“I came here tonight and I didn 't know what to expect. I seen a lot of people hate me and I didn 't know what to feel about that so I guess I didn 't like you much none either,” a line uttered by Rocky Balboa to an audience full of Soviets after defeating the powerhouse Russian boxer, Ivan Drago. Films of the 1980’s relating to the Cold War era influenced culture in the United States more clearly than any other historical era depicted on the silver screen. It is important to know the background of the Cold War so that people better understand this long-lasting battle between two of the most powerful countries in the world at this time. Movies made during this time helped make connections between the reality and the film industry. The films released during the 1980s influenced the culture of American citizens in a powerful way. For people to understand the importance of the Cold War connections in movies, it may help to know a little about the history.
Issues between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) began shortly after World War II and continued for decades. Although the US and USSR were fighting for the same side during WWII, conflicts between the two caused distrust. Communism is often referred to as the ultimate enemy of capitalism (Rettenmund, p 4 1996). The capitalist United States were always wary about trusting Soviets because of communism that took over most of their country. Joseph Stalin’s tyrannical rule over his people caused the Americans to shy away from ties with the Soviet Union. Random House Dictionary refers communism as a theory or system of social organization based on the holding of all property in common. It’s opposite, capitalism, is defined as an economic system in which investment and ownership are of the means of production, distribution, and exchange (2016). The Soviets started pushing communism onto other countries. President Harry Truman announced that the US would help the countries fight off the Soviet pressure. The conflicts between the United States and the Soviets were referred to as a cold war because it never lead to face to face battle or “hot war.” In 1945, Germany was split into two; the Americans and their allies controlled the West and the Soviet Union the East. Overnight, the Soviets built a wall made of barbed wire to prevent people from fleeing from East to West. The construction of this wall symbolized the prison-like state they were trapped in. The East Germans closed all entrances to the West side, aided by Americans, so there was no way to transport supplies into Berlin. The Americans came up with a way to fly supplies into the city and called it the “Berlin Airlift” (History.com, 2016). Many Americans died in the process of delivering the supplies by plane. The resilience of West Germany caused the Soviets to give up, and they ended up opening up the entrances to the city. However, the conflicts between the two countries were not just on the ground. The first artificial satellite, Sputnik, was sent into space in 1957 by the Russians, marking the start of the space race between the US and USSR (NASA, 2007). A competition in space began as a wave of satellites spacecraft were launched into the sky. NASA increased the budget almost 500% in three years to fund its lunar launch program (History, 2016). Neil Armstrong took “one small step for man, and one giant leap for mankind” on July 20, 1969, crowning the United States champions of the race to the moon. In 1961, the East takes down the barbed wire wall and replaces it with concrete blocks. The citizens from the …show more content…
Falcon and the Snowman tells the true story of two young Americans, Christopher Boyce and Andrew Daulton Lee, who share sensitive United States documents with the Soviets. They sold over $70,000 of American secrets to the USSR, a profit that mostly went to Lee (Hartung, 1998). Boyce spent 25 years in jail, where he met his wife who helped him reduce his sentence. Lee, however, served 20 years of a life sentence. In an interview Boyce was asked how he defined freedom and his answer will make you think twice about committing a
Issues between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) began shortly after World War II and continued for decades. Although the US and USSR were fighting for the same side during WWII, conflicts between the two caused distrust. Communism is often referred to as the ultimate enemy of capitalism (Rettenmund, p 4 1996). The capitalist United States were always wary about trusting Soviets because of communism that took over most of their country. Joseph Stalin’s tyrannical rule over his people caused the Americans to shy away from ties with the Soviet Union. Random House Dictionary refers communism as a theory or system of social organization based on the holding of all property in common. It’s opposite, capitalism, is defined as an economic system in which investment and ownership are of the means of production, distribution, and exchange (2016). The Soviets started pushing communism onto other countries. President Harry Truman announced that the US would help the countries fight off the Soviet pressure. The conflicts between the United States and the Soviets were referred to as a cold war because it never lead to face to face battle or “hot war.” In 1945, Germany was split into two; the Americans and their allies controlled the West and the Soviet Union the East. Overnight, the Soviets built a wall made of barbed wire to prevent people from fleeing from East to West. The construction of this wall symbolized the prison-like state they were trapped in. The East Germans closed all entrances to the West side, aided by Americans, so there was no way to transport supplies into Berlin. The Americans came up with a way to fly supplies into the city and called it the “Berlin Airlift” (History.com, 2016). Many Americans died in the process of delivering the supplies by plane. The resilience of West Germany caused the Soviets to give up, and they ended up opening up the entrances to the city. However, the conflicts between the two countries were not just on the ground. The first artificial satellite, Sputnik, was sent into space in 1957 by the Russians, marking the start of the space race between the US and USSR (NASA, 2007). A competition in space began as a wave of satellites spacecraft were launched into the sky. NASA increased the budget almost 500% in three years to fund its lunar launch program (History, 2016). Neil Armstrong took “one small step for man, and one giant leap for mankind” on July 20, 1969, crowning the United States champions of the race to the moon. In 1961, the East takes down the barbed wire wall and replaces it with concrete blocks. The citizens from the …show more content…
Falcon and the Snowman tells the true story of two young Americans, Christopher Boyce and Andrew Daulton Lee, who share sensitive United States documents with the Soviets. They sold over $70,000 of American secrets to the USSR, a profit that mostly went to Lee (Hartung, 1998). Boyce spent 25 years in jail, where he met his wife who helped him reduce his sentence. Lee, however, served 20 years of a life sentence. In an interview Boyce was asked how he defined freedom and his answer will make you think twice about committing a