Hollywood (UK)- peaked at #43 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in USA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pO1HC8pHZw0

Land of Confusion (1986) by Genesis (UK)- peaked at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in the USA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yq7FKO5DlV0

The Future’s So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades (1986) by Timbuk 3 (US)- peaked at #19 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in the USA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qrriKcwvlY


*A Google doc.

...

A music-related thread:

https://forum.juhlin.com/showthread.php?t=6066&highlight=music

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