Great cinema of the late 70’s and early 80’s

I’ve been having Pop Culture discussions with my student workers again. After the OAR incident, I felt that I needed to get educated about really important stuff. I mean a person can only take so much Politics. Why won’t Nov. 4 get here already.

So my students I and were talking about movies past and present. You will never believe what I found out. ALL of my student workers have never seen the Electric Horseman. I cannot tell y’all how my heart wept, WEPT, for them. How can you consider yourself a pop culture afficianado if you have NEVER SEEN The Electric Horseman. It just confirms what I have long feared. The true classics are becoming overlooked.

What is happening to America?

I mean I guess I should forgive them because they weren’t even a fetus in 1979. And I know that many of my readers were were busy growing a spine and eyelashes at the time, but what about the rest of you?

Of course I owe a lot of my early cinema appreciation to Robin Overby’s mother. Robin was my best friend in 4th & 5th grade. Mrs. Overby was always up for dropping us off at movies that probably weren’t necessarily appropriate.

Oh, and the advent of cable television definitely helped matters. If it weren’t for HBO at my Grandparents Tahoe house, I probably would have only seen “Coalminer’s Daughter” 456 times instead of my current record of 1,046 times.

Anyway, I have decided to take it upon myself to reintroduce some other movie classics that you may have missed out on due to being in elementary school or, you know, not born.

Since I’ve already mentioned my love of “The Electric Horseman,” I’m going to share eight more movies that profoundly influenced my childhood.

See what I’m doing here? It’s like a top ten list. David Letterman watch out!

1. Grease - It’s almost a cliche to mention Grease because what girl wasn’t influenced by this movie? And go ahead and try to deny it, but y’all know that you all wanted to be Olivia Newton-John turned bad girl rather than Sandy in the poodle skirt.

Although there was a time when I came up with a master plan to be the good girl in skirts all year long and then show up on the last day of school wearing some Jordache Jeans and my Nike tennis shoes and shock the entire Fifth grade class at Orem Elementary School.

Which, granted, is not exactly as cool as showing up in black leather pants and red Candies, but I was a realist. I knew my mother would never buy me any black leather pants because, hello, inappropriate. But that didn’t stop my fantasizing and re-enacting that last scene 842 times in one day.

There is nothing better than an 11 year old pretending to put out a cigarette while saying, “Tell me about it, Stud.” I think this may have been the start of over-sexualizing our youth. I knew it, I’m to blame for all the world’s pop culture ills. Wait, Lynn Spears holds that crown!

Note to self: Do not allow any future granddaughters to see “Grease” until college.

2. Coal Miner’s Daughter - One of the greatest movies ever made. I will still sit and watch the entire thing anytime it’s on T.V. There is no other movie that has as many great lines.

“I done wrote me a song, Betty Sue. Your mama’s a dadgum songwriter.”

“Stop that growlin’. You sound like an ‘ol bar.”

“Hey Doolittle Lynn. Who’s that sow you got wallowin’ in your jeep?”

Greatness. Just pure greatness.

3. Urban Cowboy - Bud. Sissy. Gilley’s.

Nothing is more romantic than getting in fights at honky-tonks and riding mechanical bulls.

For years afterwards, whenever I dreamed about my wedding day, I just knew I’d have the band play “Can I Have This Dance?” by Anne Murray.

And I’d wear white cowboy boots with my wedding dress.

Neither of those things came to pass.

4. Smokey and the Bandit - I don’t know what I loved more, Burt Reynolds or that black Trans Am. I do remember that Robin had a crush on Jerry Reed as Cledus and we’d argue about who was cuter, Bandit or The Snowman.

As I look at the common thread running through most of these movies, I think I basically wanted to grow up to be a redneck. Probably why I ended up here in North Carolina! Bad Karma!

But how can you argue with a movie that contains the line, “When I get home I’m gonna punch yo’ momma in the mouth.”

5. Grease II - Two words.

Cool Rider.

6. On Golden Pond - This doesn’t seem like an obvious choice, but I have always loved this movie. Of course at the time I had no appreciation for basically anything it was about, but even as a kid there was something about it that I adored.

And to this day I start to cry when Katherine Hepburn starts in with her “You’re my knight in shining armor” speech.

I guess what I’m saying is I’ve always been a big sap. (Be quiet Julie, who asked you!)

7. Nine to Five - I had no idea about office politics or what it meant to work in a cubicle in an office somewhere, but I adored this movie. It made me dream of being a secretary just so I could have this much fun.

Of course, I’d have to fit in being a secretary between all the mechanical bull-rides and cross-country car chases.

8. Saturday Night Fever - I didn’t see this when it initially came out because it was rated R, but then they took out some scenes and re-released it as a PG movie. I have no idea what they took out but I just know I was forever grateful that I was able to actually see the movie that went with the fabulous soundtrack by the Bee-Gees that Robin and I had been listening to repeatedly for a couple of years on her 8-Track player.

I’d been making up my own dances to “Jive Talking” for a long time and oh the sweet relief at finally getting to see John Travolta cut loose on the dance floor in his white suit.

It was everything I dreamed it would be. Except that by the time it did go PG, I had moved to Utah and didn’t have Robin’s mother to drive me to go and see it. So I had to ride my bike to the mall where it was showing after I had babysat for 6 hours to earn my admission. Nothing like working for your Pop Culture knowledge. Kids today have it sooooo easy!


I realize I’m leaving out other movies that were probably a little more kid-friendly such as E.T., The Muppet Movie, and Star Wars, and let's not forget Jeanna's favorite movie, the one that inspired her to name her daughter, SAVANNAH SMILES! But me? I was all about real life.

Real life that involved being a secretary who rides mechanical bulls, goes to the discoteque in flowy dresses, and sings at the Grand Old Opry.

So what about y’all? What movies did you love as a kid?

And just know that if you say Bodyguard it’s going to make me feel kind of old. Although I can’t argue with Whitney singing “I Will Always Love You”.