C-3POs descent into Drugs, Desperation and Pornography - a tale of the late 70s and early 1980s!
Warning - NSFW materials though explicit nudity has been censored - adult subjects and sensitivity warning (Sex, adult films, drug abuse) so click forward being fairly warned! No kids obviously.
Or - how they threw the mentally ill in the streets but we KEEP paying the taxes for mental institutions.
This article ain't going to be funny, save perhaps black humor. Life is a tragedy to he who feels and a comedy to he who thinks. We need a bit of both here.
As a child of the 1980s (Born/tiny in the 70s, kid and grew up through the 80s) an Xer - I've been on a nostalgia trip and am writing a fiction set in an alternative 1980s. To me Reagan was a bad guy since my family was mostly left/liberal especially my "Hippie" parents. This is nothing like the hyper left aka the so-called "Woke" of today. I might make a different article on that.
There's so much being said on the bad of Reagan and history has given him a better image than he deserves. Like Nixon it wasn't so much that he was so evil but he set the stage for the bad and pure crazy things going on today. Yes, he had a good side but he also helped strip away at the New Deal that helped America be so prosperous and by the end of his term (which Bush Sr filled) we had HORSE MEAT at the Supermarkets. This was something not seen save specialty shops or animal feed lots since the Great Depression. YUCK, btw.
The focus of this article is his effect on public mental health. I'm writing this like an informal editorial article I used to do for real publications, yes newsprint, in the 90s and into the 00s. And I have an AI search to check for all the "Sooource!?" trolls that just don't like what I say even if they'd laugh at me as a fool for taking the time to do a college essay to check on what should be obvious and was openly part of history.
In essence - Reagan took from the tax money the Federal Government had allotted to pay for state mental institutions and gave it to largely rich elite people. We STILL pay that $ but it goes straight to tax breaks for the rich elite. However while our institutions had problems it was a way of sheltering and containing those with severe issues who couldn't fend for themselves versus the streets and prison. The latter, bouncing between the street and prison became the norm and costs easily TEN times confinement and treatment would.
It wasn't the ONLY thing cut - NASA's "Space Race" we STILL pay for - we could have several O'Niel Space Stations orbiting the Earth since the early 1990s by now. It's all gone to ultra rich for tax breaks.
Also NONE of this $ trickled down - the already rich elite getting this Corporate Welfare still shipped jobs to China and other outsourcing places, hired more illegals and funded automation to replace or reduce the wages of American workers. When it wasn't used for this it went to Cayman Island tax shelters. Wages have stagnated while the wealthy got richer, not fearing the Government breaking up their monopolies and paying less and less in taxes to only get wealthier.
So how the HELL did a near adult - but still in grade school/Jr High - with serious mental problems, no impulse control, no ability to learn or concentrate just be warehoused in a public school to waste his time and disrupt the teachers and other students?
Because there are no mental institutions to just put him in.
Likewise the man on the right a few minutes after that image was taken brutally slashed to death with a pocket knife a young pretty Ukranian Refugee woman who sat down in front of him. He also had had a life of bouncing from the streets to jail and his family was not able to take care of him nor force medication.
I'm no "Knee-Jerk Liberal" - the kid deserves FULL jail time for doing that to his teacher (assistant teacher) who btw got fired, rather harassed into quitting for pressing charges. The stabber deserves the CHAIR. Race has been brought up but that's distraction. Even if they were white should be no excuse. Also a LACK of racism in the system gave an extra layer to prevent the mentally ill student from being isolated and the mentally ill man from both being locked up for his crimes AND his victim from not assuming he was just another person instead of avoiding sitting near him or any of his "Fellows" who seem to have ignored his victim bleeding to death.
For my argument for returning mental hospitals - with NO NEW TAXES - by using funds we have to still PAY but cut corporate welfare I'm not being "Liberal" rather practical.
WELFARE is CHEAPER than JAIL - simple as that.
Mental Institutions are more expensive than Welfare but cheaper than jail.
Society PAYS again and again for not confining the mentally ill who are not served by jail.
So it's not about some hippy dippy form of "Compassion" - its an argument for raw sanity and saving MONEY - that we pay and pay and pay for NOTHING other than giving rich elite a tax break and every DIME of that costing us a DOLLAR in police, judges, trials and JAIL alone not to mention the human cost of their crimes.
Well even if we bring back nuthouses we'd still have a standard of "A danger to oneself or others". I think we'd have most people who were ultra delusional still not touched and allowed to let their lives fall apart with no interference including being homeless. Then if this desperate situation turned them to petty crime - or addiction such as all the fetanyl addicts who spend half the day lurched over the other half the day begging or robbing for dimes to get more - that would be 'a danger to oneself or others' legally.
So - again this is something to get "Political" over.
NOT by wasting time "Arguing" online.
Get out the word processor and some stamps.
WRITE - snail mail - letters to your Senate and Congress reps. Polite, concise, to the point.
Putting crazies who are clearly a danger to themselves and others in government funded confinement treatment vs letting them bounce from the streets to jail saves a dollar for a dime spent. And again we are the ones paying for both the dollar and dime now...so some elite gets PORK gets CORPORATE WELFARE...
I'm not being left/right here - this is $ that gives the LEAST deserving or needing people an unfair advantage and takes $ we need to have spent on unfavorable but least worst choices which is what the Government is for. At least stop the PORK.
So make it clear they'd better either use your $ properly or stop taxing you it or you'll vote them out even if their opponent is Satan or something. No more tolerance.
Sign and Date.
Mail it to them.
Because I am so SICK of how much PORK we've fed our rich elite for decades...
Up to you and all of us, people...
----MaxxFeral
9/22/2025
---source and sources...
Just in case anyone cares about this "Source" because perhaps they were Y gen or Z or Alpha...? I LOATHE these neologisms, just my opinion... But if you didn't experience REAGAN well you were lucky but you need to understand that the increasing poverty we have today, class division, monopoly sprang from HIM.... That's a different issue -
On THIS issue - his gutting of (among many things) the mental asylum $ and re-directing it, here:
---Via AI - but read through it - saved me hours for stuff I knew because I lived in this era and people read the news then, even KIDS did it, and the news wasn't trash. Now it's so low the Enquirer is seen like People used to be seen as. THIS is something AI is great for - I'm writing an article - I still CHECK it and I get NO MONEY for it so why spend hours I don't have to and don't have time to do to prove the OBVIOUS...?
By all means I accept communication, real correction and debate but will just block/delete obvious harasser trolls.
### Background on Deinstitutionalization and the Reagan Era
Deinstitutionalization—the process of closing large state-run mental hospitals and shifting care to community-based services—began in the United States in the 1950s and 1960s, well before Ronald Reagan's presidency (1981–1989). It was driven by a combination of factors: the introduction of antipsychotic medications like chlorpromazine (Thorazine) in the 1950s, which allowed many patients to live outside institutions; civil rights concerns about abusive conditions in "snake pits" like state asylums; and federal policies under Democratic presidents, such as John F. Kennedy's Community Mental Health Act of 1963, which provided funding for community mental health centers (CMHCs) as alternatives to hospitalization. By 1975, the national population in state and county mental hospitals had already declined by 62% from its 1955 peak of 559,000 patients.
However, Reagan played a significant role in accelerating and exacerbating the challenges of deinstitutionalization, both as Governor of California (1967–1975) and as President. His actions were rooted in fiscal conservatism, emphasizing reduced government spending, tax cuts, and devolution of responsibilities to states (often with less funding). This led to further closures of institutions and inadequate support for community care, contributing to rises in homelessness, incarceration, and untreated mental illness among affected populations. Critics argue these policies prioritized budget savings over humane care, with estimates suggesting that by the 1980s, up to one-third of the homeless population had serious mental illnesses, and prisons became de facto "mental health facilities."
### Reagan's Tax and Budget Adjustments Related to Mental Health
Reagan's approach to mental health funding was consistent with his broader "Reaganomics" philosophy: supply-side economics, deregulation, and sharp reductions in domestic spending to offset massive tax cuts. As governor, he signed the Lanterman-Petris-Short (LPS) Act in 1967, which limited involuntary commitments and ended indefinite institutionalization, aligning with deinstitutionalization goals but also enabling cost-cutting by closing facilities. During his governorship, California's state hospital population dropped from about 22,000 in 1967 to 6,431 by 1975, with three hospitals shuttered, wards mothballed, and over 2,000 Department of Mental Hygiene staff laid off. Reagan justified these as eliminating "hotel operations" in expensive state-run hospitals, aiming to shrink government by about 10% overall.
As president, Reagan's key actions included:
- **Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981 (ERTA)**: Signed early in his term, this slashed the top marginal income tax rate from 70% to 50% (later to 28% via the Tax Reform Act of 1986), reduced corporate taxes by $150 billion over five years, and lowered the lowest bracket from 14% to 11%. It also trimmed estate taxes. These cuts reduced federal revenues by about 9% initially, contributing to tripling the national debt from $900 billion to $2.7 trillion by the end of his presidency. To partially offset this, Reagan agreed to tax increases in 1982–1987 (e.g., the Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 1982 undid about a third of the 1981 cuts), but overall, the policy favored high-income earners and corporations.
- **Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (OBRA) of 1981**: This was the pivotal budget measure affecting mental health. It repealed most of President Jimmy Carter's Mental Health Systems Act (MHSA) of 1980, which had allocated $150 million over three years for CMHCs to support deinstitutionalized patients. OBRA consolidated federal funding for social services—including mental health, alcohol and drug abuse programs—into block grants to states, reducing federal oversight and cutting total funding by about one-third. States received lump sums with flexibility but often lacked the resources or political will to maintain services, leading to underfunded or unbuilt community facilities. This shift reflected Reagan's emphasis on "states' rights" and smaller federal government, but it effectively starved community-based care intended to replace institutions.
These adjustments did not directly "close" federal institutions (which were state-run), but they accelerated closures by withholding promised support. For instance, California's state mental health budget in 1960 was about $124 million (equivalent to $1.3 billion in 2024 dollars), but post-Reagan cuts, funding for community alternatives lagged, with patients often ending up in jails or on streets at higher long-term costs (e.g., $3,000–$5,000 per day for homeless patients in hospitals vs. cheaper supported housing).
### Where the Tax Money (Savings) Went
The "tax money" in question refers to the budgetary savings from mental health cuts and the broader fiscal space created by tax reductions. Reagan's policies did not redirect funds explicitly from mental health to other areas; instead, the savings were absorbed into general budget reductions, with tax cuts returning money primarily to wealthy individuals and businesses under the theory of "trickle-down" economics (via the Laffer Curve, positing that lower taxes would spur growth and revenue). However, the tax cuts did not fully "pay for themselves"—revenues fell initially, leading to higher deficits and increased borrowing.
