Sandra Bullock in kufiya: "Hangmen" (1987)

Hangmen, according to the sources I have read (mainly wikipedia), is the first feature film in which Sandra Bullock appears, at the age of 23. Hunt just a bit and you can find it on youtube. It's virtually unwatchable, perhaps one of the worst films of the 1980s? Bullock plays Lisa, the girlfriend of Danny Greene, whose dad is a CIA agent who has gotten into some trouble because he is about to "out" a rogue unit within the agency. The bad guys, in order to get to Danny, and through him, his dad, kidnap Lisa.

Lisa is reading a newspaper, walking near the subway in New York City.

One of the rogue CIA agents shoots a dart into her neck, to dope her up and immobilize her.

Once Lisa is doped up and woozy, it is easy for the rogue agents to grab her and take her away.

The fact that the Lisa character wears a kufiya in this scene indicates nothing except that she is a fairly normal college student in New York City in the mid-1980s, when the kufiya was fairly mainstream wear for youth living there. The Lisa character is not depicted as particularly hip or as politically progressive. All it "means" then is that the kufiya was typical street gear, at this time and in this space.

Previous 1980s kufiya sightings: Madonna, Bambaata, Delta 5, Nico, Born in Flames. If you know of any others, please let me know.