1984 Overview
1984 Overview
1984 was quite an eventful year. The trial case and ruling against Big Tobacco, the massive escalation of tensions within India and with their neighbor Pakistan, the beginning of a transitional period for automobiles, heralding their decline in usage, the Olympics in Los Angeles and of course, the the reelection of President Mo Udall. With everything that was happening, it would see that 1984 truly was the first year of a new period of time for not just the United States, but also the world as well. The ruling against the tobacco company would set the ground work for various industries to be held accountable for conspiring to defraud the American public by denying or misdirecting about the dangers of their product. Meanwhile, with the assassination of the prime minister in India with the anti-Sikh riots following along with the war with Pakistan, the nations became more wary of the troubles there.Additionally, neither side possessed nuclear weaponry, their allies hesitant on sharing it with them. While this would mean there would not be the danger of using them, this also meant that MAD was not in effect for the growing tensions and conflicts with various politicians, pundits and scholars noting that it would be only a matter of time before an internal or external factor would provoke them. Contrast this with the situation just some miles to the west, where the Iran-Iraq War was nearing its end as the forces of the Iranian government grew closer and closer to Baghdad. Other places in the world were also undergoing this period of transition to quieter times for the most part, though pockets of trouble remained.
The anticipated and somewhat expected victory of Udall's reelection intrigued people moreso than anything else, namely as to wonder what else would be coming. While Udall would champion further reforms and assistance, he was more laidback and not as present, which some people have attributed to the stress of the job along with the concerns of his Parkinson's. Despite this, President Udall maintains himself in good spirits and in humor about it, noting that his exhaustion was probably a sign he was doing a good job over in office. Nonetheless, some have speculated whether Udall would remain in office for the rest of his second term or whether he would need to resign for health reasons and let Reubin Askew take up the reigns. However, people were more postively excited with what would happen as the successes here seem to be encouraging more and more reforms down the line, with one noting Vice President Askew discussing something with Birch Bayh. All signs were pointing toward that more reforms and events would be arriving in the growing modernization of the United States. This sense of hopeful optimism was also reflecting in a resurrection of science fiction based off of more uplifting works, inspired by the space firsts that occurred during this time.
Meanwhile, the American entertainment industry was doing quite well for itself. The Dark Crystal proved to be a large success despite concerns, thanks to the work put in by Henson in his dream project and aided by the clever advertisement and marketing by Eisner. The strange yet alluring world created by Henson gathered more attention thanks to the release of The World of the Dark Crystal, a companion book released at the same time and would end up doing well, to where some thoughts on how they could continue it could go along with a rumored collaboration with TSR. Other films would do quite well such as Ghostbusters and Gremlins, both supernatrual comedies or more serious affairs like Karate Kid and Footloose, a story about a city boy bonding with folk in his new small town over dance and music despite the culture contrasts, a reflection of urban and rural America. The films were starting to reflect not just the classic rebellion of youth, but also a bit of an edge to them. Some discussions with those of the Brightbangers noted that the generation was not just rebellious as the youth, but was tempered with a grounded and serious approach, which people noted was the result of growing up in the Dismal Dozen. Unsurprisingly, many of them had positive views of Udall and as the oldest were entering voting age, they would start making themselves heard, especially with third-wave feminism having grown and getting into the culture.
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