3.+Los+Angeles+in+1980's

Los Angeles in the 1980's

Aim:

Generally speaking, Los Angeles in the 1980's was trying to be a powerhouse for culture in the United States. Surrounded by the ever-changing film industry of the 1980's, the people of Los Angeles were essentially forced to be surrounded by culture. So, the aim of Los Angeles was to be America's powerhouse of culture in the 1980's. "In Los Angeles, like no other place in the world, banda covers of punk classics, dancing customized cars and situationist performances coexist with each other without fear of abandonment" (Kcet). The aim was no fear culture. Broad daylight huge decisions in fashion, technology, automotive, and art. Essentially what they strove was to make a statement and that's exactly what they did. Los Angeles told the rest of the city that they were there and they showed it very clearly with every article, movie, and picture that came out of that city in the 1980's. Los Angeles had an aim to make a statement.

Audience:

The audience that Los Angeles in the 1980's was striving for was: everyone. LA wasn't a one gun show, it had a lot of guns. Those guns showed everyone what they were made of very loudly and proudly and without caring who knew. That was the point, much like the aim making a statement, their audience is everyone who that statement is delivered to. And LA knew it was cool, and they catered to the people that thought they were cool. "Old-school cosplayers were f*g rad. They'd spend hours constructing costumes, sometimes with zero guarantee that anybody would know who the hell they were" (Lamar). This quote is the audience. The people that thought that LA was cool, was the cool audience. LA wasn't just a bevy of the same people who are all from the same walk of life, it was everyone who heard about LA, becoming LA. LA in the 1980's knew it was cool and it knew it was on the verge of culture at every moment in time. So they catered to those people that they wanted to come to LA, and pump blood into the culture there.

Cultural:

The culture of Los Angeles in the 1980's was just like every other 1980's culture. However, they set the culture. LA knew what was cool, when it was cool, and how long it would be cool for. Acid washed jeans for 2 1/2 years and then smooth straight into baggy jeans. "Tony Hawk re-imagined skateboarding and soon kids were slipping how-to tapes into their VCRs and irritating park officials across the country. Steve Jobs argued that computers were the future of communication and soon everybody had one. An assassination attempt not only cemented Ronald Reagan's reputation for wit and resilience — it also gave birth to CNN" (McNamara). All of these things were pinnacle points of the 1980's and LA was on top of them. Skating, digital age, computers- LA had it all at their fingertips and the money to spare to get it. Why? Because that was LA culture. CULTURE was LA culture. Knowing what was cool and what the country was doing was the culture of LA. They were the tip of the spear and they ran with it.

Historical:

Historically, LA is known for the culture, the pinnacle, and the change. Riots did happen in LA, gang activity was present. It wasn't all Macbooks and pagers. There was history made there as well. Riots happened as Rodney King and Latasha Harlins incidents happened in south LA. Rodney King being the man that was near beaten to death for speeding from police officers. Latasha being the girl killed by a Korean store owner trying to purchase juice. These events sparked rioting and equal rights movements across LA and the country. "The riots were more organized and South LA began to burn. Korean store owners came to defend their stores and had gunbattles with rioters. There were not any police or National Guard present at this point as LA burned" (Yola). They knew that it was history in the making. Not good history, not just history. But history none the less. The LA riots became a beacon of change and equal rights and sparked riots around the country in places like Chicago and Las Vegas. It was a chance for their voices to be heard because, before this time, they had not been heard loudly.

Yola. "LA Riots". South Central History. LA Riots. Web. 1 April 2015.

McNamara. "LA in the 80's". Time Magazine. Entertainment. Web. 1 April 2015.

“Artbound Los Angeles” kcet.com. Arts. Web. 1 April 2015.

Lamar, Cyriaque. "Scenes from a Los Angeles Scifi Convention". io9.com. Cons. Web. 1 April 2015.