Word: laughter
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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Remember the 1980s? They had movie stars then. Burt Reynolds was the hot-shot hero with a good ole boy's heart. Richard Pryor was the clown who mined laughter from his own black rage. Molly Ringwald was the teen queen who knew that growing pains could hurt like an all-over, seven-year toothache...
...Williams tells a story of Zachary at his "gestalt" day-care center. "The teacher was playing tapes of noises for the kids to identify. One was of a baby crying, and a little girl said ((little girl voice:)), 'That's a baby crying.' Then they played a tape of laughter. 'I know! I know!' Zachary said. 'That's comedy!' And I thought, 'Riiiight!' " Play on, Robin...
...public appearances, they traded quips like a well-rehearsed vaudeville team. At the White House treaty-signing ceremony, for example, Reagan repeated the Russian phrase doveryai no proveryai (trust but verify), only to be interrupted by Gorbachev's good- natured observation, "You repeat that at every meeting." When the laughter of the 250 assembled guests died down, Reagan flashed his off-center grin, gave Gorbachev a little bow and replied, "I like it." The audience exploded with laughter again. Said Gorbachev just before his final departure: "I think we trust each other more...
Many of the group members cracked up in laughter at their own suggestion before the insanity kicked...
While the idea of New Age Green Berets meditating in the jungle can inspire laughter, it can also inspire a certain concern about the political and social implications of the whole movement. Is it some kind of neoleftist response to the Age of Reagan, or is it an ultrarightist extension of Reaganism? The answer depends somewhat on the answerer's politics. While some see in the New Agers' chants and nebulous slogans a revival of the shaggy '60s, others see the devotion of many New Agers to moneymaking as simply a new variant of yuppieism...