Here's a breakdown of how the savings and tax reductions played out:
| Category | Details | Impact/Where Funds Went |
|----------|---------|-------------------------|
| **Budget Savings from Mental Health Cuts** | OBRA 1981 cut federal mental health funding by ~33% via block grants; repealed MHSA's targeted CMHC allocations. States often diverted block grants to other priorities (e.g., not severe mental illness but milder needs), leading to service gaps. In California under Gov. Reagan, hospital closure savings (~15% DMH personnel cuts) were not fully reinvested in communities; a 1975 audit found released patients lacked services, costing triple in local hospitals. | Savings went to state general funds or were lost to underfunding. Nationally, this contributed to a 93% drop in institutional populations (1955–2010s), but without alternatives, costs shifted to prisons/jails (e.g., 1 in 15 Cook County Jail inmates mentally ill by 1990) and emergency care. No direct redirection; part of broader domestic spending cuts (e.g., welfare, education) totaling ~$35 billion in 1981. |
| **Tax Cut Beneficiaries (Federal Revenue Forgone)** | Top 10% of earners saw increased income tax share post-1980s, but lowest 50% paid less. Corporate tax breaks saved businesses $150B over 5 years. Overall, federal receipts grew 65% (1981–1989) but outlays grew 69%, ballooning debt. | Primarily to high-income households and corporations (e.g., top rate cut from 70% to 28%). Proponents claimed it stimulated investment/growth; critics say it widened inequality without proportional benefits to social programs. Some offset via 1983 Social Security/Medicare payroll tax hikes. |
| **Increased Federal Spending Areas** | Despite domestic cuts, military spending rose from $134B (1980) to $253B (1989), adding ~$1.5T to debt. | Tax cut-enabled deficits funded defense buildup (e.g., Cold War initiatives) and interest on debt, not social services. Mental health savings indirectly supported this by freeing up budget space. |
In essence, the "savings" from mental health did not create a surplus for redirection; they were part of austerity measures to accommodate tax cuts, which disproportionately benefited the affluent while increasing reliance on debt. This led to long-term societal costs: homelessness doubled in the 1980s, with mental illness a key factor, and incarceration of the mentally ill surged (e.g., from 1980s onward, prisons housed more mentally ill than hospitals).
### Long-Term Consequences and Substantiation
These policies are widely criticized for failing to deliver on deinstitutionalization's promise of humane, community-based care. Reagan's governorship saw at least one suicide linked to closure threats, and his presidency's cuts left many without support, contributing to the 1980s homelessness crisis (e.g., San Francisco posters called streets "America’s newest mental institution"). Bipartisan elements existed—Democrats like Kennedy initiated the shift—but Reagan's fiscal conservatism amplified the failures, as block grants proved easy to cut locally due to NIMBYism and competing priorities.
For a balanced view, sources like Politifact note that while liberals pushed civil rights reforms, fiscal conservatives like Reagan drove cost-saving aspects. Studies (e.g., NIMH 1988) show only ~1/3 of homeless were mentally ill, but untreated cases rose post-cuts. Modern echoes include California's Proposition 63 (2004), which taxed high earners to fund mental health, addressing gaps Reagan's policies widened.
----Sources:
Mental Health Systems Act of 1980 - Wikipedia
In 1981 President Ronald Reagan, who had made major efforts during his governorship to reduce funding and enlistment for California mental institutions, pushed a political effort through the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives and a Republican-controlled Senate to repeal most of MHSA.
en.wikipedia.org
Here’s how Reagan’s decision to close mental institutions led to the homelessness crisis
Kakaiya, Ph.D, is a licensed clinical psychologist and neuroscientist, lives in 4S Ranch.As a psychologist who began practicing nearly 40 years ago, I’ve seen a significant shift in the care …
sandiegouniontribune.com
The Mental Health Systems Act of 1980 | Bell | DttP: Documents to the People
By the summer of 1981, the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1981 was signed into law by President Ronald Reagan. Continuing the controversial trend in denying or disregarding the need for mental health care from his days as governor of California, where there was at least one suicide after the threat of closing a facility, President Reagan made cuts from the budget with mental health being amongst the first to go.24
journals.ala.org
How Reagan’s Decision to Close Mental Institutions Led to the Homelessness Crisis
Hands down I hate the guy and we’re still living in a Reaganomics world. How’s that turning out 40 yrs later?
obrag.org
The Republican who emptied the asylums - Capitol Weekly | Capitol Weekly | Capitol Weekly: The Newspaper of California State Government and Politics.
Frank Lanterman won an assembly seat in 1950 with one goal: securing a steady water supply for his family’s land holdings and subdivisions in the Verdugo hills community of La CaƱada outside Los Angeles, a task he completed in his first year in office. In the years to come, his influence would expand far beyond his hometown and he would become one of the most consequential legislators of his time by leading the effort to transform how California cares for people with severe mental illness.
capitolweekly.net
Ronald Reagan's shameful legacy: Violence, the homeless, mental illness - Salon.com
As a consequence of such hearings and a 1986 study of nursing homes by the Institute of Medicine, Congress passed legislation in 1987 requiring all Medicaid-funded nursing homes to screen new admissions to keep out patients who did not qualify for admission because they did not require skilled nursing care.
salon.com
r/AskHistorians on Reddit: I often hear that "the Reagan administration shut down mental institutions and released the mentally ill into the streets." Is this an accurate assessment of the situation, and if not, what is the real story?
Posted by u/[Deleted Account] - 3,679 votes and 140 comments
reddit.com
Hard truths about deinstitutionalization, then and now - CalMatters
Too many people who were institutionalized for mental disorders suffered abuse, neglect and mistreatment. Gov. Reagan signed the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act in 1967, all but ending the practice of institutionalizing patients against their will. When deinstitutionalization began 50 years ago, California mistakenly relied on community treatment facilities, which were never built.
calmatters.org
A World That No Longer Exists? Deinstitutionalization, Danger, and California’s Senate Bill 43 | American Journal of Psychiatry Residents' Journal
Auerback A: The Short-Doyle Act: California community mental health services program: background and status after one year. Calif Med 1959;90:335–338 ... Calif. Welfare and Institutions Code § 5001 ... Prasad M: Starving the Beast: Ronald Reagan and the Tax Cut Revolution. New York, Russell Sage Foundation, 2018 ... DeRisi W, Vega WA: The impact of deinstitutionalization on California’s state hospital population.
psychiatryonline.org
Focusing on mental health instead of gun laws to reduce crime, former Vice President Mike Pence told a National Rifle Association gathering that "in the 1960s, liberals emptied our psych wards." That’s oversimplified. Ronald Reagan and other fiscal conservatives played a big role
Ultimately, Cohen said, "the failures" of deinstitutionalization "don’t fall on any party." Pence said, "In the 1960s, liberals emptied our psych wards." Some of the impetus for shifting people with serious mental illness out of institutions came from legislation signed by Democratic presidents and supported by civil rights advocates. However, fiscal conservatives also played a crucial role, including Reagan, who signed landmark bills, first in California and then for the nation.
politifact.com
Deinstitutionalization Came From Kennedy and Governor Reagan, Not President Reagan
Combined with a focus on outpatient and in-home treatments and civil rights for the mentally ill, inpatient treatment for mental illness shrank considerably. By the time the 1980s rolled around deinstitutionalization was almost already complete, although it would continue slowly into the current day. Yet Reagan may still be largely responsible for starting the process over a decade earlier. In 1967, Reagan as then-governor of California would sign into law the Lanterman–Petris–Short (LPS) Act which would prevent the state from forcibly institutionalizing the mentally ill against their will for various conditions, likely the first in a series of liberalization policy changes for mental illness.
investigativeeconomics.org
Mike Pence said ‘liberals’ emptied mental health hospitals in 1960s. They didn’t act alone. | Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience | The University of Chicago
Outpatient care is less expensive and often produces better results, but still requires funding. And prisons, where a large number of mentally ill people end up today, is both expensive and terrible for recovery. Since at least the 1930s, Cohen said, policymakers have sought to cut costs through "de-institutionalization" — removing people from inpatient settings.
psychiatry.uchicago.edu
Did the Emptying of Mental Hospitals Contribute to Homelessness? | KQED
After patients were released from mental hospitals, there wasn’t always a place for them to go. On this week’s episode, we explore if deinstitutionalization was a factor in the Bay Area’s homeless crisis.
kqed.org
HOW RELEASE OF MENTAL PATIENTS BEGAN - The New York Times
In restrospect it does seem clear that questions were not asked that might have been asked. In the thousands of pages of testimony before Congressional committees in the late 1950's and early 1960's, little doubt was expressed about the wisdom of deinstitutionalization.
nytimes.com
Public Policy and Mental Illnesses: Jimmy Carter's Presidential Commission on Mental Health - PMC
The very title suggested a fundamental shift in emphasis. Nearly two decades earlier, the Joint Commission on Mental Illness and Health (1955–1961) focused largely on the problems faced by individuals with serious and persistent mental disorders, many of whom were institutionalized (Grob 1991).
pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Reaganomics - Wikipedia
He also stated that "a large proportion" of them are "mentally impaired", which he believed to be a result of lawsuits by the ACLU (and similar organizations) against mental institutions. During the Reagan administration, fiscal year federal receipts grew from $599 billion to $991 billion (an increase of 65%) while fiscal year federal outlays grew from $678 billion to $1144 billion (an increase of 69%). According to a 1996 report of the Joint Economic Committee of the United States Congress, during Reagan's two terms, and through 1993, the top 10% of taxpayers paid an increased share of income taxes (not including payroll taxes) to the Federal government, while the lowest 50% of taxpayers paid a reduced share of income tax revenue.
en.wikipedia.org
What we learned from Reagan's tax cuts | Brookings
The tax bill speeding through Congress is being sold – by its advocates – as so good for the economy, that it will boost growth and offset any losses from the cuts. Those of you who were around in the 1980s might be feeling a sense of deja vu, especially when you recall what Ronald Reagan had to say back in 1981.
brookings.edu
Reagan tax cuts - Wikipedia
During this time the Social Security Act created a Social Security tax, though because the Social Security tax is capped at ~$130,000 per individual this did not add to the overall top marginal rate. Under President John F. Kennedy the top marginal rate was decreased in the Revenue Act of 1964 to 70%. In 1980 Ronald Reagan was elected and promised to cut the top marginal tax rate.
en.wikipedia.org
California: Reagan and the Mental Health Controversy on JSTOR
jstor.org
Ronald Reagan and the Commitment of the Mentally Ill
The Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Mental Health Block Grant: Origins, Design, and Impact. In Rochefort, D. A. (ed.), Handbook on Mental Health Policy in the United States. New York: Greenwood Press. Rossi, P. H. (1989). Down and Out in America: The Origins of Homelessness. Chicago: U. Chicago Press. Rousseas, S. (1982). The Political Economy of Reaganomics: A Critique.
sociology.org
Creating a Science of Homelessness During the Reagan Era - PMC
A decade after the nation's Skid Rows were razed, homelessness reemerged in the early 1980s as a health policy issue in the United States. While activists advocated for government-funded programs to address homelessness, officials of the Reagan administration questioned the need for a federal response to the problem. In this climate, the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) launched a seminal program to investigate mental illness and substance abuse among homeless individuals.
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Thanks! One issue I hear is the human rights issue but I think its distraction. If a person is a danger to themselves or others it's well established that they can be confined involuntarily, right? And many recent public shocking stories such as a random stabbing on a bus or a large violent student who nearly beat a teacher to death over her taking his video game are people who should have been put in an institution well before they did things that serious. Most had done dozens of robberies, made thefts, some violent action over a decade first, then they killed someone. How would this work with re-instating institutions?
