The 1980s was an iconic decade for the United States and saw a rebirth of sorts for Americana. The 1970s had been a dismal, dreary decade that saw multiple tragedies and crises strike the nation: In 1973 the U.S. ended its ground force involvement in Vietnam and OPEC hit the U.S. with a devastating oil embargo, in 1974 president Richard M. Nixon resigned after the Watergate scandal blew up in his face, and the 1970s saw economic “stagflation,” where, contrary to popular wisdom, both unemployment and inflation remained high. The economy was bad and America received diplomatic black eyes on the world stage.

In the ’80s there was redemption. The inauguration of Republican president Ronald Reagan on January 20, 1981 began a rejuvenation for America when the U.S. hostages in Iran, taken 444 days before during the outbreak of the Iran hostage crisis, were released. Though the release of the hostages was secured by outgoing one-term president Jimmy Carter, who worked doggedly for their release in the final days of his presidency, the event buoyed Reagan’s popularity and began the “Reagan years” with a bang. The release of the American hostages was a foreign policy victory the nation desperately needed.

According to Peggy Whitley at Lone Star College, 1980s American culture followed this concept of rejuvenation. The ’80s was a tremendous increase in both government and consumer spending. It was a decade of ostentatious accumulation, of conspicuous consumption. New technology, from VCRs to video game consoles to personal computers, gave consumers plenty of expensive products to buy.

Drastic increases in the popularity of cable TV spread consumer culture to the masses, with ordinary Americans now able to watch the lifestyles of the rich and famous…literally. The rise of cable also increased the variety of entertainment available, creating a new boom in celebrity culture. Young people got hooked on MTV and “Brat Pack” coming-of-age movies. Now that people could use VCRs to record their favorite shows and movies on VHS tapes, the sky was the limit when it came to consuming entertainment.

The boom in technology and entertainment, going hand-in-hand with increases in consumer spending, was spurred by Ronald Reagan’s war on inflation. While interest rates were sky high at the turn of the decade, by 1984 it was “Morning Again in America,” with Reagan running for re-election championing America’s renewed strength, according to the University of Virginia. The Cold War with the Soviet Union had grown chillier in the early 1980s, providing fuel for America’s competitive fire and amplifying the competitive, pro-consumption culture of the 1980s. Popular entertainment reflected this political-military shift: Films like Wargames (1983), Red Dawn (1984), Rambo: Part II (1985), Rocky IV (1985), and Top Gun (1986) showed American ingenuity and tenacity facing down a Soviet (or Soviet-esque) foe and the threat of war.