80’s

Society: Worldwide

• Beginning of the AIDs pandemic.
• There were numerous protests demanding that the US government take action against AIDS, which were fuelled by the AIDS-related deaths of celebrities such as Rock Hudson and Liberace, and by the case of Ryan White, a child who became infected by HIV through contaminated blood supplies.

Politics and wars: The most notable terrorist attacks of the decade include:

• Air India Flight 182 was destroyed on June 23, 1985 by Sikh-Canadian militants. It was the biggest mass murder involving Canadians in Canada's history.
• The Rome and Vienna airport attacks take place on December 27, 1985 against the Israeli E1 A1 airline. The attack was done by militants loyal to Abu Nidal, backed by the government of Lybia.

MUSIC: GUNS N’ ROSES

Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band, formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1985. The classic lineup, assigned to Geffen Records in 1986, consisted of vocalist Axl Rose, lead guitarist Slash, rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin, bassist Duff McKagan, and drummer Steven Adler. Today, Axl Rose is the only remaining original member, in a lineup that comprises Use Your Illusion-era keyboardist Dizzy Reed, lead guitarists DJ Ashba and Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal, lead and rhythm guitarist Richard Fortus, bassist Tommy Stinson, drummer Frank Ferrer and keyboardist Chris Pitman. The band has released six studio albums, accumulating sales of more than 100 million albums worldwide including shipments of 45 million in the United States.

MOVIE: GREMLINS

Gremlins is a 1984 American horror comedy film directed by Joe Dante, released by Warner Bros. The film is about a young man who receives a strange creature called a Mogwai as a pet, which then spawns other creatures who transform into small, destructive, evil monsters. This story was continued with a sequel, Gremlins 2: The New Batch, released in 1990. Unlike the lighter sequel, the original Gremlins opts for more black comedy, which is balanced against a Christmas-time setting. Both films were the center of large merchandising campaigns.

Steven Spielberg was the film's executive producer and the screenplay was written by Chris Columbus. The film stars Zach Galligan and Phoebe Cates, with Howie Mandel providing the voice of Gizmo. Gremlins was a commercial success and received positive reviews from critics. However, the film was also heavily criticized for some of its more violent sequences.

LEANDRO GOMES