Addressing the Human Rights Issue and Involuntary ConfinementYou're correct that the human rights argument in the context of deinstitutionalization can sometimes be overstated or used as a distraction from practical issues. The legal framework for involuntary confinement of individuals deemed a danger to themselves or others is well-established in the U.S., but its application is complex and varies by state. Below, I’ll address the legal basis for involuntary commitment, the challenges with reinstating mental institutions, and how such a system might work to address cases like those you describe (e.g., individuals with a history of escalating crimes culminating in severe violence).Legal Basis for Involuntary ConfinementInvoluntary commitment is permitted under U.S. law when an individual poses a clear and present danger to themselves or others due to mental illness. This stems from landmark cases and state laws:
• O’Connor v. Donaldson (1975): The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that individuals cannot be confined in mental institutions against their will unless they are dangerous to themselves or others and require treatment for a mental disorder. Non-dangerous individuals capable of surviving safely outside cannot be held indefinitely.
• State Laws (e.g., Lanterman-Petris-Short Act in California, 1967): Most states have laws allowing temporary holds (e.g., 72-hour "5150" holds in California) for evaluation if someone is suicidal, homicidal, or gravely disabled due to mental illness. Longer-term commitments require court hearings, medical evaluations, and evidence of ongoing danger or inability to function.
• Civil Liberties Protections: Post-1960s reforms, driven by civil rights concerns, tightened criteria to prevent abuses (e.g., indefinite warehousing of non-dangerous patients). This was a response to historical abuses in asylums, where people were often committed for minor or non-clinical reasons (e.g., nonconformity, poverty).
In practice, these laws mean that individuals like those in your examples—committing random violent acts or escalating crimes—can be involuntarily confined if their behavior is linked to a diagnosed mental illness and meets the "danger" threshold. However, several barriers prevent this from happening proactively:
1. High Legal Threshold: Courts require clear evidence of imminent danger, not just past crimes or potential risk. A history of robberies or assaults may not suffice unless directly tied to mental illness and current dangerousness.
2. Short-Term Holds: Many states limit initial holds to 72 hours or a few weeks, with long-term commitment requiring judicial oversight. This often results in "revolving door" releases if community care is unavailable.
3. Underfunded Systems: Deinstitutionalization left gaps in both inpatient and outpatient care. Many areas lack sufficient psychiatric beds or crisis intervention teams, making it hard to hold or treat individuals even when legally justified.
4. Diagnosis Challenges: Not all violent offenders have a clear mental health diagnosis qualifying for commitment. For example, personality disorders (e.g., antisocial personality disorder) are often excluded from commitment criteria, as they’re not always deemed "treatable" mental illnesses.
Challenges with Reinstating Mental InstitutionsReinstating large-scale mental institutions to address cases like those you describe—individuals with a history of escalating crimes (e.g., thefts, assaults) who later commit severe acts like stabbings or near-fatal attacks—would face significant hurdles:
1. Scale and Cost:
• Historical Context: In 1955, the U.S. had 559,000 state hospital beds for a population of 150 million (3.7 beds per 1,000). By 2010, this dropped to 43,000 beds for 310 million (0.14 beds per 1,000). To restore 1955 levels, adjusted for population growth to 330 million in 2025, would require ~1.2 million beds, costing billions annually (e.g., one 250-bed facility costs ~$50–100M to build and ~$25M/year to operate).
• Current Shortages: The U.S. has a shortage of ~120,000 psychiatric beds (per 2016 estimates), with some states having fewer than 10 beds per 100,000 people. Rebuilding would require massive investment, likely funded by tax increases or reallocating budgets (e.g., from prisons, which now house many mentally ill individuals).
2. Community Care Failures:
• Deinstitutionalization intended to replace asylums with community mental health centers (CMHCs), but funding never materialized fully. For example, the 1963 Community Mental Health Act promised 2,000 CMHCs by 1980; only ~750 were built by 1981, and Reagan’s 1981 OBRA cuts reduced federal support further. Reinstating institutions without robust outpatient systems risks repeating past failures, where patients are released without support, leading to homelessness or crime.
3. Legal and Ethical Barriers:
• Civil liberties protections make mass institutionalization politically and legally contentious. Critics would argue it risks returning to abusive "warehousing" of the pre-1970s era, where patients faced neglect or forced treatments (e.g., lobotomies, overmedication).
• Preventive commitment (locking someone up before a major crime based on minor offenses) would face constitutional challenges under due process clauses, as it could infringe on personal freedom without clear evidence of imminent danger.
4. Public Opposition:
• NIMBYism (Not In My Backyard): Communities often resist new mental health facilities due to stigma or property value concerns, complicating site selection.
• Stigma: Mental illness stigma could fuel resistance to funding institutions, as taxpayers may prioritize other issues (e.g., education, infrastructure).
5. Workforce Shortages:
• The U.S. faces a shortage of mental health professionals (e.g., ~28,000 psychiatrists in 2020 vs. a need for ~40,000). Staffing new institutions would require training and recruiting thousands of psychiatrists, nurses, and therapists, a process taking years.
How Reinstating Institutions Could WorkTo address cases like those you describe—individuals with a pattern of escalating crimes (e.g., dozens of robberies, thefts, or violent acts) who later commit severe offenses (e.g., stabbings, near-fatal assaults)—a modern institutional framework would need to balance treatment, public safety, and civil rights. Here’s a potential model, grounded in current knowledge and addressing your concerns:
1. Tiered System of Care:
• Acute Crisis Beds: Expand short-term psychiatric beds (e.g., 72-hour holds) in general hospitals or specialized crisis units for immediate stabilization of individuals showing dangerous behavior (e.g., a student assaulting a teacher over a video game). These would serve as entry points for evaluation.
• Intermediate Facilities: Create medium-term (weeks to months) facilities for those needing structured treatment but not lifelong confinement. These could target individuals with documented patterns of escalating behavior tied to mental illness (e.g., schizophrenia, bipolar disorder).
• Long-Term Secure Hospitals: For individuals with severe, treatment-resistant conditions and a history of violence (e.g., repeat offenders who’ve committed stabbings), reinstate secure state hospitals with mandatory treatment protocols. These would be reserved for the small minority meeting strict "dangerousness" criteria, avoiding mass institutionalization.
2. Early Intervention and Screening:
• Criminal Justice Integration: Use data from arrests (e.g., dozens of prior robberies) to flag individuals for mental health screenings. Courts could mandate evaluations after repeated minor offenses, especially if mental illness is suspected. For example, a 2020 study found ~20% of jail inmates have serious mental illnesses, often untreated.
• School and Community Programs: Train teachers, police, and social workers to identify early signs of severe mental illness (e.g., the student in your example). Programs like California’s Proposition 63 (Mental Health Services Act, 2004) fund prevention and early intervention, reducing escalation to violence.
• Mobile Crisis Teams: Deploy teams to respond to public incidents (e.g., erratic behavior on a bus) with authority to initiate holds if needed, diverting individuals from jails to treatment.
3. Legal Reforms:
• Lower Threshold for Commitment: Revise state laws to allow earlier intervention based on patterns of behavior (e.g., repeated thefts or assaults linked to mental illness) rather than waiting for a major crime. This would require balancing with due process protections, such as mandatory judicial review within days.
• Assisted Outpatient Treatment (AOT): Expand programs like New York’s Kendra’s Law (1999), which mandates outpatient treatment for individuals with a history of non-compliance and violence. AOT has reduced hospitalizations and arrests by ~50% in some studies.
• Parole/Probation Conditions: For offenders with mental illness, integrate treatment into parole or probation terms, with institutionalization as a fallback for non-compliance.
4. Funding Mechanisms:
• Reallocate Criminal Justice Budgets: U.S. states spend ~$50 billion annually on corrections, much of it on mentally ill inmates (e.g., ~$80,000/year per inmate in California). Diverting a fraction to mental health facilities could fund thousands of beds. For example, closing one prison could finance a 500-bed hospital.
• Tax Initiatives: Model after California’s Proposition 63, which taxes incomes over $1M to raise ~$2B/year for mental health. A federal or state tax increase could target high earners or corporations, reversing Reagan-era cuts.
• Medicaid Expansion: Increase federal Medicaid funding for mental health, which was restricted under Reagan’s 1981 OBRA. This could support community and institutional care without relying solely on states.
5. Focus on High-Risk Cases:
• Risk Assessment Tools: Use validated tools (e.g., HCR-20 for violence risk) to identify individuals like those in your examples—repeat offenders with mental illness likely to escalate. These could guide commitments before a major crime (e.g., a stabbing).
• Case Studies: For someone like a “violent student” or “bus stabber,” a reinstated system would need:
• Pre-Crime Intervention: If the student had prior outbursts or the bus assailant had robbery convictions, screenings could trigger AOT or short-term holds.
• Post-Crime Commitment: After a severe act, secure hospitalization with treatment (e.g., antipsychotics, therapy) could prevent release until stabilized, unlike current systems where many are released quickly due to bed shortages.
6. Safeguards Against Abuse:
• Oversight: Independent boards to monitor facilities, ensuring humane conditions and preventing pre-1970s abuses (e.g., overcrowding, neglect).
• Time Limits: Regular reviews (e.g., every 6 months) to reassess patients’ need for confinement, avoiding indefinite stays.
• Community Integration: Pair institutional care with robust outpatient programs to transition patients back to society, reducing recidivism.
Addressing Your Examples Specifically
• Random Stabbing on a Bus: If the perpetrator had a documented history of mental illness and prior offenses (e.g., dozens of robberies), a reinstated system could:
• Flag them during earlier arrests for evaluation.
• Use AOT to mandate treatment after minor crimes, potentially preventing escalation.
• Commit them to a secure facility post-stabbing for treatment, not just incarceration, with release contingent on stabilization.
• Violent Student Beating a Teacher: If the student had prior violent incidents tied to mental illness:
• Schools could refer them to crisis teams for evaluation after early outbursts.
• A medium-term facility could provide structured treatment, addressing underlying issues (e.g., psychosis, impulse control disorders).
• Post-incident, a secure hospital could ensure treatment before release, unlike current systems where juvenile detention often lacks mental health focus.
Evidence and Feasibility
• Data: Studies show ~15–20% of U.S. inmates have serious mental illnesses, and 50% of homeless individuals have mental health issues. A 2014 Treatment Advocacy Center report estimated that increasing psychiatric beds to 50 per 100,000 people (vs. ~14 in 2010) could reduce these numbers significantly.
• Precedents: Programs like AOT in New York and California’s Proposition 63 show that targeted interventions work when funded. For example, AOT reduced violent incidents by 47% in New York (2005 study).
• Costs vs. Benefits: Building 100,000 new beds at $100,000/bed = $10B initial cost, with $5B/year operating costs. Compare to $15B/year spent on incarcerating mentally ill inmates. Long-term savings could come from reduced crime and homelessness.
Counterpoints and Challenges
• Civil Liberties: Critics would argue that expanding commitments risks overreach, especially for minor offenders. Safeguards like judicial oversight and clear criteria are essential.
