In the 1930s, the strong feminist movement of the 1920s and the Great Depression made the majority of people realize the significance of family values. Similarly in the eighties after the outbreak of the AIDS epidemic and influences such as the increasing generation gap; once again, families grew closer and movies such as Baby Boom sparked and portrayed these elevated values. .
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. .
America's deteriorating relationship with the Soviet Union, increase in city crime, remaining shock from the Watergate scandals, and economic hardships were all triggers for the new conservatism that dominated the 1980s. Throughout the seventies there was an increase in city life. During the eighties, "nearly 5,000 Cuban refugees reach[ed] the U.S. including thousands of criminals" (Manning). This significant increase in crime in the cities, which is where most of the refugees chose to reside, led to the appeal of a more serene family-style country life. The eighties, often referred to as the Reagan era, saw vast social and political change. Once Reagan was elected he "won substantial victories in Congress (cutting taxes, reducing spending on domestic programs, building up the military)" (Brinkley, 1000).