How the 1980s Culture Wars Were Fought—and Why They Differ from Today's
Anything Could Become a Battleground
Isaac Butler's new book, The Perfect Moment, examines the culture wars of the 1980s, focusing on battles over art, religion, and free expression. Butler, a former child actor, centers on controversies involving Scorsese, Serrano, and Mapplethorpe, and the political fights over the NEA. The book argues these conflicts were about competing visions of freedom, and Butler shows how they differed from today's culture wars, which are more fragmented and less centered on a single institution.
Regardless of what form they took, the real substance at stake in these fights was the nature, meaning, and limits of freedom in America.