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Why does 80s pop culture still have such resonance?
Posted on 3/23/18 at 10:30 am
Posted on 3/23/18 at 10:30 am
I know the obvious answer is "because it's awesome" (which I do believe) but is because most of us are blinded by our own childhood biases and nostalgia, or was it actually that good... Like 60s-70s Rock n roll.
I remember in the mid 90s the consensus was that the 80s was kind of a joke, with the fashion and trends being so outrageous. Just look at the Line in Dazed and Confused when they're talking about the next decade. "maybe the 80s will be tubular"
It's a joke because in 1993 when the movie came out that decade was still a huge punchline... So what changed?
I remember in the mid 90s the consensus was that the 80s was kind of a joke, with the fashion and trends being so outrageous. Just look at the Line in Dazed and Confused when they're talking about the next decade. "maybe the 80s will be tubular"
It's a joke because in 1993 when the movie came out that decade was still a huge punchline... So what changed?
This post was edited on 3/23/18 at 10:34 am
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Posted on 3/23/18 at 10:32 am to Jack Ruby
quote:
I remember in the mid 90s the consensus was that the 80s was kind of a joke, with the fashion and trends being so outrageous.
Happens every decade. I remember a guy talking shite about someone in 1994, saying the guy was "so 1989".
Posted on 3/23/18 at 10:37 am to Fewer Kilometers
Also Is it just me or did fashion and culture trends change so much more rapidly in previous decades.
Just take look at how incredibly different everything popular was from say 1987-1995...it was 2 different worlds.
Now look at 2010 vs today (the same amount of time passage) and its like the trends haven't changed at all.
Rap/hip hop/shite pop music still dominates the charts. The hipster stuff is still going strong, social media hasn't changed all that much, and streaming has actually gotten shittier and more expensive, and so have movies.
Just take look at how incredibly different everything popular was from say 1987-1995...it was 2 different worlds.
Now look at 2010 vs today (the same amount of time passage) and its like the trends haven't changed at all.
Rap/hip hop/shite pop music still dominates the charts. The hipster stuff is still going strong, social media hasn't changed all that much, and streaming has actually gotten shittier and more expensive, and so have movies.
This post was edited on 3/23/18 at 10:39 am
Posted on 3/23/18 at 10:42 am to Jack Ruby
Because there's an unabashed honesty in the 80s that I don't think a lot of cultural decades have. Pre-Internet, post-true counter culture, it sits in this divide where kids weren't trying to be adults (60s-70s), but didn't have the worldview/access that started in the mid-90s (90s-2000s).
This makes the 80s an easy target as a punchline, but ultimately honest and sincere, while not exactly looking or even feeling like it. I think that's why the 80s still, and will always, resonate.
I also think that's why there's seemingly so much confusion over the millenial generation. The early millenials (79-83/4) really are vastly different from the rest of the generation because of how the 80s played out.
This makes the 80s an easy target as a punchline, but ultimately honest and sincere, while not exactly looking or even feeling like it. I think that's why the 80s still, and will always, resonate.
I also think that's why there's seemingly so much confusion over the millenial generation. The early millenials (79-83/4) really are vastly different from the rest of the generation because of how the 80s played out.
Posted on 3/23/18 at 10:49 am to Jack Ruby
I think nostalgia definitely plays a big part in all of it but it's crazy how well some of those 80's movies are still instantly popular once kids today watch them. My teenage girls and their friends got together at the house a few weeks ago for a movie marathon Saturday night and they watched The Princess Bride, Back to the Future II and 16 Candles. They haven't shut up about them since. My oldest walks around the freaking house saying "great Scott" all the time now. Those movies are just timeless.
As for the clothes. It's just trends. The 80's and 90's just had way more outlandish trends and people were just finding the color teal.
Look at trends from 2000. The women were wearing big legged pants with half-shirts and halter tops. Today you see every woman of all ages wearing leggings and big shirts right? Take a look at the late 80's. This was a staple on the show Rosanne.
As for the clothes. It's just trends. The 80's and 90's just had way more outlandish trends and people were just finding the color teal.
Look at trends from 2000. The women were wearing big legged pants with half-shirts and halter tops. Today you see every woman of all ages wearing leggings and big shirts right? Take a look at the late 80's. This was a staple on the show Rosanne. 
