From Hollywood's Golden Age up until the 1970's Hollywood was actually a fairly conservative place. It wasn't until they all decided to become artsy-fartsy types in the mid and late Seventies that Hollywood's heavywieghts became banal and boring. But I do believe that the conservatives' day is coming again as once-rebellious baby boomers enter their retirement years. This will be a huge potential audience with money to spend as they try to reconnect with their childhood values.
The 80s were just about the least artsy-fartsiest time for American movies in history. The 'countercultural' period was roughly from the mid 60s till the late 70s. And it did produce a lot of great movies (Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, Bonnie and Clyde, The Godfather, Taxi Driver)