20-Something And Already Nostalgic

[methodwriter85]

I prolly take this to an extreme, but nostalgia is really not an uncommon characteristic of my generation. Nostalgia is generally supposed to take about 20 years (see Gen Xers and the 80's revival of the 2000's), but for whatever reason, my generation has jumped the gun on it. Here's a New York Times article about this:Harry Potter Is Their Peter Pan

 

Man. I definitely feel a lot less alone after reading that article, and realizing that I'm actually normal for longing for the days of Blink 182, the Backstreet Boys, Discmans, and when teen blond girls singing coyly about their budding sexualities ruled the charts.

 

I thought this was an interesting analogy:

 

Neil Howe, an author of several books on what he calls the Millennials (another term for Gen Y), draws a parallel between this nostalgic wave and the one boomers embraced with the film "American Graffiti" in 1973. That movie depicted the recent past, the early '60s, which seemed to have vanished forever.

 

"It's instant nostalgia before a huge change in the nation's mood," Mr. Howe said. " `American Graffiti' was nostalgia for the boomers for a world before everything changed after J.F.K.'s assassination.

 

"Millennials see the world before Sept. 11 as a period of innocence. Our biggest worry was the Y2K bug. That all seems a world away now."

 

I think that's a good insight. It does feel like the mid/late 1990's stand as halcyon days- good employment, boom times, a federal surplus, Clinton in office- and the United States had yet to embarrass itself with the quagmire of the Iraq War. The things I associate with that time- Britney Spears, Blink 182, tv shows like All That and Clarissa Explains It All- do make me feel a sense of comfort because it harkens back to an earlier, more secure era.

 

I look at people Adam Phillips's age- about 5 to 10 years older- and they really don't engage in the nostalgia for their own past as much as mine does, even though logic would say that because people's Adam's age are further away from their childhood years than my cohorts are, they should be more nostalgic. I wonder why that it is- maybe it's an outgrowth of the narcissism that Adam has described when talking about my peers. Like we think we're the shit, and therefore we believe the shows and toys and music we associate with our 90's childhood should be treated with reverence by everyone.

 

What do you guys think? I do notice that when I bring up Classic Nickelodeon to people in their 20's, they get that I'm referring to shows like All That and Are You Afraid of the Dark, but I get total blank stares from people that are older.

 

It's an interesting thing to ponder about my generation, I think- because I agree that, in a general sense, most of us engage in nostalgia even though we aren't 30 years old yet. (Arbour, keep this article in mind when you move to writing about Will/JJ's generation.)

 

 

[writeincode]

I think maybe we hit the nostalgia stage earlier on or maybe when those older than us became nostalgic they seem to us older than in their 20s even though they might not have been.

 

I do miss Clarissa Explains It All....

 

And I like that little exert.

Edited March 5, 2010 by writeincode

[Drewbie]

Or how about the xmen series that was on fox during the 90's.

[rknapp]

All That, Clarissa Explains it All, Are You Afraid of the Dark, Goosebumps, Power Rangers, Batman cartoons... *sigh*

 

Pogs and Yo-Yos were big. As for music, I hated most of it. Silverchair, Bush, Green Day, Offspring, Godsmack, Korn, all of those were good. Britney, Christina, Backstreet Boys, N'Sync, 98 Degrees, their records should be destroyed.

 

Video game consoles - Super NES (and NES when it worked!), N64, Dreamcast, Saturn, PlayStation, Game Boy Original, Pocket, and Color... and their games like Sonic, Super Mario, Mario Kart.

 

I think we're also at the stage where we watch movies made then, see all the hair styles and the fashion of the day, and wonder, "WTF?" At least, in the early 90s. I suppose there was still some 80s influence.

[methodwriter85]

The late 90's, though- I think that fashion has aged well. I looked at an episode of Boy Meets World from 1999, and everything they're wearing wouldn't look out of place in 2010. I think in 20 years, we'll be much more likely to cringe at the stuff we wore in the 2000's than the stuff we wore in the mid/late 90's. I mean. Uggs with leggings. Why do we think that's a good look? LOL.

Edited March 7, 2010 by methodwriter85

[KJames]

The late 90's, though- I think that fashion has aged well. I looked at an episode of Boy Meets World from 1999, and everything they're wearing wouldn't look out of place in 2010. I think in 20 years, we'll be much more likely to cringe at the stuff we wore in the 2000's than the stuff we wore in the mid/late 90's. I mean. Uggs with leggings. Why do we think that's a good look? LOL.

 

And one mustn't forget pants that are way to big, to the point that they're ready to fall of one's ass...showing more boxers than an orgy... If the kids today want to dress like someone fresh out of prison who isn't used to wearing a belt anymore, then why don't they go to prison first?!?!?!?

[methodwriter85]

Actually, with the exception of the guys who dress thug, the super-baggy jeans look is falling out of favor, and guys are actually trying to wear jeans that fit now. Hipsters especially wear pretty tight, skinny jeans. Unfortunately, hipsters and emo kids tend to not have asses that you actually want to see in tight jeans. Jocky, preppy guys wear jeans that actually kinda fit these days, but it's still a long cry from the super-tight jeans that were so popular with Mark Arbour's generation.

 

It's actually pretty amazing how long baggy jeans have persisted in American male fashion- it's been a common look since about the mid-90's.

[KJames]

Actually, with the exception of the guys who dress thug, the super-baggy jeans look is falling out of favor, and guys are actually trying to wear jeans that fit now. Hipsters especially wear pretty tight, skinny jeans. Unfortunately, hipsters and emo kids tend to not have asses that you actually want to see in tight jeans. Jocky, preppy guys wear jeans that actually kinda fit these days, but it's still a long cry from the super-tight jeans that were so popular with Mark Arbour's generation.

 

It's actually pretty amazing how long baggy jeans have persisted in American male fashion- it's been a common look since about the mid-90's.

 

I don't mind the baggy, loose fit, I was talking about the guys that purposely buy oversized so they can have them fall off in the middle of the crosswalk...one guy had that happen, and fortunately it was on the other side of the intersection away from me, I busted a gut laughing at him....the dumb shithead...

[glomph]

Things ain't what they used to be and probably never was. ~ Will Rogers

 

Nostalgia ain't what it used to be. ~ Stan Kenton

[Jack Frost]

I do miss the 1990s for sure. A bits of the 1980s. I did half of that decade too.

[methodwriter85]

Jimmy Fallon couldn't reunite the cast of Saved by the Bell, but he could, as a consolation prize, reunite the cast of California Dreams. It's pretty awesome.

 

California Dreams

 

Man. It's funny how you never really forget the shows you grew up with.

[PrivateTim]

I do miss the 1990s for sure. A bits of the 1980s. I did half of that decade too.

 

So where does Mrs. Slocombe fit in the equation? That was the early 70's?

Edited April 1, 2010 by PrivateTim