America in the late 1980s was a period of time consumed by the struggle between two extreme ideals. The women’s movement had successfully paved the way for a woman’s place in the workforce, and throughout the eighties, more and more women emerged as leaders in the corporate world, an environment that had been characterized by male dominance in the past. Meanwhile, the rise of the working woman, along with the escalation of U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War and continued existence in the Cold War, alerted much of society to the recent digression from the traditional family values that defined the 1950s U.S. and were viewed as the ideal lifestyle and portrayed in such television shows as “Ozzie and Harriet”, “I Love Lucy”, and “Leave it to Beaver”. (McWilliams, 404). All of these shows focused on a nuclear family in which each character played the traditional role of a ‘wife’, ‘father’, or ‘son’, had problems which were typically resolved within the half hour episode, and had family members who were ultimately happy with their lives. The eighties marked the compromise between these two conflicting lifestyles. Society in the 1980s voiced a wish to convert from the l

In the late 1980s, many films came out that were a response to the recent interest in returning to more traditional family values and settings and in turn alerted society to its recent obsession with material possessions, living in cities, success, and money. I will argue that Baby Boom opened society’s eyes to the question of whether it’s possible for women, in particular, to be successful business women, have a happy marriage, raise a child, and still enjoy life; in short, to ‘have it all’. I will also argue that the film worked to establish the possibility of a happy medium between the yuppie workaholic and the at home mother and used sarcasm and comedy to criticize society’s oblivious nature to its increasingly selfish and materialistic ways.

By the 1980s the feminist movement had gained great success especially since its troublesome times in the 1950s, when women were expected to remain at home. “But this era of conservative gender politics did not kill feminism in the U.S.; the country took a more liberal swing in the early 1960s” (Baumer, 1). Throughout the remainder of the sixties and seventies and into the eighties, feminism flourished and women in the working world became as popular as stay at home mothers. In an attempt to prove their ability and that they belonged, women worked exceptionally hard to climb the economic and career ladders. In turn, they had less time for marriage, children, and leisure. Baby Boom satirizes those women who became overwhelmed in feminism and gave up family life in order to pursue their careers (Ozer).

Particular scenes in Baby Boom are also used to mock the “rather in-the-moment send up of ‘80s materialism and parental over-compensation” (Renshaw). Throughout much of the eighties many women who chose to become mothers were also caught up in the popular obsession with success. In one particular scene, J.C. is at the park with Elizabeth and she overhears a group of mothers extremely flustered that their children didn’t get into the best pre-school and therefore would never get into good schools, would not get into an Ivy League college, and consequently would not be able to lead a successful life. J.C. seems baffled at these conclusions that the women have jumped to and even more so as the women continue to talk about the enormous array of classes in which their children, at the age of two, are already enrolled. While the audience may find comedy in the ridiculousness of these women, they are being extremely serious and are very upset and distraught over their situation. This scene accents the overbearing power that money and success held in the eighties.

Once J.C gets to Vermont, the remainder of the movie shows how she deals with the domestic problems of owning a new house, raising a little girl, getting used to a more relaxed country lifestyle, starting her own company selling home made applesauce for babies, and eventually falling in love. The movie ends with a happy and successful J.C. returning to the city to her old company on a business trip. She is given the offer of a lifetime that pays exceptionally well, but would take away a lot of time from her family. Contrary to what the ‘old J.C.’ would do, she turns the offer down. This decision, in my opinion, sums up the moral that the movie is trying to get across: it is possible to have it all, but maybe not in the same terms or to every extreme. J.C. ends up with a successful job, a loving husband, and a wonderful daughter, and most importantly she is happy. Although she is not as rich as she might have been if she had given Elizabeth up for adoption, she reevaluated her priorities and ended up happier than she ever thought she could have been even without living through the success of her job.

Often, movie trends of a certain time tend to be influenced by, as well as have an impact on, what is going on in society. No exception to this rule is the eighties. Movies, such as Baby Boom, were

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