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"Only 90's Kids will recognize this!!!" Is a mental virus

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Prez said:
Do 8-12 year olds watch GoT and Breaking Bad?
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Yeah, sadly, they do. But superhero movies, Avengers especially will be large. Music...I mean, Miley, One Direction, Katy Perry, Bieber et al will be huge too.

Ryuelli said:
Still pretty popular in Texas elementary schools.
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This fills my heart with joy. When the Rednex version was new, that was my junior year at HS. I had a girl on each arm dancing the Cottoneye Joe wagonwheel. Amanda and Briar.

Why can I remember their names, but shit I did last week is a blank? Nostalgia, motherfuckers.
 
Prez said:
To go even further: what's there to be nostalgic about in the past 4 years? It seems to me that 2010-2014 doesn't compare to 2000-2004 and was all about stupid fads, funny YT videos and dumb smartphone games. When it comes to what kids will remember in 10-15 years, I don't see anything notable so far. Then again, I'm not a kid anymore so I don't know what they're into these days.
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Are you kidding me? Kids today are growing up during the golden age of super hero movies. They also have solid cartoons like Regular Show and Adventure Time. And tons of other stuff I don't pay attention to because it isn't aimed at me.
 
As for debating whether specific things are better or worse in than the past, in my experience it's more that things are just different.

Someone who argues that their favorite video game is better than all new games may be correct, in that none of the new games are like the old one. By the same token, the old one can't be compared directly to a lot of new games that are very different.

At some point it turns into a hall of mirrors you can get lost in. You have to be flexible. Don't strangle definitions trying to hold on to something.
 
WanderingWind said:
lol you're welcome. And you're right, but Bonnie Tyler and Bon Jovi are unironically played at weddings too. They weren't exactly the pinnacle of 80s pop culture. I've even heard "Get Jiggy Wit It" at a wedding. Nostalgia does weird shit to people and we all think we're going to be immune from its effects. Spoiler. You won't be.
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Yeah, nostalgia can be fun but also misguided. I guess that's where "rose-colored glasses" takes all its meaning.

XiaNaphryz said:
At nearly every wedding I've been to the last couple of years, they all had some version of late 80s to mid 90s R&B slow jam mega mix medley played during the reception, which was when we all went through high school and started college. But yeah, those other things mentioned still get played for the older people in the crowd (Electric Slide, Achy Breaky, etc).
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I'm biased when it comes to slow jam from the 90s. I mean, I still consider Believe I Can Fly, The Boy Is Mine or Un-break My Heart as very good songs and all-time classics, so I'd be more than happy to hear that at a wedding!
 
Prez said:
As crappy as popular trends were in the 90s and 00s, I'm glad my childhood isn't right now.
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I mean, there is a direct 90s version of each of those pop acts. I hate them too. I hated Hanson as an older teen though, too. Same with MC Hammer and Vanilla Ice when I was a pre-teen and young teen.

I feel like pop culture is like the Wheel of Time.
 
Prez said:
I don't see too many 90s kids who are nostalgic about the Macarena, if that's comparable.
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Come to my office's Christmas party, it gets played every year and everyone still know the moves. It's so corny it hurts, but also still alive and well.
 
The problem isn't that people are nostalgic, it's that people are obnoxious. When obnoxious people are nostalgic, they're nostalgic in an obnoxious way.

Crusade against obnoxious for it is the real enemy.
 
Prez said:
To go even further: what's there to be nostalgic about in the past 4 years? It seems to me that 2010-2014 doesn't compare to 2000-2004 and was all about stupid fads, funny YT videos and dumb smartphone games. When it comes to what kids will remember in 10-15 years, I don't see anything notable so far. Then again, I'm not a kid anymore so I don't know what they're into these days.
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That's exactly the point. You can't see what's notable, because you're not a kid now.

It'll be like Ben 10 or trash pack or something.

Even if you did know kids' stuff, you won't ever see the appeal. You have to be a kid.
 
The only thing I'm maybe nostalgic for is Pokémon and Kirby's Adventure. Even then, I'm not sure if it's nostalgia or legitimate love of them. I still play both of those games (and their newer entries) and enjoy them for how fun and creative they are.

Really though, the 90's were kind of shit apart from video games. I mean look at the fashion from that time. Embarrassing as fuck.
 
Kite said:
Come to my office's Christmas party, it gets played every year and everyone still know the moves. It's so corny it hurts, but also still alive and well.
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Ugh that's awful. I grew up with the Macarena but I couldn't stand it now.

Except for videogames I don't feel nostalgia for anything from the 90s.
 
I agree about the 90's being mostly terrible, but for those who get nostalgic for them..well, you can't help when you're born into the world, I suppose.
 
SonicMegaDrive said:
I agree about the 90's being mostly terrible, but for those who get nostalgic for them..well, you can't help when you're born into the world, I suppose.
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SonicMegaDrive
Be gay with me now
Here under the sink
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80s and 90s all over the place here.
 
I'm mostly amused that the vast majority of the stuff in those "Only '90s Kids Understand!" lists is stuff from the '80s.
 
"I remember it, so it was great!"

I'm glad I was such a elitist snob even from a young age... I had a kind of loathing in my heart that always screened out crap like Nickelodeon game shows and Creepy Crawlers toys.

The only stuff I have nostalgia for I think is justified... stuff i'd probably like as an adult: Super Nintendo, Final Fantasy, LucasArts Adventure games... That kind of thing.
 
I thought this was going to be about the plague of clickbait articles popularized by Upworthy and Buzzfeed.

The kinds of nostalgia that invade Facebook are definitely obnoxious. I'll agree with that.
 
