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What characterized the 80s?

nkarafo

Member
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Doom85

Member
I think SEGA Genesis fits more with the 90's, it came out in the latter half of 1989 so needless to say most people's memories of playing it occurred more in the 90's. I know SEGA had consoles before Genesis, but I don't think ever met anyone personally who mentioned owning a SEGA console pre-Genesis.
 

SantaC

Member
I think SEGA Genesis fits more with the 90's, it came out in the latter half of 1989 so needless to say most people's memories of playing it occurred more in the 90's. I know SEGA had consoles before Genesis, but I don't think ever met anyone personally who mentioned owning a SEGA console pre-Genesis.
I owned a master system and it definitely came out in the 80s.
 

#Phonepunk#

Banned


it is very much a nostalgic feeling for me more than an aesthetic. i see a lot of "Totally 80's" stuff in pop culture that looks like it is trying too hard and misses a lot of things and just does neon over and over. i saw an intro today that just looked like someone cut up aerobics footage in Final Cut Pro, and everyone was praising it, but to me, it looked like cheap trash.

Stranger Things feels like it came out after 10-15 years of 80's nostalgia, and it was the first thing to more actually capture that nostalgic feeling for me. mostly i think of dark, wood paneled living rooms with thick shag carpeting, toys and action figures, outer space, Christmas lights, that blurry video look, early computer graphics, chiptunes etc. for me it's homey and cosey and warm and nostalgic. it is captured well in a lot of fast food commercials from the era. but there was something about that style of production, those big cheesy fake looking but fantastical sets, the futuristic emphasis on space and robots. the 80s felt like a mainstreaming of a lot of fantasy culture tbh, from sci fi to swords and sandals.

there is a lot visually that is missing from moder "80's style" stuff. i think we forget with our nice flat screen 4K monitors just how cool and magical CRT technology really was. at the arcade, sometimes you would be looking at it through a second screen, giving the glowing phosphors an almost holographic quality to them. modern screens are more accurate but that also means some element of oddness is now lost in translation. IMO the old CRT screens were a more magical medium. having the sound come out of the same tube also brought something to the experience that can't be replicated easily with modern gear.

you can see modern post production techniques like Bloom and Chromatic Aberration being introduced to emulate that analog method of display. CA is a retro effect because the separate RGB elements on a CRT tv can be misaligned, if only to a tiny degree, producing ghosting effects and color phasing. digital video processing is finally catching up to being able to mimic that look of old video, but there will always be something magical about the way it looks on OG hardware.
 
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I will mention the UK Scene in the 80s:

Neon Signs, Leggings with Socks on them, Really really REALLY Corny American Films/Shows, Every Car has the same Box like Designs., UK Music competed with the US Music on level footing, Mullets, PC Gaming Scene in the UK was huge thanks to the Atari/Commodore/Spectrum/Amstrad Rivalry, The Pub Scene was good for younger people back then, Worst UK Storm in existence happened, and one weatherman got it wrong saying "Nothing to worry about".
 

MetalAlien

Banned
If you didn't live it you'll never understand. It was so awesome even movies like Big Trouble in Little China could be overlooked. We just thought it was always going to be like that.... If we knew what we do now we would have savored it more.

For me the Breakfast Club was the closest I ever saw to putting 80s into one movie.
 

Punished Miku

Gold Member
If you didn't live it you'll never understand. It was so awesome even movies like Big Trouble in Little China could be overlooked. We just thought it was always going to be like that.... If we knew what we do now we would have savored it more.

For me the Breakfast Club was the closest I ever saw to putting 80s into one movie.
What the breakfast club captures correctly about the 80s is that it was a time of power and conformity. There was a set way to be in the "in group." If you were not like that, you were a nerd and an outcast. Not like a nerd today, like actually an outcast. You had actual subcultures develop like punk, gaming nerds, D&D nerds, metal, all that stuff. And it was all very underground.
 

MetalAlien

Banned
What the breakfast club captures correctly about the 80s is that it was a time of power and conformity. There was a set way to be in the "in group." If you were not like that, you were a nerd and an outcast. Not like a nerd today, like actually an outcast. You had actual subcultures develop like punk, gaming nerds, D&D nerds, metal, all that stuff. And it was all very underground.
I was definitely John Bender in high school. I wish I still had my yearbook. I got a full page. In middle school I was like Allison though... very quiet and kept to myself. I came out of my shell over the summer between middle and high school.
 

DeepEnigma

Gold Member
Here is some stuff that characterized the 1980s for me:

  • Synth pop
  • TMNT
  • Weird hairstyles
  • Colorful clothing
  • SEGA and Nintendo 8-bit
  • Back to the Future
  • Ghost Busters
  • Saturday morning cartoons
  • Walkman
  • Arnold Schwarzenegger

To add (And I’m sure there’s tons more)

- MTV actual music videos
- Karate Kid
- Karate in general
- All the best films/cartoons, ever
- Being on the East Coast, rumors that we heard from someone that heard, Cali has actual hoverboards. (Those kinds of, the world is so big, rumors)
 

Papa

Banned
Also people knocking old hair styles can get out, women used to go through greater lengths to look good for you.They don't try near as hard anymore and expect more.

Nah, these days they spend more time sculpting dat booty. Perms should be memoryholed.
 

Kagey K

Banned
I wish I lived threw the 80s... Was born in 1991
I mean it wasn’t great, the 80s was all about looking to the future and seeing how awesome the 2000s were going to be. Now that we are here I wish we were back in the 80s and could have a do over. As most of pop Culture seems to agree.

The funny thing is that in a hundred years they will be calling 2030 the dirty thirties and moving on. Our shows now, will be like silent films we used to watch.
 

Kagey K

Banned
Nah. I still enjoy silent films. You don't really need any context. Who the fuck wants to watch shows from these days stuffed with political shit, current events and memes? It'll all be unwatchable and dated as fuck. Even stuff from like a year or two ago is already dated.
Oof Boomer.

If you enjoy anything before 2003 you are a boomer now apparently.
 
What the breakfast club captures correctly about the 80s is that it was a time of power and conformity. There was a set way to be in the "in group." If you were not like that, you were a nerd and an outcast. Not like a nerd today, like actually an outcast. You had actual subcultures develop like punk, gaming nerds, D&D nerds, metal, all that stuff. And it was all very underground.
This, so much.
I was born in 1974.
These days it's all just one big soup, but back then you needed to find your niche group or be a total loner loser.
Girls didn't find nerds cute. Even when I started skateboarding, girls usually preferred the "high school jocks".
 
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