1983: MTV Aesthetics, Flashdance and Risky Business (Erotic 80s Part 6)
You Must Remember This
Karina Longworth
4.6 • 15.7K Ratings
🗓️ 10 May 2022
⏱️ 76 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
While the music video was still in its infancy as a cultural phenomenon, two films were released that were accused of aping the “MTV aesthetic”: Adrian Lyne’s Flashdance, and Risky Business, which turned Tom Cruise into a major star. Today we’ll talk about what the “MTV aesthetic” was and why it was considered a big deal for movies to be influenced about it, and we’ll examine how both of these movies treated sex work and race within the context of 80s social mores and Reagan capitalism.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | There's gift I've ever received has to be a bike when I was younger, a pedal bike. |
| 0:07.0 | It was a sort of slick little road bike and I remember it was all like it was so it was all wrapped up |
| 0:12.7 | but it was so obvious what it was obviously because nothing shaped like a bike and I had a little ribbon on it |
| 0:16.4 | and I was so guest. For that was a life changer and I'm still sort of big on cycling around my area now |
| 0:21.6 | so for that one change me a little. |
| 0:23.8 | Joy in every sip with red cups now back at Starbucks. |
| 0:44.8 | Celebrate Italy not qualifying for the football with spicy Italian flavors. |
| 0:49.4 | The ultimate spicy sausage topped with endoja, a sausage more fiery than a disappointed Italian fan. |
| 0:56.4 | The ultimate spicy sausage topped with endoja, a sausage more fiery than a disappointed Italian fan. |
| 1:27.4 | Welcome to another episode of You Must Remember This, the podcast dedicated to exploring the secret and or forgotten histories of Hollywood's first century. |
| 1:41.4 | I'm your host, Karina Longworth and this is another installment of our ongoing series, Arotic 80s. |
| 1:52.4 | I'm getting a little fed up at Sex Will You Mancipated ladies being referred to as brawlers |
| 1:59.4 | and not doing this because somebody's making me do it. |
| 2:02.4 | You're a strange girl being an naughty boy. |
| 2:05.4 | Last year he was discovered making amateur videos of his own sex robbers. |
| 2:09.4 | I'm a man to care, I will make love forever. |
| 2:16.4 | Sexual revolution has been wonderful, has been a remarkable change from sex equal to 10. |
| 2:23.4 | Today we're going to talk about two movies about middle American teenagers who aspire to greatness and put a toe in the sex industry in order to get there. |
| 2:47.4 | When they were released on opposite ends of the summer of 1983, both films were massive, unexpected hits which helped to define their decade. |
| 2:58.4 | Both films made stars out of their lead players, both of whom take center stage and sexy dance numbers. |
| 3:06.4 | Both films are stylistically in dialogue with MTV, which was just emerging at the time as a powerful cultural force. |
| 3:15.4 | Their filmmakers use pop music to create a vibe that allows the director to evoke more sex than he's actually showing. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Karina Longworth, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Karina Longworth and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.