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Alex Tomoff

Mr. Fonash

English 137H

6 December 2014

Don’t Deny This Decade: A Socio-historical Analysis of the Paradigm Shift in Lifestyles During

the 1990’s

Many Americans know that, now twenty-five years ago, the fall of the Berlin Wall marked the beginning of the end of the Cold War. Yet, most probably do not know about the subtle yet notable changes that this brought to the . Former German President Horst

Koehler (2004-2010) stated, "The Berlin Wall was an edifice of fear. For twenty-eight years,

East Germans could not even approach it. On Nov. 9, 1989, people danced on it — and the world looked different afterward" (1). After the defeat of the Soviet Union, Americans had nothing to fear. Consequently, this apathy allowed the 1990’s to vanquish the iconic passion and distinct morality of the 1960’s, 70’s, and 80’s during the heart of the Cold War, leaving behind a society plagued by nihilism, ignorance, and debility. , President of the , noticed this major departure from social activism, virtue, and appreciation during this era, which he documented in his work, Decade of Denial: A Snapshot of America in the 1990’s (2001). The

Decade of Denial represents a perturbing paradigm shift, beginning in the early 1990’s and lasting arguably until the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. The noteworthy movement toward indifference during this time period is most evident in the United States’ governmental policies, art, literature, and film.

In the few decades leading up to the Decade of Denial, America was predominantly a progressive, zealous nation that strived to establish and support a lawful, equal, and moral Tomoff 2 society. The social zeitgeist of this time drove the nation through significant political events, such as the Civil Rights Movement and Johnson’s Great Society. This common desire to form a moral foundation for the U.S. became most apparent when one of the most influential people in the country tried to upset it. Not even President Nixon could get away with the Watergate

Scandal, where he tried to steal important information from the Democratic Party headquarters in an attempt to win the 1972 election. His popularity ratings fell from 58% at the beginning of his second term to 24% after the disclosure of Watergate in July of 1974 (Smyth and Taylor 585).

President Reagan continued to follow the theme of moral law when he fired over 11,000 PATCO air traffic controllers on strike in 1981. Reagan simply stated in a press conference that he fired them because they were in “violation of the law” for not upholding their civic responsibilities

(1). Throughout the decades leading up to the 1990’s, the law was maintained with a fairly strict set of principles determined by the values of a zealous society.

The U.S. was not just active on a domestic basic before the decade of denial; the country also maintained an international interventionist policy in order to uphold the principles of

American exceptionalism. This policy sought to establish the American ideology at a global scale. For instance, Reagan prompted Operation Urgent Fury in 1983, when the U.S. invaded the small Caribbean island of Grenada in fear of the nation’s Communist Party potentially being a threat to Americans residing on the island. This fear was quite exaggerated, as Reagan likely just wanted to establish the military’s dominance at an international level after the failure of

Vietnam. President Bush also saw the country participate in the Gulf War in an effort to keep

Iraq, under the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein, from gaining control of Kuwait’s oil reservoirs.

Interestingly, the war became known as the “Video Game War” due to the media’s constant presence on the frontlines of each battle. It is quite apparent that the U.S. wanted to maintain Tomoff 3 social order and law both at home and abroad leading up to the 1990’s, but this did not last for long.

There was one major change that ended the American people’s desire to establish their global utopia, and that was the collapse of the Soviet Union in the December of 1991. Without a common enemy as substantial as the Soviet Union, the U.S. could not shape its ideology and principles according to the ideology that it was trying to fight against. After so many years of international pressure and conflict, the U.S. could definitively take the spot as the one and only world superpower. The American people could finally live out their lives knowing that they were safe from the world’s greatest evils, but this had numerous consequences.

During the heart of the 1990’s, the U.S. fell into a period of social indifference and apathy, as there was no longer any motivation to continue building a moral stronghold. President

Clinton’s foreign and domestic policies most clearly highlight this new approach to social issues during the Decade of Denial. For instance, Clinton initially began with an interventionist policy by participating in the civil war in Somalia. However, after Americans found out that nineteen soldiers were killed in 1993, they pressured Clinton to pull out of Somalia. They simply no longer wanted to fight for the safety of others abroad if that meant jeopardizing the well-being of their own people. More shockingly, the U.S. completely ignored the genocide between the Hutus and Tutsis in Rwanda during the mid 1990’s, where up to a million Rwandans were killed. This exemplifies the isolationist policy of the U.S. during the Decade of Denial; Americans simply wanted to maintain peace at home and stay removed from potentially perilous duties in foreign conflicts.

