The Reagan Legacy Seen in Film

Ronald Reagan made his original fame as a Hollywood actor and it occurred to me that you could see visible evidence of his legacy and his effect on America via Hollywood and the films that were made during his Presidency.

I believe that Reagan had the greatest influence on rebuilding our economy and our military and through the renewed vigor in both he gave this nation the strength to win the Cold War.

When Reagan came into office the spirits and condition of America were at a low point. "Malaise" economics hadn't yet been replaced by Reaganomics (which was a perjorative term at the time - it helps to remember that). People were making movies about New York City like 1981's Escape from New York .

The tagline to Escape From New York was "1997. New York City is now a maximum security prison. Breaking out is impossible. Breaking in is insane." People believed that this plot was very plausible. Yeah - lot's of hope for the future in this movie.

The movie that seemed to best display the general feeling on the military and our battle against the USSR was 1982's Firefox starring Clint Eastwood.

In the movie the Russians have come up with a "super" plane that was years ahead of our technology. This plane would tip the balance of power onto the side of the Communists and generally be the ruin of the western world. The US had to steal the technology from the Russians in order for our way of life to survive (irony anyone?). The only person we had in our military capable to do the job of stealing the plane was Mitchell Gant - a brilliant pilot who is haunted by "spells" brought on because of the horrors he saw in Vietnam.

This movie was a synopsis of how Hollywood saw the Cold War in a nutshell.

By the end of Reagan's second term - the US had changed so much that the prototypical movie about New York was 1987's Wall Street which tried to show a seamy side to the economy's success. The producers thought they nailed it with Michael Douglas' "Greed is Good" speech. What they failed to realize was that most people who saw that movie agreed on a basic level with Douglas' character. Looking out for one's personal success made it possible to write bigger checks to charity. What's wrong with that?

In Reagan's American - New York City had been transformed from America's jail to America's bank.

The changed views on the military were probably best displayed in 1990's The Hunt for Red October. By the time the movie had opened - world event's had changed so much with the fall of the Berlin Wall and the breakup of the USSR that the movie had to have a disclaimer at the beginning.

If you think of way the military and the CIA was portrayed in The Hunt for Red October - you have to be struck by how positive and "can do" the characters are. Try to picture a movie on the military being that positive during Jimmy Carter's term.

Reagan changed our country so much during his two terms that even Hollywood had to acknowledge it. That says alot.