• Stigma: Reinstitutionalization could reinforce stereotypes about mental illness, requiring public education to frame it as treatment, not punishment.
• Implementation: States would need to coordinate, as federal mandates without funding (post-Reagan) often fail. Political will for tax increases or budget shifts is uncertain.
In summary, reinstating institutions could work by focusing on high-risk individuals with clear mental health-driven patterns (like your examples), using a tiered system of crisis, intermediate, and secure care. Legal reforms, early intervention, and funding (e.g., via taxes or prison budget reallocation) are critical. The human rights issue is valid but manageable with strict oversight to prevent abuses, ensuring confinement targets only those who are truly dangerous due to untreated mental illness. This would address the gap between current laws allowing commitment and the lack of infrastructure to enforce them effectively.
Hmm...
Just got cancelled on Twitter (X) the other day.
No legit explanation - just generic "violated rules", stupid forum fake human challenge with likely no correspondence back... Thing is I've known lots of people getting cancelled there, such as Offensiveness MaXXXimVs a buddy of mine who does adult pulps. He was surprised it took so LONG for him to get cancelled with all the pron and stuff. There were tons of Japanese artists harassed off there, for "Loli" art and even "Sugoi!" and one man who did some really neat concept arts based off Native American Mythology. The latter was really harassed by a bunch of "1/128th --native tribe here---" but his depictions were not disrespectful. I was hoping he'd do an interpretation of "Old Man Coyote"...
Myself I just pumped my books which are coming out at a glacial pace though I'm casually accused of using AI. Heh, do you want to know how fast a commercial AI engine bans me over "Death on the M'Kunga River" much less for trying to work out plot ideas for my pulp stories and double-check my existing text for new stories? Hope I didn't burn out circuit boards. It was like having Fluffy and Uranus from "Duckman" review my works.
Oh, and I argued a bit with people...
Pure human sh-t spraying sh-t in toxic liquid from their mouths just burst in and screamed then called me a coward when I blocked their fake accounts and made up new fake accounts.
That's the big problem with so-called Web 2.0 "Social Media"
However, tons of people who do nothing but troll again and again just harass people all day since they literally have nothing better to do. Some of these literally hire bot farms (pre ai- ai script spam engines) to make up tons of fake IDs to industrial strength spray their sh-t. They don't really care the issue, they'll just harass anyone not on the right "Side" in a group, but then spread sh-t to cause arguments if it gets quiet. And ban them they make up 1000 other. "Social Media" does NOTHING to combat these people because they need the buzz to inflate their own numbers. You'd think Elon would have gone for this since he argued he paid too much for Twitter and most of the traffic and people were bots and that'd prove it overnight...?
Anyways, the HELL with it.
I think I'm better off without it.
"One Man's Opinion" but all web 2.0 and 2.whatever is a dopamine engagement bait engine and everyone is "Shadow-Banned" except a tiny trickle while big companies get to shove their products and fake engagement in one's face. So we think we are shouting out into the world but are just getting stuff mirrored back at us to try to get us to buy products. I mostly got sh-t investment scams and drop-ship products that were junk at 10x the Amazon price and 20x the TEMU price...!
We've got to cut it and go back to Web 1.0 and private hosting.
Yeah, I'm using Google Blogger now but I'll get my own web its much deserved facelift soon and probably start a script/blog maybe find a private web TOR/I2P. I can at least Wordpress from Dreamhost - real Cancel Proof.
All this "Cancel these days for any reason/no reason" you just can not TRUST these so-called "Free" providers. I'm not even knocking them, they have to make a byzantine maze of endless rules including "We say so" so nobody is following the correct rules and can be banned any/no reason - their lawyers and investors would off them if they got stuck otherwise. And people who don't care what they say and say things to hurt people can get them banned by being cry-bullies. It's happened to me - I say "Hello!" get a dozen "K- yourself!" and I just go "F - off - !" back and they go "Help me! Moderator!" and I'm banned. Likewise they spam anyone who tells them off vs engaging with them for hours and that's probably what got me banned.
I even think it might be from my recent posts where in response to all these crazy stabbers I noted that it was Ronald Reagan that ended the "State Mental Institutions" we used to have.
From an article I was working on as this happened - I'll upload and link it soon - with PLENTY of references for all the "Source!? SOURCE! SSOooooRRRRooouuuUUUCE!?" trolls out there. Once upon a time I was a "Journalist" rather dabbled in College and I almost went that way but I am glad I am NOT one today.
We still PAY for these, btw, and people like that horrible man who stabbed a woman on a bus or that ogrish 'child' who stomped his teacher near to death over taking his Wii-U would have been committed years earlier if this system still remained... Again that we PAY for...!? And the cost of the people with mental problems bouncing from family to the streets to the courts/jail and back is TEN times easily what we pay for tax breaks for the rich elite... Aka "Corporate Welfare"...
This is what gets me banned when I'm banned most of the time;
Being a "Free Thinker".
- I take NO "Fashionably Radical" sides.
The "Right" hate me because I don't worship Saint Ray-Gun and have a giant wooden tiki with a giant wooden D- I ram up my A$$ in praise of his image. The left hate the ideas such as putting nuthouses back - fear them walking around in "Fursuits" might get them... Nope - though I've heard tons saying "Carpet Sample" should be committed... (If you don't know, you don't WANT to, trust me people!)
I'm seen these days as some kind of right wing libertarian but I'm actually left wing just think "Old School" a kid of real Hippie parents and for free speech, against racism and sexism, for as much freedom as possible. I'm for reasonable social programs - but mostly the Government should hinder or tax more the negative stuff (companies sending jobs overseas) and sponsor a little bit ones that hire Americans. Our media needs to be broken up along with connections between different parts of the system that enable huge monopolies. Yes they DO need to control the price of wheat, grain, meat, energy - otherwise it fluctuates wildly and can be more devestating than a war or natural disaster. But you don't need to EAT a comic book, video game, toy, movie ... and those face the hardest battle to get on ANY market.
However, frankly, it was probably just griefers flooding fake complaints till somehow something stuck and it wouldn't have mattered if the "X" postings were from legit Fluffy and Uranus from the "Duckman" animated show. Enough complaints some automatic feature probably gets someone banned in a way they can't contact anyone to un-ban it so these nothings with nothing to do try for it all day long... And it's not for me being left or right but just starting to get popular I got their attention... Lots of blogs just VANISH - a few get restored later but it's a no reason ban suddenly, usually for those with extreme opinions. A "Free" service, can't say you didn't get what you paid for...
Finally, the CURE for the Web 2.0 and 2.whatever is web 1.0 and "Wild West Internet"
Source? There used to be a site called "One Angry Gamer" where it was "Wild West Internet" rules. My buddy, O'MaXXXimVs used it a LOT including when the Zweihander TTRPG makers tried to "Cancel" him and there were thousands of fake accounts screaming "K--- yourself!" all over his Twitter. Before Elon Musk era. He carried the conversation to OAG and they backed him up since they are against censorship.
Disclaimer - this is a "Fan Work" and I have ZERO connection to those that wrote, drew or produced/own the property. I cite "Fair use and Parody" as my proposal is a parody of it really but "Loving tribute". It's an experimental idea for a show I'd be lined up to watch and yes I'd subscribe/pay for cable/buy the physical media and pass around the info. IF it's made I'll probably try to get books/toys based on my fictions into one of the stores (even renting space to sell some merch?) to promote it!
==Bring Back American Flagg!==
--as a TV series!--
It was a long running title of the independent comic company "First! Comics" in the 1980s. This is early direct market boom era title in the Copper/Mylar age - not to be confused with the Boom/Collector's age of the early 1990s.
The plot was a Cyberpunk silly/serious setting of an Actor being hired to play security chief in a city size mall but it's a reality show that happens with real people. America has fractured and is dominated by a few mega-corporations.
Looking back on it this "Cyberpunk" future has largely come true and I could waste pages going through all the details.
However the one big change different from reality is that malls are in decline and we X-ers look back on them with vaporwave nostalgia goggles watching videos of "Urban Explorers" going through empty and sometimes derelict sometimes still clean with neon glows. The "Backrooms" modern indie horror phenomena makes us nostalgic - "I'd just clobber or kill that monster and have fun!" especially in the "Mall" levels. We Xers aren't whiny cry-bully weaklings, we LONG for cases where we can commit violence without drastic legal punishment!
An empty mall in a basement universe created by our despair would be a mild form of happy limbo for us to find ourselves in. Y-ers too - and I LOATHE these letter neologisms...!
Thus American Flagg of all the classic 80s would probably have the best adaptation potential:
2 - It would be a setting that would pay for itself shortly; The production studio could put REAL stores in there. How? Well I find it interesting that all these "Halp us! Internet is ruining us!" tended to also CHARGE enough RENT that a 90s Crack Dealer would sweat to pay it along with begging local City/State governments for grotesque tax breaks. The threat of exposing this would make #1 VERY easy to negotiate, especially as they'd do a tax break on the way out. So just let stores come in for low rent and or a % of sales - They sign liability waivers and save special agreements the mutant punk bikers don't smash merchandise and all the employees wear 80s padded cyberpunk outfits!
2a - if they take this idea I'd work my A--- off to try to get in contact with a store there and get something like my character's books printed and on the wall and or toys based on another project of mine... Just the attention I'd get sales to match and tons of calls for possible next steps. I'm just saying this since it's the sort of thing we need to boost real capitalism in the real world vs all the upper corporate acts of today just outputting product without fear of competition and getting our tax $ to bail them out when it flops.
4 - Like the comic itself it could give a great actor who had a problem/failing a second chance to make it right again. Flagg is a Martian actually so it's a reverse of the John Carter sword and planet thing in a creative way. Also tons of extras, cute models and normal people. Serious, there are tons of former action stars, actors etc. who have ...issues... but we'd LOVE to see them in a role somewhere. Imagine Steven Segall teaching Akido in a dojo and part of the act he comes out, knocks down a punk (stunt man) with a single blow - "Don't forget your classes are at 2PM, Mr Flagg..." and bows and lets Reuben continue the Ultraviolence?
5A - employment for sexy model ladies - again I've seen tons of ladies strut their stuff on "OnlyFans" etc. and thought "Sad, if the girl was of age in the 1980s or 1990s she'd have made a mint dancing, acting in B-movies and/or just doing Adult entertainment." So the show while not X rated has plenty of adult content as the background and lots of ladies strutting their stuff. It'd be a neat education - they'd be taught to turn themselves into "Future 1980s chicks" with shoulder pads, space age suits and lace lingerie but the positive attitude vs fake empowered mixed with victimhood today. I seriously think American Flagg would be a good jumping off point as "Ok... You worked for AF - and they crunched you through Acting classes, 80s aesthetics, mild martial arts, walking in heels, fashion and functional diet tips, dancing to music, modelling...?" -and the ladies quickly do various things - shy innocent to wicked sexy woman instantly... "You're HIRED!" and it's not for porn though perhaps some porn stars could escape or expand from said roles also.
