Back to the Future

The influence that the 1980s had on the social, political, economical and cultural aspects of society was vast, being influenced through many aspects, such as the political scene at the time, with the conservatives coming into power in the early 1980s. Similarly however, the growth in culture, aided by the developing technology came about in the form of unofficial culture, characterised by rebelling against the growing Thatcherism, particularly in the North. Official culture however was characterised by being more mainstream than the underground unofficial culture. 

Official Culture

Film, media and music were the most common ways in which the 1980s saw growth both through official and unofficial culture. Examples that would be classed as official culture would be the rise in Tv shows with soaps such as Eastenders reflecting the social issues that were going on at the time,  creating storylines about what was going on at the time, and continues to do so to this day. Similarly, shows such as Top of the Pops highlighted the growing music culture, and would too pave the way for similar shows following its end, it turn shaping the way trends and our lives changed as we progressed past the 80s. 

Unofficial Culture

In contrast to the official culture that mainstream media brought to the 1980s, unofficial examples of culture from the same time period, had the association of being rebellious, underground, and not in the spotlight anywhere near as much as the official culture was. Examples of this culture was more common to be music as allowed individual artists to express what they wanted to in their own unique way, creating a range of viewpoints being put forwards to their audiences. However, the influence that Thatcherism had on the rising of rebellious culture, wasn't only present within the United Kingdom. Stretching across the channel, French singer Renaud also took part in fighting Thatcherism with his song 'Miss Maggie' in 1985. There are countless examples of artists expressing their rebellious ideas, from musicians, to other forms of media- making up the cultural developments that went unreported in comparison to the mainstream, American influenced official cultural developments in the 1980s.