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80s Movies: Toxic Culture Like Toxic Food
The 80s were the decade of Gordon Gekko, Reagan, black stockings and garter belts, and Nic Cage’s most iconic role
I used to unfairly ask my students to guess my age and proudly brag that I was a “woman of the 80s.”
Absolutely. Such a woman of the 80s. I just watched all of one of Nicolas Cage’s most famous films, Vampire’s Kiss, the other evening.
My God, it’s so 80s, I thought. From the giant hair and giant shoulder pads to the “sexy” requirement of every one of Cage’s love interests to disrobe down to black stockings and garter belts —
Obsession with vampirism (immortality, wealth, glamor)
Vicious abuse of women
Insanely self-centered man
Easy hookup sex (HIV/AIDs just emerging)
All-night coke binging
Yep: the 80s.
Nicolas Cage has credited this role (you have to see it to believe it) as being one of the formative ones of his career. Don’t get me wrong: I like Nic Cage and I am fine with his checkered (to put it mildly) film career. His over-the-top antics in Vampire’s Kiss are the best reason to watch the movie.
Although now his bug-eyed, whacked-out faux-vampire expressions are fuel for endless internet memes, you can see several homages to…
