Drug War Themes in 'Thundarr the Barbarian' during the Reaganite 80s …
Drug War Themes in 'Thundarr the Barbarian' during the Reaganite 80s … By Brett Waste
Themes and subtextural memes are common in the plots of both serious and popular media. It would therefore not be strange to detect such themes in such a ground-breaking series as 'Thundarr'. In particular, themes concerning Nixon's initial War on Drugs launched in 1971 and ramped up by the neo-Conservative Reagan administration during the 1980's – some would say, to distract from human rights abuses by the School of the Americas and the CIA in Central America – appear in this series produced in 1981-2. In particular, the second episode of series one, 'Harvest of Doom', is of special note due to its central American location. Episode one occurred in the d…