Domestically, the U.S. also began to lose its sense of activism and passion for civic engagement. Clinton instituted a number of new weapons laws, such as the Brady Bill in 1993 Tomoff 4 and the Federal Assault Weapons Ban in 1994. While this legislation made it more difficult for

Americans to buy various firearms, it is more important to look at what this meant symbolically for the nation. The guns themselves symbolize the American mentality and determination to fight for the nation’s principled foundation, especially regarding the few decades prior to the Decade of Denial. Yet, in the 1990’s, just as these guns were reduced in power and number, so too was the people’s desire to care. The 1990’s also saw another national scandal, but the American people responded much differently in this case compared to the Watergate Scandal. Clinton may have had sexual relations with a White House intern infamously known as Monica Lewinsky in

1998, but the American people simply did not seem to care. In fact, Clinton’s popularity ratings rose from 63% before the House impeachment vote to 73% after the vote (Smyth and Taylor

585). American satisfaction ratings were relatively high, and the people did not want to endanger the status quo. Herbert London writes in his work, Decade of Denial, “Americans have apparently reached a new level of cynicism. If the president is above the law, any rationalization can be employed to excuse his behavior” (120). Furthermore, when London asked a guest at a dinner party in the late 1990’s about Clinton’s affair, he responded, “The economy is doing well, and that’s all I care about” (120). The Lewinsky Scandal is one of the defining moments of the

1990’s that exposed the people’s desire to ignore moral issues in order to maintain their alleged utopia after the fall of the Soviet Union. All of this apathy did not go unnoticed, however, and the resulting critical response helped capture the depth of the Decade of Denial.

The arts, literature, and film of the 1990’s tended to reflect the social direction – or lack thereof – in the United States. In the arts, deconstructionist critical theory began to become more popular. This literary theory suggested that no work could exemplify an absolute meaning.

Rather, there could be multiple interpretations, some of which might contradict each other and Tomoff 5 still be perfectly acceptable. Jeff Koons’ “Balloon Dog” sculpture represents this movement fairly well, as he stated, “[The sculpture] is a very optimistic piece. It’s a balloon that a clown would maybe twist for you at a birthday party. But at the same time it’s a Trojan horse”

(Sylvester 339). Essentially, Koons is commenting on the abstract nature of the sculpture that enables the work to take on so many diverse, individualistic meanings. This is exactly what happened in the U.S. during the 1990’s; people simply acquired individual worldviews and ignored the validity of other potential causes that might challenge their own.

Fig. 1. Koons, Jeff. Balloon Dog (Orange). 2008. Sculpture. Museum of

Contemporary Art, Chicago. Tomoff 6

The film industry also acknowledged the changes in American society during the 1990’s by continuing the development of the deconstructionist critical theory and introducing new character developments reflective of both new and old social norms. Regarding deconstruction,

Jeffrey “The Dude” Lebowski from the Coen Brothers’ 1998 crime-comedy film The Big

Lebowski is quite famous for his saying, “Yeah, well, ya know, that’s just, like, your opinion man” (28:30). The Dude represents the 1990’s lifestyle of social indifference; he truly does not seem to care what others think of him. Additionally, he is frequently portrayed as an incompetent and socially isolated character in the film. Essentially, he embodies the new anti-hero archetype in film. While buying his milk at the grocery store during the film’s exposition – quite a noble act –, The Dude hears President Bush on television say, “This aggression will not stand,” during a speech on September 11, 1991 regarding Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait. Later on, The

Dude misuses this line in a trivial matter while visiting the “rich” Mr. Lebowski’s mansion to get a new rug to replace his old one that a group of nihilists soiled (he thought they were associated with this other “Lebowski”). The Dude just wants to maintain his simplistic lifestyle and disregard both interpersonal and universal conflicts that may disrupt his personal goals. Herbert

London acknowledges that many of the most critically acclaimed films during the 1990’s, such as L.A. Confidential, Good Will Hunting, and Titanic, also depicted protagonists with intrinsic

“flaws” (9-10). Ultimately, Hollywood was telling America that traditional heroism was just not necessary anymore and that people should glorify the imperfections of society, which previous generations had avidly tried to fix with a progressive outlook lost in the succession of time.

The other main character in The Big Lebowski, a Vietnam War veteran named Walter

Sobchak, depicts a completely different lifestyle representative of the passion and zeal of the

1960’s. That is, Walter is often pictured as a relic of the past. For example, while The Dude talks Tomoff 7 at a bowling tournament about the nihilists that broke into his house and ruined his rug, Walter, mainly depicted by close ups, consistently makes sure everyone knows the rules of bowling, or, more specifically, “his” rules. He continually refers to a “line in the sand” that society cannot cross (8:40). This line becomes physically apparent later on when another bowler supposedly steps over the foul line. In a close up, Walter aggressively calls out this competitor and orders him to mark the score a zero according to his personal judgment. Walter, at first seen sitting down from a high angle, pulls out a gun and stands up to meet the eye-level of the camera’s perspective (17:45). The kinesis, camera angle, and close camera proximity, as part of the shot’s mise-en-scene, connote how Walter uses excessive and belligerent actions to engage in numerous social matters and literally change the audience’s perspective of him. Walter does this in order to enforce his values, cause social change, and become a leader in his world. Overall, the cinematic techniques associated with Walter’s character emphasize his higher emotional tension, prominent involvement in nearly all his scenes, and profound relationship with society as a whole (qualities that most people lacked in the 1990’s). The Coen Brothers seemingly knew that this paradigm shift was occurring when they made The Big Lebowski, as their cinematic techniques develop their characters in ways that define the change in lifestyle from the Cold War era to the 1990’s. Tomoff 8

Fig. 2. Walter pulling out a gun during a bowling tournament. The Big

Lebowski. Dir. Joel Coen and Ethan Coen. Gramercy, 1998. Film.