6 - Real people also! There will be crowds even when Reuben Flagg is fighting Punk bikers. They will be SHOPPERS in the Plexx Mall! To get in people need to sign/acknowledge a basic waiver though there are staffers and hospital teams ready and some insurance for real injuries without insane payouts. You get an arm broken if a biker hits too hard and the foam in his stick doesn't shield it - well you get a cast and some $ to compensate your employer for time off (or a few weeks min pay if unemployed) and a "I got my arm broken on American Flagg!" t-shirt! But no you do NOT get millions of dollars for a simple injury and the staff are trained pros who minimize it. Mostly there will be things like 80s "Cyberpunk" style goggles and face shields everyone wears to put off the biggest threat - black eyes from foam balls shot that then by computer editing turns into laser/energy "pew pew pew boom chakka boom!" weapon fire between Flagg and enemies.
Use Airsoft balls of compressed foam painted with neon colors and computers will animate them for comic effects and lines so it's like it's a drawn comic book mixed with live action!
Note that normally I hate "Calarts" stuff in modern animation but hey I'd LOVE it if they brought back Bob Violence toons as shorts between scenes, some art in the background, toys, pics on TV screens... He'd be perfect for the scene and cheap to animate with today's computers which is why "Calarts" is used versus serious $ to make incredible cartoons and indies in their basements do better. But Bob Violence isn't about wowing anyone with animation - he's about the Plexx Mall and associated companies and crude sex and violence animation along with his Android sex doll Mavis!
7a - (First Comics Cameos) I can imagine a visitor in a trench coat with a scar on his face who comes from a very strange VERY vast city going "Aaaaugh! Bob Violence... I HATE that show. Can't they show Whacky Swacky!?" - anyone know who I'm talking about? Well maybe he looks like a lady with a scar on her face or a cyborg...depends on what life he's in... Now THAT comic I'd want made for real into a movie/animation but it'd be a lot more expensive. American Flagg is more feasible if you wanted it to make money legit and help turn American media back to a right direction... Also an Ape-Like alien warrior or a Celt with a cybernetic eye and a pretty raven haired companion... A crazy martial artist in a red suit with a paw that isn't a wolverine paw on his chest. A bar with weird motley inhabitants and a singing lizard and signs "No tourbots", "Absolutely NO Pan-Galactic Gargle Blasters!", "Health waiver required for Olde Minke Liquor..." LOTS of neat cameos could be made, issues with rights and copyright abuse a consideration...
7b - remember "Maxx Headroom"? That's what Bob Violence would be - the mascot and shill for stuff. "Hey, Kids? Your parents might tell you not to smoke Zuper Vapes but ain't no machine yet can tell you you ain't old emough..." Mavis slaps him "Just joking, the Vapes are for consenting adults and in the vending machine by the Bar and Pole Dance place!" So he'd put ads in the show and in the mall via wall screens. And yeah he'd joke about it "Well what DO we have here? Someone bought the rights for Screaming Yellow Zonkers? Makes me want to be a couch potato and stuff these in my face in a dark room vs some ultraviolence!" but even the jokes would help far more than hurt as they'd stick in the mind and if anyone had an interest in the product now or later... The "Cyberpunk" world is full of immersive media and ads so slipping ads into the show is just part of it. Today's tech we could even modify the ads so if a soda pop paid this year the next year it could be a pop band Bob Violence is shilling/joking about... I'd hope the DVD would allow ALL versions to be seen... Ideal vs real things.
8 - Another world, the 'future' but echoing the times... Serious - remember the 1980s and read First comics (and other indie titles) as a kid with the same enthusiasm later people, you as an adult and newer teens/kids had during the 90s boom? Remember the issues of the 1980s and how the comics sometimes were complete escape but also somehow reflected the times? I'd not want a slavish 1:1 adaptation - but rather a new one that uses some elements and gives mostly a "Future of the 1980s" appeal though yes its a different world. Re-reading this it's scary how easy it would be to adapt it to today's world...
------------------------
So, disclaimer -this is just a mental/typing exercise - I have zero connection to whoever owns the 'rights' to all this stuff. Most of people's comments are stuff they hate in modern media about shows re-re-re-remade to increasing diminishment. I'd first want NEW things, at least things not yet adapted to the medium. But if we HAVE to adapt something say mining the 1980s well tons of other awesome comic books, indie comics, toy franchise pets as super heroes wanna be and TONS of Cyberpunk stuff.
American Flagg is a neat Scifi with strong Cyberpunk and allegorical but not direct political/social commentary. And it's got guns, heroes, sexy women and slapstick to carry it!
--Maxx Feral...
Pink sunglasses—make the whole world blush,
Turn the traffic into glitter, all the noise to hush.
Pink sunglasses—nothing’s out of touch,
Neon nights and city lights, we're living in a dream,
Palm trees swaying in the breeze, it’s more than it may seem,
š ”š ¢š £šµšµš £š ¢š š
-From MY song "Neon Knights racing by" - soon to be uploaded!
This blog post is about my disappointment with modern CopyWRONG -aka abuse of copyright to silence criticism and into absurdity reactionary protection. Modern big companies do little other than absorbing copyrights others made and they chew up and excrete these properties only taking from them. I won't bore with exhaustive history - you can look it up if you don't know, perhaps starting with Disney going after an underground comic "Air Pirates Funnies". That's really when Copyright/Trademark started getting abused for its own sake though Mad Magazine and others (Flynt Publications, National Lampoon) fought back hard keeping free speech pretty open for fair use/parody.
I'm writing a series of fictions set in the 1980s but there's one tiny detail chained that had a changing effect so its "A better 1980s" though still has problems and issues of course. No fairyland just a decade that appreciates itself while its in it a bit better. Nostalgia but meant to be OK for younger readers who weren't born yet to enter.
The problem was that the 1980s WAS its pop culture to a large extent. The mass media, the music the movies. "I pity the FOOL!" etc.
However - this blog isn't about skating around fair use and parody.
Already tons of books, videos on that and it'll make you sick how it's abused and really disgust you in the law and society. This isn't an advice on fair use/parody and how to make it slightly less likely you'd be sued. It's about getting AROUND the issue big time.
It's about ALTERNATIVE SUBSTITUTIONS to tell them off!
I decided on this path making two sub fictions to handle the major fictions and working around a third and got so sick I wanted to puke. Holeee FRUIT of the Gawdz - Steven King in "The Stand" mentioned the arcade game "Death Race" early on and wasn't sued...even though they could have used the $ being grilled by the Senate over the first "Video game violence" issue. They knew it kind of immortalized a video game that would be forgotten by now save very devout Arcade historians without the controversy. Wouldn't be surprised if the novel wasn't responsible for a few of them being still maintained as much as the Corman movie inspired by it and the history of controversy for a very simple little game.
So - this page is about a list of alternatives I'm using in fiction to avoid CopyWRONG issues of pop culture, focusing on the 1980s era which pulls from the 1970s and goes a bit into the 1990s. It is not meant to be a comprehensive alternative and I do retain FULL copyRIGHT on my IPs but allow openly a "Fair use and parody" without extensive legal and paperwork issues. Save a copy of this page when using them in case I die and someone 'inherits' the rights to my stuff. Oh, I'll let someone feed off my coffin but sanely. What I'm mentioning here would please me because it's free advertising and true flattery and appreciation!
First - "TenTari computers vs ATARI"
In MY "A better 1980s" the video game crash didn't happen!
Almost but you know what company merged with others creating TenTari! They are now an emerging MegaCorp out of a Cyberpunk novel and right now are positive and energetic and kids dream of being a Tentari engineer when they grow up!
There's rumored to be a hidden meaning in their name - but most people even the "nerds" are burnt out on that since Atari supposedly had a hidden name but it was just "Check" in the game of "Go" and the previous company Syzgy also meant opposition/challenge in essence. So yeah "They merged with TEN or so other companies. I do NOT care..."
Atari in the background - kids playing Atari games, references to "I scored --- in ----" and tribute games... Well guess what, people have been sued, DMCA'd, legally extorted. Right now there's a new console release so they'll be extra lawyer attack happy. I even heard a rumor Blader Runner 2049 had to pay them a ton of money just to have that "Atari" logo on the side of the building when in a sane world they should have thanked them for free advertising! GAG me with a SPOON...
So - NOPE.
I'd love to write in an alternative universe Atari that grew and became an awesome company and Cheezus Kwist they should THANK me for free advertising and if my "A better 1980s" got big and there was a TV show send a note "Please have the kids playing Atari 2600 games or better in the background, we are re-releasing .... want some samples!?" knowing it was free advertising. Nope. More likely lawsuits derail it by last minute changes and legal fees scrambling everything.
An analogy though YES a Judge WOULD go "Motion to dismiss with prejudice accepted." and I'd then sue back if it got that far and just might wreck the copyright/trademark. Ye be warned. I love the product and all those games and such but I'm sick of abuse where it is NOT deserved. The lawsuit is for someone making or selling someone else's games without protection not for literary tribute when its clearly a secondary fictional product.
So it's "Tentari" no disrespect but legal CMA.
Next - my "Omega Crusade" vs ".... of the Universe...!
As a background to replace "Masters..." etc. the crowning of 1980s Saturday Morning Cartoon toy commercials I'm making my own concept of such a franchise, toy line, etc. YES I'm making some comics, simple toys, etc. I might sell some physical media and make a few seconds of animation.
In my "Pulp" universe, Omega Crusade is both the far far far far future, the "Entropic" end of the universe. AND it exists as a Saturday Morning Cartoon from the 1980s. MY 1980s, a better 1980s!
However - YOU may use it in your fictions to a sane limit - no hassles save obvious. I certainly DO retain copyright, etc. What I allow is "Fair use and parody" of a 1970s level.
Suggested examples:
Vietch put the pizza in the new Microwave. He hoped he'd not have either a frozen plate or blister his lip again. In the living room the TV had been left on all night and catching the rays of dawn Omega Crusade played, entertaining kids across the nation and selling those toys. Though Vietch was tempted to join the blue nosed moralists whining violence and corruption of youth he watched the show when alone and wished he was a kid again to buy those toys...the Brothers of the Sun toys he'd been tempted to get the last decade but he'd already been 17 when they came out and preparing for college. He had had to argue with his Father for permission to watch the latter.
--Oh, yeah - "Brothers of the Sun" - not exactly Star Trek - it's another storyline I'm working on with a similar theme both a tribute with bits of parody but also its own thing as Trek is a consolidation of many science fictions before it like Star Wars the Scifi adventure genre.
And yes, if you illustrate it (artist, AI, 3d) you can put limited backgrounds. If you make a TV show yes you can put a few seconds of it on the TV in the background! -some credit / link would be nice but not demanding.
What you can't do -> Copy the figures and sell them. Reproduce the media be it fictions, comics, games, animations in large part or full especially to sell. If you "Vietch the Detective" isn't 1 minute of V and then just cut/paste full Omega Crusade episodes you SELL.... In short obvious where the re-delivery of my IP is the motive and any 3rd party you do the shell. That's what they accused Mad, National Lampoon, etc. of but wanted to silence critics and they LOST in court. So unless you are a bootlegger or pirate of media for profit nothing to really worry about. Simple mentions, again as Steven King talked about the video game "Death Race" in the background of early in "The Stand" is in no way hurtful to the IP and it'd be petty and insane to sue over it so let's keep reasonable and I'll be generous to free advertisement.