Posted on 3/23/18 at 10:50 am to Jack Ruby
It was a unique time of convergence - disco was gone, but heavily influenced pop music. MTV fused the visual and audio elements of music across a broad front for the first time. Cable exploded right about 1980ish. Movies stopped trying to change the world and started to be fun again, after the gritty/realistic era of the late '60s to about 1980.
Reagan. Death throes of the Cold War. Many of the Golden Age of Hollywood stars were still active, many of them willing to do campy, unexpected stuff (Leslie Neilsen and Robert Stack in Airplane, for example).
Hair metal.
Cocaine.
Miami Vice
Cyndi Lauper
Back to the Future
Everything was so vibrantly colored and mostly upbeat, even with the threat of World War III in the headlines.
WTF is there not to like about the 1980s?
Reagan. Death throes of the Cold War. Many of the Golden Age of Hollywood stars were still active, many of them willing to do campy, unexpected stuff (Leslie Neilsen and Robert Stack in Airplane, for example).
Hair metal.
Cocaine.
Miami Vice
Cyndi Lauper
Back to the Future
Everything was so vibrantly colored and mostly upbeat, even with the threat of World War III in the headlines.
WTF is there not to like about the 1980s?
This post was edited on 3/23/18 at 10:51 am
Posted on 3/23/18 at 10:55 am to Ace Midnight
quote:
Everything was so vibrantly colored and mostly upbeat, even with the threat of World War III in the headlines.
Bingo. Also at the heart of it. Before it was the coming down from Vietnam that drove most of the 70s. And again, prior to the explosion of real 24 news and the internet, most people were sheltered from the misery, both real and fake misery, that kids are slammed with now.
Kids could be kids. Music could be non-political (of course outside of the small, but vital to the spirit punk movement). Movies could explore anything without need to "say something," - Krull, The Neverending Story, Adventures in Babysitting, Goonies, BttF, Ghostbusters, - think about the variety of stories in the 80s that would never get told today, or prior to it.
Posted on 3/23/18 at 10:57 am to Jack Ruby
quote:
Why does 80s pop culture still have such resonance?
Because, for the most part, it was just fun. Also, very well made.
Posted on 3/23/18 at 11:01 am to Freauxzen
quote:
Kids could be kids. Music could be non-political (of course outside of the small, but vital to the spirit punk movement). Movies could explore anything without need to "say something," - Krull, The Neverending Story, Adventures in Babysitting, Goonies, BttF, Ghostbusters, - think about the variety of stories in the 80s that would never get told today, or prior to it.
Yep. Today, you have people picketing and posting shite on blogs over the perceived political commentary in animated movies intended for kids. Remember the backlash over Zootopia? People lost their shite over that movie. Imagine if a movie like Revenge of the Nerds or Porky's was released today in theaters.
Posted on 3/23/18 at 11:03 am to Freauxzen
quote:
I also think that's why there's seemingly so much confusion over the millenial generation. The early millenials (79-83/4) really are vastly different from the rest of the generation because of how the 80s played out.
That truly kind of is the lost generation. My brother and I both fall into this group and have so little in common with kids even 10 yrs younger it's incrdible.
We also have vastly different approaches from the gen xers because we have no experiences in the 70s. It's bizarre, but it was probably also the greatest time ever to be a kid.
You still had freedom from parents with no cell phones and you still had the desire to go out into the world and frick up, and hyper sensitive culture virtually nonexistent, mixed with movies and cartoons made for you.
Posted on 3/23/18 at 11:14 am to Freauxzen
quote:
Movies could explore anything without need to "say something,"
This is a great point. Things could just be fun. We didn't have to worry about message. People wouldn't picket because there weren't enough black gays in a movie.
And the kids weren't the crybaby pussies we see so much of nowadays.
Posted on 3/23/18 at 11:20 am to Jack Ruby
quote:
Also Is it just me or did fashion and culture trends change so much more rapidly in previous decades.
In the 70's we had 50's dances. In the 80's they had 60's dances.
Are kids today having 90's dances? Do they dress like characters from Friends and Living Single?
Posted on 3/23/18 at 11:22 am to boxcarbarney
It was the age of excess. Who doesn't like excess?
Also, some of the best pop music ever created.
Also, some of the best pop music ever created.
Posted on 3/23/18 at 11:35 am to Jack Ruby
quote:
Just take look at how incredibly different everything popular was from say 1987-1995...it was 2 different worlds.
