re: Were the 90's the worst years for pop culture?

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Yeah, the 80s had some real "slouches".

Raiders of the Lost Ark
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
The Empire Strikes Back
Return of the Jedi
Back to the Future 1 and 2
Ghostbusters 1 and 2
Beverly Hills Cop 1 and 2
E.T.
John Hughes films
the greatest decade ever for cartoons and children's shows
the greatest ever decade for horror films
and much more.

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Agreed, especially Star Wars and BTTF. And I was a 90s kid and agree to that. I think the 90s wins for having the best "serious" films (see Saving Private Ryan, Schindler's List), but the 80s wins for pure fun movies.

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...music wise the 80s absolutely blows the 90s away.

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The music in the 80s was awesome. The music in the 90s was not terrible. Ever since it has been downhill, except for country and if you like rap. Over-reliance on autotune has absolutely destroyed the pop/R&B world.

Just in regard to my tastes, the 80s was the last great decade for popular music.

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Fashion was better and girls looked better overall with straighter hair in the 90s as opposed to the 80s.

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I'll say this for the 90s, I was 14 in 1996 and I thought this woman was pretty hot:

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As for Clinton not doing anything wrong in the 90s, he was largely responsible for NAFTA which has been disastrous to American manufacturing. His cohorts in the Senate were getting Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac cranked up during that time which greatly contributed to the real estate meltdown in the mid to late 2000s.

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I'm a Republican but I will say for Bill Clinton, he's far preferable to what we have now. I disagree on NAFTA, I think it has been a net positive. Welfare reform, lowering the capital gains rate and the balanced budget were significant achievements. You are right on Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac, Ginsburg/Breyer suck and he didn't do enough on terrorism, but compared to Obama, I'd take Clinton any day.

*Also, containing the explosions in the Balkans, resolving those conflicts and bringing Milosevic to justice took a lot of skill and smarts, and Clinton deserves a lot of credit for that.

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Also, the 90s gave us Loveline and Adam Carolla. Major props for that.

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And singled out with Carmen Electra and prime Jenny McCarthy.

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I love all the films he listed, really I do, but do you think someone would think of Star Wars being as it was in this day and age?

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I think you have to judge these movies by the technology they had at the time. By that standard, Star Wars was amazing. And it still stands the test of time in terms of viewership. They wouldn't be doing yet another Star Wars film if that weren't the case.

I wouldn't put those in the same category though. I think the 90s had the 80s beat in "serious movies." You're right, Schindler's List is a masterpiece. But no one would call that a "fun movie," and in terms of fun movies I think the 80s wins.

I agree with that actually.

You're looking at the movie part like a film critic with a very narrow focus. Most people don't judge films that way. The 90s had some great movies many of which I love. The 90s had some awesome political thrillers and a few iconic dramas (Executive Decision, Air Force One, In The Line of Fire, Good Fellas, Shawshank Redemption, Forrest Gump, etc). I just think the 80s like with the music had more fun and far more diverse quality movies across all genres compared to the 90s. 90s movies were far more serious across the board (nothing wrong with that) but don't have the depth especially in the comedy and horror film area. That is where 80s movies separate themselves from 90s movies. I do give the 90s the edge in sitcoms though. Seinfeld alone is so awesome that it along with the other 90s sitcoms is enough to overcome very good sitcoms like Cheers and The Cosby Show (not to mention countless other great 80s sitcoms...I'll name them if needed). Seinfeld is just that great.

I enjoyed the 1980's and 90's fairly equally.

Television series are vastly improved these days, though. Seinfeld and early Simpsons are the exceptions.

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Pretty much how any decade is viewed 30 years down the road.

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I'm not certain about that. Jeans and a polo style shirt are just as common today as they were in the 1980's. It's the goofy clothes from the 60's and 70's that will garner laughs forever.

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but the 80s wins for pure fun movies.

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and thats the 80s in a nutshell, the 80s can't be taken seriously and everyone laughs when looking back on that decade. the movies were fun and campy, but pale in comparison to the quality of the 90s. i fricking love 80s music, but its extremely dated(much more so than 60s/70s classic rock) and 80s clothing is the worst.

I met a boy wearing Vans,501s, and a dope Beastie tee, nipple rings, new tattoos and claiming he was OGT. Back from '92. From the first EP.

Remove this band and 90s music was shite.