What is it with 80s nostalgia

[Bernard Marx]

Feb 22, 2022 9:08:59 GMT burrunjor said:

It'll be interesting to see what time in their lives the next generation view as the golden years. I won't ask Bernard Marx just yet as it's a bit too early LOL. I don't think they will be quite a Peter Pan generation like us though as the early 00s were a bit scarier and more cynical. I think for his generation it may actually end up being in their 30s just like my grandfathers ironically. That is assuming that WW3 doesn't start and kill them all off before then. 

Ha! Well, to be honest, you're pretty much spot on. I was born pretty much immediately after the World Trade Centre came down, and because of that, I've essentially been moulded by the depressing shite that encompasses the contemporary consensus. I wouldn't call myself an outright cynic through and through, but there's a disparaging lack of hope that's characterised the last 20 years and has effectively shaped our lives.

Lawrence Miles, who a few here are undoubtedly aware of, talked about this in an archive podcast. He articulated it by stating "The world was rubbish when I was younger, but the difference between then and now is that we were all convinced it was going to get better. Since the collapse of the World Trade Centre, I can't say that now". I can't deny that I see some truth in what he says. Politically, we've lived in a society cynically based on consensus since the collapse of the Berlin Wall, or arguably the late 1970s when the Hayek-inspired neoliberal orthodoxy became mainstream, and haven't managed to escape it at all since.

The generation born before mine were the ones who lived through the era of spin, typified by the emergence of the New Labour movement and Blair (which many initially assumed would mark a period of positive change), and therefore became disenfranchised with politics altogether. My generation are essentially the austerity generation and post-9/11 generation. I think that's why a lot of my generation are more partial to left-wing ideas, and why lots of them gravitated towards Corbyn. It was out of an inherent desire for the sort of change that hadn't occurred for decades, and a frustration over how shit the world looks now.

I don't really have any nostalgia for a given era, to be honest. The era that I gravitate most towards when it comes to music, cinema, art and culture is the 1970s, primarily because it seemed to take the greatest amount of risks. It was constantly reinventing itself. Cinematically, the decade's initial penchant for gritty realism and hard-hitting drama (French Connection, Clockwork Orange. The Godfather etc) eventually evolved into what would become the benchmark for the 1980s with Star Wars- there was an unbelievable versatility there. It encompassed a kaleidoscope of ideas.

Independent filmmakers were at their most interesting then too. David Lynch started to emerge into frame with Eraserhead (one of the most disturbing films I've seen psychologically), films like Silent Running and Dark Star ensured that the more experimental oeuvre of science fiction still survived, whilst outside of Hollywood, you had controversial figures like Pasolini and Jodorowsky remaining in frame (the former is more prolific in the previous decade, mind you). And that's not to mention that it was a golden period for both British and American horror. It was an era of experimentation, as well as an artistic response to a society which slowly seemed to be unravelling- evidenced by the ever-growing prominence of anti-war films. The 70s were a depressing period culturally and politically, but as a by-product, it gave way to some of the most interesting artistic innovations. That said, I consider 1980-1982 to be part of that period too. I know that the 80s as a whole are popular here, but for me personally, although peppered with good content, I think it was a decade that stuck to a particular style (one which it remained confident in) and didn't take as many risks.

As for my generation- it's strange. Plenty of people I've talked to seem to think that they're more empathetic, but I couldn't personally say. Culturally, though, I feel completely out of step with my generation. The music they tend to listen to (Ed Sheeran, Beyoncé, etc) is completely separate from my wavelength. Party music in particular exemplifies this- my Dad was similar when he was my age, although he's previously talked about how they'd occasionally play Portishead at uni, which appeals to me far more than the club music that usually gets circulated now.

The same applies to contemporary trends. Love Island remains popular with a lot of them. If you appreciate celebrity culture, contemporary pop, and the concept of media-inflated aspiration, it'll probably appeal to you, but I don't get on with any of those things, and I find that programme impossible to stomach in any way. I think I'm more partial to contemporary TV drama than lots of people here are though.

It's an odd one. I feel a little like a fish out of water because I don't have a single "comfort" era, and I'm not even sure if I'm representative of most of my generation either. Like you say, it'd be great if we had a resurgence in the next 10 years, as unlikely as I personally think it is- God knows we're in need of one.

[iank]

The 80s are of course also associated with a very happy part of my life - my childhood and my early teens. The 90s, aside from 90 and 91, were terrible for me, making it difficult to be nostalgic as much as I do enjoy the movies and TV of the time (and they were very much the saving grace at the time!), and the 2000s managed to be even worse, though, as noted, I am feeling some nostalgia for the TV of the first half of that decade, at least.
The 2010s were actually pretty good for me, but I don't see me being nostalgic for them anytime soon lol.

