Written in 1981, and eventually released to the public in 1983, the movie WarGames provided insight into American culture in the early eighties. The movie centers on a teenage computer hacker named David Lightman who unknowingly breaks into the computer system at the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) center in Colorado. The system was designed primarily for running wartime simulations, but in a lapse of good judgment had been recently redesigned to allow full control of America's nuclear arsenal. Once inside the system, David inadvertently triggers a countdown towards nuclear war. WarGames skillfully illustrates American society's attitude towards the Soviet Union near the end of the cold war. The movie touches upon America's fear of nuclear war, communist espionage, and the threat of communism itself.
A frequently recurring theme in WarGames is America's attitude towards the threat of nuclear war. WarGames was written and released while Ronald Reagan held the office of the President of the United States. This is particularly significant because Reagan pledged to "restore America's defenses" after a reduction in weaponry during the Carter Administration (Faragher 592). Reagan's proposed plan of "peace through strength" began with heavy promotion of increased defense spending and brought the threat of nuclear war back into the minds of Americans (Faragher 592). This is evidenced in the movie when, after breaking into NORAD's computer system, David is prompted to select from a lengthy list of military games. Just as a teenager today might choose "Biotoxic and Chemical Warfare", David, a teenager in 1983, was intrigued by the inclusion of "Global Thermonuclear War". The fact that he chose a game centering on nuclear war from a list of nearly twenty games gives us a glimpse into the minds of teenagers in 1983. .
The movie also addresses the fact that many Americans realize that a nuclear war could bring utter devastation.