Now look at 2010 vs today (the same amount of time passage) and its like the trends haven't changed at all.
I think some of this perspective is influenced by the passage of time from both of those points in time. I have a feeling that someone in 1995 would have said the same about 1987 as you are saying about 2010.
I think in 2041 someone will be having a similar conversation about how the differences between 2010 and 2018 were so crazy and how the difference between 2041 and 2033 is just not very different.
If you were to sit down and think about it you would see that technology, styles/trends, tone of the country, etc. have all had major shifts since 2010.
Posted on 3/23/18 at 11:42 am to Fewer Kilometers
quote:
Are kids today having 90's dances? Do they dress like characters from Friends and Living Single?
A bit, although 80's nostalgia has had a major resurgence due to shows like Stranger Things and the new IT movie.
That said, to get in the mind of a younger person (who is more likely to notice distinct shifts from decades) take a look at some of Buzzfeed's nostalgia oriented articles. They are always having some sort of nostalgia towards the 90's be it toys, food, candy, cereal, etc. Additionally, for anyone who doesn't think styles have changed all that much from the 00's, they seem to have a different perspective as they frequently have articles poking fun at the crazy styles of that time period.
Posted on 3/23/18 at 11:54 am to Jack Ruby
It’s amazig how much better threads about topics like this are when not on the OT.
Posted on 3/23/18 at 11:54 am to MStant1
I think every kid thinks the generation they grew up in was tGOAT and I certainly feel that way about the 80s/early 90s and have my reasons for it.
I don't know if it's nostalgia or legit but I do know I am very thankful to have been born in 1982 and I wish that every child was able to experience a childhood like mine.
I don't know if it's nostalgia or legit but I do know I am very thankful to have been born in 1982 and I wish that every child was able to experience a childhood like mine.
Posted on 3/23/18 at 11:59 am to MStant1
Look at it this way, in Back to the Future, Marty travels 30 years back in time. 1985 to 1955.
Take that same premise and have someone travel from 2018 to 1988. Would the culture shock be as prevalent? Sure, his smart phone may not work, and there's no internet. But I just don't think that 30 year difference has as much of an impact as 1985 to 1955 did.
Take that same premise and have someone travel from 2018 to 1988. Would the culture shock be as prevalent? Sure, his smart phone may not work, and there's no internet. But I just don't think that 30 year difference has as much of an impact as 1985 to 1955 did.
Posted on 3/23/18 at 12:20 pm to boxcarbarney
Lol Internet and Smart phones are two of the most revolutionary technologies in almost all of humanity. I think you underestimate the impact both have had and would have on someone traveling back in time - particularly if you are taking an average teenage 2018 version of Marty Mcfly. Hell in 88 most homes don't even have PC. The level of connectivity one has to the outside world and instant access to any piece of information creates a drastically different world than existed even 10-15 years ago.
Posted on 3/23/18 at 12:57 pm to Jack Ruby
From a pop culture point of view, I think the 80's were the last decade that isn't heavily represented in today's pop culture.
Most pop culture aspects starting in the 90's haven't died off enough to become nostalgic. Others weren't popular enough to be widespread to begin with. At the height of the grunge era, maybe 10% of our school would have a flannel-based wardrobe?
When I turned 21 in 1998, if I walked into a bar and a song from 1983 (15 year gap) was playing - it would be obviously 80's night or a dedicated '80s bar.
90s bars don't exist yet, even 20+ years later. I could leave work this afternoon and go to 15 different bars, and odds are there would still be 90's music playing at some point in nearly all of them and it would fit right in. Some bar playing Alanis Morrisette today would feel more in place than some bar in 2001 playing Cyndi Lauper.
Most pop culture aspects starting in the 90's haven't died off enough to become nostalgic. Others weren't popular enough to be widespread to begin with. At the height of the grunge era, maybe 10% of our school would have a flannel-based wardrobe?
When I turned 21 in 1998, if I walked into a bar and a song from 1983 (15 year gap) was playing - it would be obviously 80's night or a dedicated '80s bar.
90s bars don't exist yet, even 20+ years later. I could leave work this afternoon and go to 15 different bars, and odds are there would still be 90's music playing at some point in nearly all of them and it would fit right in. Some bar playing Alanis Morrisette today would feel more in place than some bar in 2001 playing Cyndi Lauper.
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