[Deleted]

The first half of the 2000s were solid. I actually like the decade more than I used to and a lot of my happiest memories come from that time. I don't look back at the 10s with any kind of fondness I'm afraid. As for the 90s, a lot of what I like from that decade is considered crap by most people and I'm not hot on the really popular stuff. My love for it mainly extends to sequels (Batman Forever, Neverending Story III, RoboCop 3), action movies (Mainly Seagal and Van Damme stuff), some of the music (Stabbing Westward I quite like), the Christmas movies and the British comedy. 90s Simpsons was something else too. I like the hot chicks of the decade Denise Richards, Nicole Kidman, Alicia Silverstone, my beloved Julie Cox and Sarah Michelle Gellar and the fashion was pretty good. All in all, a fun period. It's just not the 80s.

[burrunjor]

Feb 22, 2022 12:42:15 GMT Bernard Marx said:

Feb 22, 2022 9:08:59 GMT burrunjor said:

It'll be interesting to see what time in their lives the next generation view as the golden years. I won't ask Bernard Marx just yet as it's a bit too early LOL. I don't think they will be quite a Peter Pan generation like us though as the early 00s were a bit scarier and more cynical. I think for his generation it may actually end up being in their 30s just like my grandfathers ironically. That is assuming that WW3 doesn't start and kill them all off before then. 

Ha! Well, to be honest, you're pretty much spot on. I was born pretty much immediately after the World Trade Centre came down, and because of that, I've essentially been moulded by the depressing shite that encompasses the contemporary consensus. I wouldn't call myself an outright cynic through and through, but there's a disparaging lack of hope that's characterised the last 20 years and has effectively shaped our lives.

Lawrence Miles, who a few here are undoubtedly aware of, talked about this in an archive podcast. He articulated it by stating "The world was rubbish when I was younger, but the difference between then and now is that we were all convinced it was going to get better. Since the collapse of the World Trade Centre, I can't say that now". I can't deny that I see some truth in what he says. Politically, we've lived in a society cynically based on consensus since the collapse of the Berlin Wall, or arguably the late 1970s when the Hayek-inspired neoliberal orthodoxy became mainstream, and haven't managed to escape it at all since.

The generation born before mine were the ones who lived through the era of spin, typified by the emergence of the New Labour movement and Blair (which many initially assumed would mark a period of positive change), and therefore became disenfranchised with politics altogether. My generation are essentially the austerity generation and post-9/11 generation. I think that's why a lot of my generation are more partial to left-wing ideas, and why lots of them gravitated towards Corbyn. It was out of an inherent desire for the sort of change that hadn't occurred for decades, and a frustration over how shit the world looks now.

I don't really have any nostalgia for a given era, to be honest. The era that I gravitate most towards when it comes to music, cinema, art and culture is the 1970s, primarily because it seemed to take the greatest amount of risks. It was constantly reinventing itself. Cinematically, the decade's initial penchant for gritty realism and hard-hitting drama (French Connection, Clockwork Orange. The Godfather etc) eventually evolved into what would become the benchmark for the 1980s with Star Wars- there was an unbelievable versatility there. It encompassed a kaleidoscope of ideas.

Independent filmmakers were at their most interesting then too. David Lynch started to emerge into frame with Eraserhead (one of the most disturbing films I've seen psychologically), films like Silent Running and Dark Star ensured that the more experimental oeuvre of science fiction still survived, whilst outside of Hollywood, you had controversial figures like Pasolini and Jodorowsky remaining in frame (the former is more prolific in the previous decade, mind you). And that's not to mention that it was a golden period for both British and American horror. It was an era of experimentation, as well as an artistic response to a society which slowly seemed to be unravelling- evidenced by the ever-growing prominence of anti-war films. The 70s were a depressing period culturally and politically, but as a by-product, it gave way to some of the most interesting artistic innovations. That said, I consider 1980-1982 to be part of that period too. I know that the 80s as a whole are popular here, but for me personally, although peppered with good content, I think it was a decade that stuck to a particular style (one which it remained confident in) and didn't take as many risks.

As for my generation- it's strange. Plenty of people I've talked to seem to think that they're more empathetic, but I couldn't personally say. Culturally, though, I feel completely out of step with my generation. The music they tend to listen to (Ed Sheeran, Beyoncé, etc) is completely separate from my wavelength. Party music in particular exemplifies this- my Dad was similar when he was my age, although he's previously talked about how they'd occasionally play Portishead at uni, which appeals to me far more than the club music that usually gets circulated now.

The same applies to contemporary trends. Love Island remains popular with a lot of them. If you appreciate celebrity culture, contemporary pop, and the concept of media-inflated aspiration, it'll probably appeal to you, but I don't get on with any of those things, and I find that programme impossible to stomach in any way. I think I'm more partial to contemporary TV drama than lots of people here are though.