Note I LOVE "...of the universe" so much - but the last few years it's been BUTCHERED. My "Omega Crusade" while I'd have done it with / without this sooner or later is accelerated due to it. Serious, I even liked the 00s reboot attempt.
The judge for the sake of his and the fragile senior citizen hearts and brain blood vessels of all other judges declared it to be "Too Generic" to be broadly protected by copyright/trademark. Exact things are still protect-able - various names and you can't (if not in China somewhere) copy the existing action figures by casting them, you need to make your own by hand or 3D... (not direct scanning obv.)
BUT - the judge didn't want him and his peers to hear 1000 legal battles over action figures and fictional worlds and toys...the airwaves and especially toy shelves were groaning with the weight of tons of MOTU/StarWars/Trek wanna-be toys! "Krothar of the Dark Wurld is TOO CLOSE to Worriors of Torrrg!" and do a Judge Ito facepalm again and again and again... So to avoid toy hell he declared it "Too Generic" as long as no direct lifting of names/copying figures. You can make your own "Barbarian warlord scifi fantasy military figure who looks like he's about to burst his colon squatting per a rotten dot com classic - Hrrrgggg!!!!" etc. no broad copyright/trademark if your own creation/your company's creation.
There was a FLOOD of "Generic 5.5 inch" and 3.5 inch (Star Wars/GI Joe) "Compatible" action figures right after. Some were from fly by night Chinese/foreign ones that DID copy the torsos, probably from the same outsourced makers...got an extra few thousand of that torso in a different color, added a different head from another toy... Most were just wanna-be's catching some of the wind from MOTU's and Star Wars's sails...
So - while even with this having your 1980s character even MENTION "...of the universe" is risky you can use (sanely) Omega Crusade. Hopefully check this space in a year then a few there will be more to it, way more. One of the things that gets me mad is we should have dozens more like I'm doing. I shouldn't have to do this unless I was passionate about such a thing solely. There should be DOZENS of new cartoons and toy lines, video games inspired by but their own new thing... For instance, how about the Venture Brothers level tribute/merciless parody Kaptara!?
Serious - pic cited for fair use/parody - non-commercial - but really they needed to make that into a cartoon and make the toys. Today's tech they could 3D model and CNC the tools so making the toys with China so much more accessible... and there should be dozens like this and my "Omega Crusade" just a lark with a few images, no need for more.
The reason is that we have a few companies dominating the media that cooperate vs competing.
I'll blog over that later...how we need to go antitrust for politics vs rioting for 'gender neutral remakes'...
Then for "Heavy Metal" we'll enter the "WILD ZONE!"
It's taken me a while typing on this article. First HM was "Dead, Jim" for about 3 or 5 years depending... I thought it was gone and might come back in another 10 years or NOT at all, think "First Comics!" that gets stuck in multiple property holdings and any attempt is caught between "I want milleyuns and milleyuns!" one person demanding more $ than it'd ever be worth and "You OWE me Milleyuns and Milleyuns!" one other thinking they are OWED huge $ so will come out to sue whoever buys it and do that damage in court costs even if he loses. Our legal system will punish neither.
ALSO - someone claiming to own HM a few years back harassed Crian Soft over their "Metal Fury" project - which was a tribute to the Julie Strain Fakk2 era of HM. So stuff that should have been out a year or so ago is in DevHell for a Looong time to re-tool it. Not sure or CARE if it was the current Owner(s)... That was years back and just dead air - plenty of Zombie Copyright/Trademark trolls where things are in limbo, it's near impossible to find the owner and they charge 10x what any sane person would pay for even obscure things - but slither out of the gutter and SUE. And only mmmaybe legit own it...
Thought it was "Dead, Jim..." in CopyWRONG hell like First Comics...
So I was surprised to find out it was coming back.
Then it became obvious they are owned, ran etc. by the same people who RUINED the magazines. Same types the "Panderverse" and "Modern Audience" types who cater to everyone BUT who'd buy the thing. I'll say "One Man's Opinion" for legal CMA but when you experience online forums where cry bullies get you banned for 'misgendering' them and that wasn't even a discussion you had with them, just you wanted old HM.
So while I'll be THRILLED if I'm wrong, I think it's a Cash Grab. Just more $ but panderverse and will die again and probably stay in limbo. Thus avoid crediting it and using "fair use and parody" the NAME in any fiction you write, from a free webcomic to a story you publish you'll be victimized by lawsuit parasites and DMCA harassment. The corporate world is what created this Copyright Trolling/Trademark Squatting, etc. in its modern form. They have sent everything to China so all they have left is their names...and these are bought and sold casually.
SO - welcome to the WILD ZONE!
Part of a delay in making this - I went nuts making the premise for what MIGHT be a legit magazine. IF it is I'll work out a "Shares" thing so artists contribute and get a % of residuals (sales) and a few top guys get big $ and maybe paid ahead (bonus, not advance) and lesser ones get a smaller %. Hey, if I find anyone who can give Serpieri, Azipiri, Corben a run for their $ I'll pay them more than ME even if I'm risking $ and spending time I don't have to make it - life ain't fair and we don't have to be but I'll spread it around legit to show I do stand by my friends and associates.
Anyways, I'm working out the basics and animatics for videos but it's simple - Imagine if in another universe just like our own but a few things happened differently...
Instead of some people importing European comics and translating some others decided to take the sci-fi and fantasy of the current age the 1970s and combine it with awesome artists who'd wanted to be "Underground Cartoonists" of the 1960s and were struggling to find a place in the early direct market that wouldn't explode big until the 1980s and publish a magazine format fantasy comic anthology...? Then they got successful and maybe pulled over some European comics, got a movie that was really awesome but the music rights got it tangled on HBO late night showings as the ONLY way to watch it... (Versus Cinemax)
I still retain the rights to it and any illustrators or writers who contribute do theirs per our charter IF I make a .pdf or print run for legit sale. BUT we allow "1970s fair use, parody, reference, reasonable use" so anything save blatant piracy you are OK. If you mention us we'll link and be flattered most likely. But no permission, contracts, etc.
I mean you'd think it's 99% impossible to sue IF it's like in the background and a character is in a magazine shop the title is in the background - BUT look at modern "Documentaries" it's like characters live in a world of blurry rectangles over their chests and the background. The reason is some filth slithers from the gutter and SUES them - and just wants $, is or has a lawyer, knows winning costs more than just paying it. And our judges and other officials don't care and allow the system to be abused this way.
- I mean OK to reference it "Joey had a Rostler magazine? Only grounded? Billy got spanked almost bloody for a copy of Wild Zone! Some of the stories have nudity and sex in them on top of violence and worse, his Mom was freaked out." limited "Fair Use" is a-ok. Only type of thing I'd give notice of is like copying whole stories if I make them someday and selling them as your own. A few pics here and there using it as a stand in - some of the MUSIC I'll be uploading...no real problem save making your own album by copying/pasting it - and huge use > "Fair Use" just talk to me about it!
-------On the note of MUSIC------
The 1980s was defined by its pop music which is now legendary. This is one of the biggest mine-fields for any writer as if they mention stuff in a book/story they sell they might get harassed with lawyers (or con-artists) demanding infinitely more than they can pay. Case in point, White Wolf a TTRPG company had legal threats and demands for hundreds of thousands of dollars for setting in pre-chapter quotes some lyrics for their favorite music songs to set the mood. Talk about soulless GREED - it was FREE ADVERTISING. Nobody would buy a pricey niche TTRPG game book about being a modern fantasy Vampire (Anne Rice style pre "Sparkle") or Werewolf etc. just for a few song lyrics.. They'd already have the album and if they didn't buy it ASAP...
So I'm making LOTS of Pop and thanks to Ai DAWs like Suno am able to. Most of my stuff is NEW since I've had lots of song ideas in my head and it's not really a parody or imitation. There are some archetypes that exist multiple times in any decade of music like Teen Pop, Rock, Metal - some niches like "New Age"
----TEENY POP / POP----
Juno Hart - the "Pink Sunglasses" girl
šµPink sunglasses—make the whole world blush,
Turn the traffic into glitter, all the noise to hush.
Pink sunglasses—nothing’s out of touch,
Every heartbeat’s louder when we turn it up this muchšµ
She's a stand in for any teen pop singer/songwriter -and I won't say just directly this or that one though the term "Debbie" comes to mind and if that lady who's still alive and active and wants a hand in it when/if I get this "A better 1980s" turned into a real TV show I'll try to fit her in somewhere...
Anyways, in THIS alternative 1980s there's a teen girl called "Juno Hart" who's a music prodigy and she's good at making songs and marketing herself and while sweet is pretty smart and mercenary. This alternative 1980s has slightly better technology so they use Digital 8 track but reel tapes and people pay to download from kiosks their favorite songs with performers, the stores and the record companies getting their cuts. Also stickers are either included or sold separately so people can put them on their Trapper Keepers or other prominent personal gear to show they like this or that music act.
----NEW AGE----
The late 1970s had an alternative spirituality and "New Age" movement surge as aftershock of the 1960s and this continued into the 1980s. It was both considered kooky and silly but also sold very well and was part of culture. Shirley MacClaine's openness of her spiritual explorings and even tribute/parodies like the movie "Vibes" with Cindy Lauper helped solidify it into culture. I liked "Shirley the Loon" on Animaniacs later.
The early 1980s had a lot of now forgotten "New Age Music" stars. Not meant to be any specific one of them is Alihaha Mist:
She's older than Juno Hart - in her early 30s - and from an Eastern European country aka part of the USSR that doesn't exist in our world. Nothing too fancy, she wanted to make big $ in the USA and have more creative freedom. Mostly she's known for deep spiritual albums talking about coyote spirits and ufo encounters but it's music she's practical and realistic. She's at her best singing in public small gatherings from stages on a beach or a woodland retreat or especially a shopping mall.
As a paradox to Juno Hart she's not too into her "Stickers" but her agent and team are very enthusiastic so she has more stickers than her and these get collectable very quickly. Nothing "New Age" / supernatural here, she just makes as little as possible and she's doing new acts, new albums a lot so these limited runs in an age not 100% digital yet even with better tech get limited runs not likely made again and differences even IF made again due to analog printing process.
So she's a New Age singer that appears in the backgrounds - she's a CHARACTER of mine who'll appear in stories but mention of Alihaha Mist albums, lyrics, in the background she's appearing in the mall singing... That's OK to use!
----HEAVY METAL ----
In the "A better 1980s" there was a sad tragedy in that just by happenstance accident a British PUNK band named after a medieval torture instrument and with a mascot who was a punk zombie or something got all hit by one of those cool double decker bus things... Just a random thing that can happen, they would have gotten SO BIG...!
SO - instead of IRON MAIDEN ... in "A better 1980s" there's:
STEEL VALOR!
And they have a mascot called Valorak!