Lastly, literature also recognized the paradigm shift of the Decade of Denial in its reflection on the social ennui of people during the time. While Bret Ellis published his novel,

American Psycho, in 1991, he still seemed to accurately portray the direction that society was headed at the time. Patrick Bateman, a businessman living in who is secretly a serial killer with an extremely complex cognizance, narrates the contentious story. He notices a particular obliviousness of the people around him. For instance, while using the bathroom at the

Dorsia restaurant, Bateman reflects, “I stare into a thin, web-like crack above the urinal's handle Tomoff 9 and think to myself that if I were to disappear into that crack, say somehow miniaturize and slip into it, the odds are good that no one would notice I was gone. No… one… would… care” (104).

The novel is essentially a satire of how insensitive and unaware society was becoming during the start of the 1990’s. Kurt Vonnegut’s semi-autobiographical work, Timequake, even sees the author himself, represented by the fictional character Kilgore Trout, question the meaning of why he continues to write in the first place. This is because people in the present year of 2001 keep getting sent back in time to 1991 to relive their actions, no matter how immoral, without any free will. Eventually, civilization is gripped by apathy, for they can no longer deal with so much repetitive evil. Vonnegut writes, “Many people need desperately to receive this message: I feel and think as much as you do, care about many of the things you care about, although most people don’t care about them. You are not alone” (221). It is almost as if Vonnegut is saying that people simply do not care about his writing and passion anymore. Yet, Trout is unaffected by the coldness caused by the timequakes, and he responds to Vonnegut’s dilemma by aspiring for other people to begin to care once again. He tells the people at the end of the work, “You were sick, but now you’re well, and there’s work to do” (196). It is interesting how Vonnegut metaphorically relates this apathy to a disease, as if people are destined to go through difficult times every so often only to get better again once a cure is found. While 1990’s art, film, and literature seemed to portray a troubled society dealing with indifference, there still remained a glimpse of the past or hope for something to change in the future that would bring back the lost, traditional, civic lifestyle to the American people once again.

Ultimately, the Decade of Denial, as with any other period of cultural dormancy, was simply a period of waiting for a change back to social activism. With this description in mind, the Decade of Denial arguably concluded with the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, which Tomoff 10 brought the American people back together against a common enemy. For the first time in years, the entire country shared common feelings of despair, experienced the same tragedy, and, most notably, shared the same desire to take action and bring justice back to the world. The Decade of

Denial shows that national sentiments can drive a nation to drastically change both foreign and domestic policies and redefine our principles. The cultural works of the 1990’s continue to and will always allow future generations to reflect on the numerous alterations in American society and why lifestyles changed in the first place. While the 1990’s may seem to represent a conflicted society through the viewpoint of the Decade of Denial, these types of paradigm shifts are necessary to help people learn from the past, keep this country fresh, reestablish a civic, moral order, and be ready to respond to new major issues when the time is right.

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Works Cited

The Big Lebowski. Dir. Joel Coen and Ethan Coen. Gramercy, 1998. Film.

David Sylvester. “Interview with Jeff Koons.” Interviews with American Artists. New Haven,

Connecticut: Yale University Press, 2001. Print.

Ellis, Bret. American Psycho. New York: Vintage Books, 1991. Print.

Koons, Jeff. Balloon Dog (Orange). 1994. Sculpture. Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago.

London, Herbert. Decade of Denial: A Snapshot of America in the 1990s. Lanham: Lexington

Books, 2001. Print

Reagan, Ronald. Remarks and a Question and Answer with Reporters on the Air Traffic

Controllers Strike. 3 Aug. 1981, Washington D.C. Ronald Reagan Presidential Library,

5 Sept. 1984. Print.

Smyth, D.J., and Taylor, S.W. “Presidential Popularity: what Matters Most, Macroeconomics or

Microeconomics?” Applied Economics Letters 10.9 (2003): 585. Business Source

Premier. Web. 3 Dec. 2014.

“Voices from Berlin Celebrations.” Toronto Star. Joseph E. Atkinson, 9 Nov. 2009. Web. 3 Dec.

2014.

Vonnegut, Kurt. Timequake. New York: Putnam Publishing Group, 1997.