It's an odd one. I feel a little like a fish out of water because I don't have a single "comfort" era, and I'm not even sure if I'm representative of most of my generation either. Like you say, it'd be great if we had a resurgence in the next 10 years, as unlikely as I personally think it is- God knows we're in need of one.

Great answer. 

People who boast about how empathetic they are NEVER are. That's something I've learned. It's like being eccentric. Hence why virtue signalling became such a popular insult. Everybody knows someone like that LOL. 

Mainstream music meanwhile of the late 10s and early 20s represents a low point of the past 50 years at least. It's not even that it is bad, it's more that there is nothing really that stands out. IE no punk movement, no Bob Marley bursting onto the scene with Reggae, no British invasion etc. It's just bland sterile crap without any direction. 

Again I know I'm biased but the movement of quirky off beat female singers kicked off by Amy was the last big thing to happen in music like that in the late 00s early 10s. Any good singers like Lady Gaga, Lana Del Rey and Paloma are just left overs from that.

Of course that's not to say there aren't great individual singers. Celeste is fantastic though even then she is just kind of carrying on the Amy wave. Still there is nothing to really define this generation musically. Even shit stuff LOL. 

70s /80s babies and teenagers can at least say "we were the punk rock generation" 90s adolscents had the grunge rock to define their era, even if they didn't like it. Similarly even the 00s it was all quirky, eccentric offbeat female soul singers. Now? Honestly what is there? It's a bit of a shame, but to be fair the early 00s I think was similarly a bit bland when it came to music. 

[henshin]

The other thing is, with 80s children, is that they lived through the dying days of the Cold War and may have had father's who served in Vietnam.

I couldn't think of a better escape from all of that than 1980s exhibitionism that lacks self-awareness.

[Deleted]

The music makes me feel high. I could liten to 80s music for hours. Even the movies make me want to get up and be somebody.

[Deleted]

I'm experiencing nostalgia for 2007. Series 3 of Doctor Who, some of the music, the summer I went to Spain and had a brief relationship with a girl from Birmingham and spending time with all of my family.  It was great.

[iank]

I find it hard to get nostalgic for anything after about 2004/05. And after 1991 most of that is for tv and movies. My real nostalgia is all about the 80s and very early 90s.

[Spark Doll King]

I'll likely live long enough to see the 2010s and marvel movies get the same treatment. We all pine for those years when we were ypung, the world was simpler and it seemed like it would last forever.

In the 90s we go anime, home computers that could be used by anyone, really fun video games, some of the best cartoons ever made and thanks to Jurassic Park, the Dinosaur Craze.

But then other stuff I like has only come out recently. Ultraman as only been mass released in the west in the last 4 to 5 years. Before that you had to hunt down poor quality rips & subs in deepest underbelly of the internet.

[ClockworkOcean]

I find it hard to imagine that there will ever be widespread cultural nostalgia for the 2010s or the dystopian shitshow that's been the 20s so far. This era is just so f*cking crap in every conceivable way... socially, culturally, economically, politically... every time it seems that our rotten, disintegrating culture has finally hit its nadir, we somehow manage to sink even lower.  How much worse will things have to get for this to seem decent in comparison?

[Deleted]

I think people like the 1980s because they were actually good. I'm not talking about politics or anything like that. Bad things happen in every decade and likewise every decade is going to have its fair share of crappy movies and shows. I mean I'd hardly call Timelash great television, would you? That being said, most of the 80s media is incredible in every way. Literally everything I adore comes from that decade whether it be TV shows, movies, music, babes or fashion. I do like the 70s and 90s a lot, but I'd be completely lost without 80s stuff.

[Deleted]

Watched quite a lot of movies from the 80s recently. It really is the best decade, isn't it? The vibe, the babes, the aesthetic, the music, the often carefree nature (mostly in comedies). It's such a good decade that even people who were born after the 1980s are nostalgic for it.

[Deleted]

My mum grew up in the 1980s and is fond of many things from it: The Lost Boys, The Breakfast Club, Back to the Future, Bon Jovi, Fleetwood Mac and other stuff. My sister doesn't like much of it (though loves The Goonies, Back to the Future and Gremlins) and prefers the 90s, the decade she was born in. My brother flat out dislikes the decade. That sort of makes me the biggest 80s lover in my family then. I don't have quite as much affection for other decades.

[rushy]

Because it's been 30 years. That's why Life on Mars was set in the 1970s. That's why the Godfather was set in the 1940s. The nostalgic golden age is always circa 30 years ago.

And yes, the rise of 90s nostalgia is upon us

[iank]

The 90s were great.

The 80s are still better.