Aesthetic Differences from Iron Maiden:
The reason I'm doing this is that Iron Maiden are "Sue Monkeys" and one of the #1 reasons for me making this page in the first place. Case in point "Ion Maiden" got sued by them, a rail shooter, the FPS game Powerslave... I think what happened is way way back they made a Heavy Metal tribute to Frank Herbert's "Dune" and got sued and the police might have even been called when they knocked on his door and found out Frank Herbert HATED Rock and Roll music worse than an "Old School Boys in the Hood" in the USA ever could hate people of African origin. And he had whole new levels of hatred for modern rock and roll and especially the "Punk" scene. On one of their early albums "Peace of Mind" is something called "Spice Opera" -instrumental but they wanted to do at least a song dedicated to Herbert's DUNE, maybe an album...and had to just use that one non-copyright/generic title and NO words ever published or they'd be sued... Nice way for the late Herbert and his "Estate" to treat their fans. Part of why if I could mess with time I'd make it so Jodorowsky made his Dune movie; I heard Herbert was screaming over Pink Floyd being involved possibly as again he hated Rock and Roll...
Sad - and to Iron Maiden from the singers to Eddie, I LOVE you guys - I went through a stage of liking only Heavy Metal in my early teens and always you stood out a step above everyone from Twisted Sister, Kiss at their Metal prime years and even Metallica. Like Yes to Progressive Rock you were among the first and the BEST and still pull a mean act today...
BUT - you've become fucking SUE monkeys...
Serious - look at the image to the left - some quick AIgen of Sam, one of the main characters from this fictional universe "A better 1980s" and he's showing his one un-cool "Geeky" side by shopping in a random comic book, magazine, music store in between helping his buddies solve cases and not end up dead. Notice how I did not put any specific periodicals not my own or imagined on any of these? In the past I'd have spent longer than it would have taken me (even without AI) to do the image editing in covers of various bands and comics. Grimjack, Heavy Metal, Twisted Sister, Kiss, Rush, Pink Floyd and last but not least YOUR albums like "Powerslave" at least...
But I'm not doing it for ANY of this. YOU are the main reason. You are fucking SUE-Monkeys. "One Man's Opinion" but frankly you've attacked too many people over free and fair use of imagery and tributes that if anything you should pay them for or thank them for. I doubt even one of these tributes would have cost you one penny and many people just seeing them went "Oh yeah!" remembering your albums and likely listened to or maybe bought if they hadn't already or again if they had and lost them... You've made it so people are afraid to show anything in even a documentary about real life and so everything is blurred fearing someone will slither out of the gutter and SUE - and they'll have to pony up tens of thousands of dollars to pay or risk a long grossly expensive trial where they lose if they win and are ruined if they lose. Something fair to stop REAL copyright theft like copying albums and selling them as if real with no royalties going to you - or yes what Napster people did, much more reason for that. However, tributes to, names used - nowadays stuff like that (Tributes, artistic flattery) is often even BANNED from this horrible Web 2.0 as admins are afraid they'll have to go to court or pay $ even if they take down stuff on complaint per a standard DMCA in time.
So thanks in no small part to you we are losing a lot of history in how people make things when they show what should be a heartfelt slice of a time - a city street, a magazine store - and neat way to express their love of various comics, books, bands... Nope - we are afraid someone will come out and SUE us and more want $ than a take-down and if we offer to pay charge way too much for any sane fee since they are extortionists. Oh, and lots of these people have NOTHING to do with the original copyright holders or have ANY real claim - a while back Jib-Jab had to give LOTS of $ and they stopped their act soon after over Gutherie's "Your Land" song - and after the Copyright troll ran off with their $ it was found out they had ZERO connection to Gutherie. The courts did NOTHING over this though it's criminal fraud along with the "Happy Birthday" racket and the great grandsons of Conan Doyle still threatening lawfare to use Sherlock Holmes.
So you aren't the only CopyWrong Troll Sue Monkeys out there, Iron Maiden, but some of your actions caused many websites to go "no tributes, no fan works..." directly. Yes, after the "Ion Maiden" thing. The lawyers went to nervous website owners; "Yes, YOU could get sued into ruin even IF you DMCA'd even though removing on a complaint should protect you but it'll still go to trial..cost and cost and cost..."
Therefore I will NOT include ANY mention of you in my fictions, nor edit "iron maiden" on an album cover in the back. I dare TALK (type) about you here since this is history I'm talking about - I could make Ronald Reagan a heroic figure battling with Hercules on the Moon with chainsaws against Martians... But I'm NOT going to mention you or post any materials. And like I made Wild Zone, Steel Valor is the needed replacement for you like "Samurai Gunslinger" my alternative to Star Wars a bit downwards. At least George Lucas respected free and fair use and as long as the fans weren't bootlegging figures or selling fan fiction he was cool - but he sold out to Disney which is the only WORSE act than yours for "Sue Monkey" behavior - well they are that BY FAR...
--------End stand in for that "Maiden" band but I plan to upload some "Steel Valor" songs soon!------
Instead of "Star Wars" use Samurai Gunslinger...!
But he ended up making a Samurai film set in a post Nuclear war world as a compromise he could get funded and have a chance of showing up in theaters. A timeless tale of the hero who is chosen and is trained from humble beginnings to be a Gun Samurai like his father before him - then he faces the desert Empire and their mobile fortress with cannons able to take out an entire city and lay waste to a province! He meets the princess, the bandit and smuggler who is inspired to become a hero, a Bigfoot beast-man who insists he's from a race of similar types from the stars, some constructs from the last era... And it's both an exciting otherworldly adventure and a timeless mythic journey that resonates in every right Man, Woman and especially children.
If I carry it into the 90s of this world I'd talk about towards the end of it George Lucas making a science fiction film since they come back into fashion such as the "Ace Double" film empire and Lucas makes his "Science Fiction Epic" since by then (mid 90s) science fiction has made a comeback having CGI close to today and it's like EVERY "Ace Double" has been turned into a movie...! So he decides "I have a F---load of money and I can make 9 flops in a row and still have enough $ to retire stinking rich...!"
Thus he makes his movie just starting at the FIRST part of the grand 9 part of 3 trilogies!
A grand "Space Opera" epic of a galaxy of ancient technology and civilization at war mostly from techno religious orders operating behind the scenes over how to use the near magic ultratech some now vanished foundational civilization left which enables cheap FTL travel, loyal AI servants, advanced materials tech to inhabitants more fit in the Middle Ages or Wild West... It also used the accellerated by a decade due to the MacGuffin/Major plot driver of my "A better 1980s" to have completely non-human actors, ones that could NOT be a man in a rubber suit. This is prominently used for "Gar Gar" who is a frog like alien humanoid but instead of the Nerne from "The Time Mercenaries" his people are peaceful and Gar Gar is a lovable goof who gets dragged in by destiny and finds maturity and the hero inside protecting the "Chosen One" human child!
But he has tons of ground breaking, awesome movies under his belt and his die hard fans defend him!
Sad - if I could blatantly have Sam (one of my characters) reading some 3rd party works since he's a nerd for classic science fiction and fantasy it'd be to put an Ace Double in his hands, pocket, mantle, backseat of car every scene he's in even though he's the "Cool dude that wears sunglasses even at night and can kick ass and he's COOL!" etc. otherwise. I'd put in ones I've read and ones I like the covers for - and if my work gets popular the reprints would justify Ace Double reprints!
See the left image?
Only SOME of my "Ace Double" collection. I LOVE them! Star Wars, Star Trek, etc.? It's a TRIBUTE to this era. Lucas and Roddenberry were amazed there wasn't a lineup of lawyers from ancient writers and coffin feeders, excuse me "Estates" slithering over to SUE - a few with legit good reason. Most notably the E.E. "Doc" Smith estate aka "Lensman" series. But most of them knew a rising tide lifted all boats and even though the realistic "Campbell Era" to "New Wave" scifi era of the times hated Star Wars/Trek they knew it got them $ and public acceptance at last.
Part 3 - "Men's Magazines"
The 1980s had a lot of pornography, especially magazine pornography as part of popular culture. The dirty magazines with very pretty ladies were on the "Rise" so to speak and everywhere. Regular bookstores had them, so did every gas station, drug store, supermarket. They were breaking through the taboos at the time so it could be embarrassing to buy them and of course not for sale to minors so none of us kids had them... Place sarcastic mischievous laughter here...!
Pic left is "Newlook" where Penthouse tried to expand but it was debatable if they were going after Chiq or Playboy's territory. Note also the classic OMNI (getting to them) was published by Bob Guccioni who owned Penthouse. Magazine flopped in the USA after a few years but continues in France to this day - full of National Geographic level photograpy and not just nekkid wimmen but plenty of them also.
For all the smut my naughty younger self managed to get this picture is what sticks most in my mind - some artsy "New Wave" use of blacklight photography for again "Art". That particular session just had sexy adult models posing in painted neon lingerie in a dark room with blacklights though the rest of the magazine had plenty of boobs and more!
One of the shaky definitions of pure Porn (usually illegal) vs the Magazines was having "Social, Artistic or Literary" value. So the magazines published fiction including by big names, news articles the other news agencies didn't touch and lots of "Artsy" stuff from comics to expression. This kept "Obscenity" blue noses from being able to ban them.
Silly but it had quite an impact - the late Larry Flynt spent a few million and a year ish in jail refusing to reveal the source for the DeLorean frameup tape. This kept it so that any attempt to jail a journalist to extort him to reveal his source was an area LEOs thought ten times before trying.
Anyways a 1980s fiction is going to have to have porn as an issue in some way - even relatively G-rated ones. The kids will try to sneak a peek at the magazine covers, sometimes blocked off with cardboard or even custom pressboards with logos. Or they'll try to STEAL them or buy them with false ID and/or have some adult or teen adult buy them for them. Such a treasure to a young lad to see some buxom beauty posing and spreading her...
Nowadays our puritanical fascism mixed with insane fake left garbage it'd be criminal. But us Xers and the Boomer/Greatest before us had this to a point and you do not if late Y or younger. Sorry. Nowadays if you had an adult hand you his smut magazine or paid a bum to buy booze and XXX mags for you the poor fella could get "Offender" status. But then again we weren't able to use the internet to find high quality porn, much less the darknet torture snuff and animal porn I presume the kids leer about in grade school... I'd rather some hot Penthouse Pets of the 80s and 90s, grade A meat, silicone string enhancement, low body fat and athletic VS some skanky piercing factory in the modern shadow of these magazines or some poor SOB being sliced apart in some Red Room like again I presume the kids jerk off to today... But that's my preference the classic 80s, 90s models. I don't treat women IRL as less if they don't match some beauty standard, just wish whatever latest wave feminism hadn't turned many of them ugly to the core regardless of looks and hostile to most men but receptive to the last men they should be with...
So - it will be mentioned somehow - say a kid getting a deserved paddling for having one! Trying to peek at one and his Mom hooks his ear and drags him away. Some memorable magazine poster that is technically not porn but sexy to the Nth power like that NewLook magazine cover... Worth a paddlin' to risk a look at!
And yes corporal punishment was 100% ok as long as not enough to seriously injure a kid or an excuse for molestation. Da Fuzz usually got beaten with belts that cut their young asses, including with the buckle! Imagine a cop hearing a kid crying his Dad belted him over having a Playboy - more because his Mom found it and yelled he be punished... "Yeah, kid, I like lookin' at Playboy but you gotta take yer hits. If your Dad and Mom whopped you, they have your best interests at heart so get outta here...! Take it like a Man!"
SO - here are some idea example Porn magazines. I'll put in some mockup covers and yes you can use if you dare - figure a good set of analogs that sound like the old ones as a tribute to them. I won't get gross or graphic much to the disappointment of my buddy O'MaXXXimVs...but I thank him greatly...
Rabbit Hutch by Eugene Heffer vs Playboy - elite big $ hedonist - nice guy but tons of ex squeeze toys always saying stuff
Cunthouse vs Penthouse - or to be less vulgar Photohouse with Robert Vassilie as editor/publisher - a brilliant photographer but a bit of playboy and womanizer.
NewWave (generic name) versus NewLook - again published by Vassilie
Rostler vs Hustler - there was IRL a short lived men's magazine called Rustler, fyi. Publisher is Leroy Flynn a real lowbrow dude who also has pushed for free speech and won some important verdicts by publishing things the big alphabet soup and top newspapers refused then defending his source.
These may be used - I'll use them/references to them in MY fictions. While thanks is appreciated this is open source so we can use a similar sounding cultural reference that will resonate with even modern readers not born yet and be obvious to those that lived then - but be outside the ability to easily harass legally especially vultures who just want $ and only maybe are associated.
Again your 1980s story doesn't have to be about porn, pornography, etc. But for the culture Porn was in the background as a strong force. Kids DID get porn magazines and only got paddled when they got found with them - no taking them to a counselor (who turns them gay/trans) and million dollar police investigation to find the adult who gave it to them be it some clerk or teen/adult friend. Furthermore they were popular with adults "Uh, I only read Rabbit Hutch for the ARTICLES..." - "Wait! I saw that actress in the scifi movie, she posed in..." and in popular culture like it or not.
It really decayed with the internet allowing a flood of porn but also by competition and free distribution of materials lowered the $ it could get. 00s onwards strippers started striking for wages vs having so much in their garters they didn't notice the technical minimum wage they got, the magazines declined and the "Models" were the last any top magazine would take, some got bought out and turned experimental, etc. Anyways it's powerful - I'm mostly "R-Rated" at worst in my fictions but have a friend who does X stuff and he could really tell tales. However anyone doing a period piece might want to study this aspect even if their work is NOT adult - not to throw in vulgar stuff but if they truly want a cultural mirror.
For the record I've never got into "Stranger Things" but IF it doesn't have the kids talking about/hiding a Playboy somewhere it is NOT 1980s... Don't care to search - hint "kids + adult material + Pornography " - Gawd knows what that'd do to whatever secret profile I have on the Fed Fuzz lists for my occasional political rant and loose connection to people who were radical in the 1960s... (Parental figures and friends of theirs)
Part 4 - Miscelleneous cultural references onwards
I can't re-create the ENTIRE cultural landscape of the 1980s - but here's a catch all for
Mark Mallerus and other catch-alls for phrases
Imagine a big man in a Noir background - "U Vill Trust me, I am capable of vhat I ham doink..!" and somebody is smashed through the window...! This is a tribute to Sledgehammer of course! And the characters could go "So then he smashed him through the window like Mark Mallerus! Don is a great cop! Too bad internal affairs rides him. Didn't Papto Bees Oil pay them $ to have internal affairs always drinking the stuff like soda pop due to his behavior?"
Here will be a bunch of quick uses - no long descriptions
Mark Mallerus -> Sledgehammer "U Vill Trust me, I ham capable of vhat I ham doink...!" - sudden brutal act of violence - done Noir style vs Dirty Harry if drawn so Mallerus is a parody of Cop Noir vs Grindhouse Films
A.C.T.I.O.N. team (toys, cartoons) vs N.A.G.A. - Elite military professionals fighting some ancient entrenched terrorist organization with connections to reptilians and elite families."Action Go!" - "Serpent Strike!" for chants. 3.5" action figures, playsets, some controversy over playing Patriot or Terrorist and language implying kids are wimps if they don't buy them.
Marble Comics - Crusader America, Metal Titan, Chango the Black God of Thunder, the marvelous Arachnid. Direct Comics (DiCo vs DC) and Overman, Amazon Suprema, Speedster, Martian Observer...
Zowie Starboy - played by Peter Goliath a musician, actor man of mystery
Patty Parton - big enhanced starlet
Part 5 - reasonable fair use
Note I still have Ronald Regan, George Lucas, etc. mentioned no worries about Copyright Abuse, right? Well here's why, they are REAL people, its REAL history and they are Celebrities who have less personal rights to privacy...
About the worst example is that Jackie ONassis and Princess Fergie got photographed topless by scummy paparazzi and the porn mags, tabloids were able to publish their photographs since they were celebrities, public figures...
If you did a voyeur act on a non celebrity/public figure lady and via hidden camera, hiding in the bushes, tiny camera hidden in shoe etc. got a picture of their privates/naked you'd get sued big time. And Jailed. Absolutely if you brought them to a magazine and they printed them without checking a model's release. Note there was some drama about this in 1980s fiction - such as WKRP in Cincinatti that had a photographer get nude photos of a lady who'd posed in a bikini and had signed a model release. Or Marvel had a She-Hulk episode in the Fantastic Four where she was topless in "Tar Beach" (rooftop sunbathing) and they photographed her and since she was a public figure (Superhero, with Fantastic Four) couldn't prevent the photos save a lucky twist ending. IMO that she-hulk should have been on TV, not the cruddy one some modern audience ones made up, would have been Ally McBeal 10 years ahead of time with superhero world crossover.
So you can use a celebrity or historical figure - in my alternative world I'll have a standard fictional disclaimer of it's all a fiction based on the real world turned different so any actions real persons had were a fiction not meant to be them. Even today's world an attempt to sue would be laughed to "Motion to dismiss" and yes I'd pay $ to a lawyer to do that not cuck out in fear of it - since it'd be "Streisand Effect" and make the thing SELL so much I could pay a dream team and get big $ off of them if they somehow got it to court. AND it's flattery, I'm not insulting them - even Reagan whom I hated as a bad guy in the 1980s due to Hippie parents. He's seen as an icon now but would get "Cancelled" by the modern Republican party and he paved the way for them.
George Lucas? Hey - if you see it and want to do "Samurai Gunslinger" I'll be lined up to watch the film and buy the toys not sue or anything...! I'll even give you what I've written about it, just wanting some "Partial inspirational" credits in the rolling!
Comments - Feel free to discuss and add ideas. I'm "Wild West Internet" so if you insult another and they insult back I don't care. I reserve the right to edit or delete/block for any or no reason but let's keep it civil.
Note - if you suggest something for this - another idea for a cultural reference - it is still YOUR idea but I have the right to use it also, open source. Now say - using one of my analogs - I was a 3rd person writing "Mark Mallerus" as a Sledgehammer tribute I'd not forfiet my novels/short stories and ideas for a comic series... I'd just let others make sane references to him but that'd include printing/showing for profit. It is how F*cked up things are now this is necessary; Imagine if there's a tv show and one of the kids is reading a chewed up "Pulp" novel but its a lulu printing of "Mark Mallerus: Versus the 4th Reich and their Cyborg Gorilla!" one of the existing novels...
A sane world the creator and any associates would jump for joy at the free advertising and do their best for search results and brace for new printings/pdf sales and maybe a phone call from a studio...right? Nope - you play roulette with getting papers from a lawyer and they are willing to bring you to court just wanting to extort $ not thinking for a second you did any real damage to them. We need this to END. It's day and night vs true plagiarism or piracy and cultural references, fair use and parody.
Append - for "Copyright owners"
- this page is to avoid copyright abuse but to also plead for SANITY.
Having said that I'd LOVE to work with real owners of classic 1980s properties.
This is NOT a plea to release your works for public domain - it's to make a statement that you allow the cross-cultural exchange we had in the 1970s and 1980s where we could even reference each other's work and as long as it doesn't go into true plagiarism or other theft it's allowed. Today some retro fiction that adds to it cultural examples is a godsend to those holding onto ancient copyright - it means the movies get played again, the toys go up in value, chance of a new release. So if you send me some kind of official statement I'll append it and post it so people can use or reference things with sane use and not worry. They'd keep these in their creative folders so if a decade or whatever from now some 3rd party claims ownership there's proof of permission and they'll run. It won't hurt your IP - tons of use, careful imitation, reference means it's still relative and topical even decades or longer after its time in the Sun and so anyone purchasing is more likely to take it into account and send this site and other users notice of a new product for hopeful free advertising and to grow the customer base.
========FAN INPUT========
OKAY! I got a great suggestion from "R.G."/"R-Gonz"!
"300X" instead of "2000AD" comics magazine - character alternatives below.
Again - I bear NO malice to 2000AD or any of it's awesome legacy - but now like everything it DOES seem (One Man's Opinion) quite corporate, bought out and "Modern Audience" so us edgy indies must act in polite wariness of CopyWRONG abuse so JIC... here's some alternatates that are "1970s style fair use and parody" welcome to include as analogs in your fictions. If R-Gonz decides to make these alternatives it's his stories but we can use the covers and reasonable sampling in our shared works as an analog for 2000AD without violating their "Intellectual Property".
IMO it's a cool idea - one if I didn't have WAY too many irons in the fire I'd want to be part of! Imagine a tribute to early (before I was born or at least in diapers) 2000AD in all its crazy wonkiness... (I say that in flattery, anyone legit involved from UK/whatever)
Another cool thing I'll point out is that 2000AD PREDICTED "AiArt" and "AiWriting"...!!!
DECADES ago, 1980s at latest...
Serious...take my word for it, I'm not digging through 6+ comic long boxes but yes I remember it...
SECOND - the "Judge Dredd" fiction from it has clearly that due to automation and AI/Robots 95% of Mega-City One (and most of the world) is Unemployed, yes including "Creatives". I even remember one issue where an outsider (smaller mega city) went to a fiction office to propose stories and there wasn't humans, just Robots there - and the Robots stole his stories..
I haven't read much 2000AD recently - they seemed to have jumped on the "Modern Audience" bandwagon and well I'd rather the awesome legacy of good memories vs ruining them so I've not talked about it or even looked at it much. Again, if I didn't have too many other ideas I'm working on, I'd be begging to get in THIS project... Whether R-Gonz does it or not is up to himself of course. BUT excellent stand in I'll use JIC, no malice to the 2000AD of the past, rather love and respect, and polite ignoring whatever the 'current' one is.
It's kind of like me making up "Steel Valor" and "Valorak" vs Iron Maiden and Eddie - I LOVE them but too easy to F- up a lot of work for what should be flattery and free advertising... Sad really. I'd love to have Sam (one of my characters) showing his Nerd side talking about Tharg reading 2000AD but I'm not going to risk having to withdraw an e-text for sale later or worse a comic book / book I print to destroy it because someone who only MIGHT be connected to them threatens legal action. I'd win if I took it to court but I'd lose... Which means they'll be more forgotten than Penny Dreadfuls of the 1800s despite modern tech being able to preserve them far better.
(coming soon - Seperate page with LOTS of images I generated with AI for this and I'll update if R-Gonz puts his up also - Here's his DeviantArt page)