I give the 80s high marks for toy and film creativity. I give 90s high marks for music and the dirty shirt action movie. The 00s for the epic film based on a novel, refinement of 3d video games, and the settling and practicality of fashion.

Here we are in the 10s and we have access to all of the above and more. Why bother living in the past when you can have all of it now?
 
That's super prevalent in rap too. "Trapped in the 90s" is the derisive term for those cats. There are artists like Joey Bada$$ who was born in like, 1999 and tries to emulate 90s rap so hard he's thought about growing a flattop. Like 90s rap didn't have Puffy and Third Bass

I had a convo with a guy who was born after Biggie died and he tried to tell me how he changed music and I was like "Yeah, I was there." And his response is "Well, that just proves you're older than me, that's all."

I had no clever response. I just sort of laughed and shook my head. I mean, what else can you do, really.
 
Holy shit OP. Just because I miss the 90s doesn't make me an irresponsible adult with no perspective (I know you're not exactly saying that but you sure as hell are overreacting)

Also America was economically ballin' in the 90s.
 
Well, I'm glad companies may start to push remakes/90's nostalgia over this decade, just like what happened in the last one with the 80's. Looking back to the past isn't a huge problem, people enjoy reminiscing.

Also, Pokemon Red/Blue are great games :P
 
pulsemyne said:
You only begin to get really nostalgic when your in your mid thirties. Then you fully realise just how crappy some things have become (TV is a good example of this. It used to be quite happy and have some charm. It was also well written). On the other hand us thirty somethings have been the lucky ones as we were born at the very cusp of the technology age and got to see all the amazing breakthroughs.
For us brits I suggest a trip to http://www.tv-ark.org.uk/ . Bask in the glory of 80's/90's TV.
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I agree. You have no idea what nostalgia is until your youth is completely behind you. You're 23.
 
Wait til you hit your thirties. The relationships that you have now will appear meaningless, and you may, just may, question what the hell you were thinking then. I know I have. I actually am quite enjoying my 30s.
 
DarthOrange said:
Are you kidding me? Kids today are growing up during the golden age of super hero movies. They also have solid cartoons like Regular Show and Adventure Time. And tons of other stuff I don't pay attention to because it isn't aimed at me.
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90s cartoons>>>> today's cartoons.

WanderingWind said:
That's super prevalent in rap too. "Trapped in the 90s" is the derisive term for those cats. There are artists like Joey Bada$$ who was born in like, 1999 and tries to emulate 90s rap so hard he's thought about growing a flattop. Like 90s rap didn't have Puffy and Third Bass

I had a convo with a guy who was born after Biggie died and he tried to tell me how he changed music and I was like "Yeah, I was there." And his response is "Well, that just proves you're older than me, that's all."

I had no clever response. I just sort of laughed and shook my head. I mean, what else can you do, really.
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A friend of mine in his early 30s was talking to some guys in their late teens/ early 20s. When he told them his age they looked in awe at the fact he was there when nirvana were big. He didn't have the heart to tell them he thought they were shit.
 
If I was 11 years old in 1990 does that make me an 80's kid or a 90's kid? My preadolescence was spent in the 80's, but those more formative pubescent years were most decidedly in the 90's.

I don't have a great deal of nostalgia for the 80's. I love music from that era (new wave and 80's gothic especially), but most of those tunes I discovered in the mid to late 90's.

I tend to be annoyed by nostalgia for crap from both eras. GI Joe and Transformers were complete 80's garbage designed to make you buy toys. But at the same time Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Mighty Morphin Power Rangers were complete 90's garbage designed to make you buy toys. I liked that stuff at the time of course, but it boogles my mind to see grown men buying DVD box sets of that thoughtless claptrap now.
 
The 90s were amazing. What more is there to know? Gaming became huge, the internet became huge, and cell phones weren't in everyone's hands 24/7.

There is a lot to love.
 
Concept17 said:
The 90s were amazing. What more is there to know? Gaming became huge, the internet became huge, and cell phones weren't in everyone's hands 24/7.

There is a lot to love.
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It's amazing to think that the crazy number of people glued to their phone at all times may have had the ability to look up had they been born 10 years earlier. Guess in 10yrs we'll have HUD-style messaging and it won't be a problem.
 
vikki said:
I think the few of you that remember the 80's are upset that the 90's killed the arcade.
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The social experience, maybe. The thieving coin slots and the perverts running the places? Nah... they needed to go.
 
Concept17 said:
The 90s were amazing. What more is there to know? Gaming became huge, the internet became huge, and cell phones weren't in everyone's hands 24/7.

There is a lot to love.
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Yeah it was terrible!

I know there is some luddite/misanthropic sentiment of "damn the world and their cellphones!!" but they make the world a better, more connected and interesting place. The 90s were dull when I couldn't call my friends because they weren't at home. Now I can video chat my friends in a coffee shop in Korea. Life is better now.
 
GungHo said:
The social experience, maybe. The thieving coin slots and the perverts running the places? Nah... they needed to go.
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Holy shit, that's exactly what my parents described them as even though it wasn't true of mine. What was your local arcade called?
 
I'm 19 and have people my age talking about how awesome the 90's were and posting terrible buzzfeed articles and all that crap. I guess its cooler to be all nostalgic about the 90's rather than the early 2000's where the majority of our childhoods were actually spent.
 
My life sucks now that I'm in my 20s. I want to go back to when I was like 5 years old. No shit to worry about.

Biggest life issue at 5 years old was what to watch on TV. Turned 6 and my life started to go downhill.
 
That's quite a rant, OP, but I generally agree. I'm almost the same age as you, and while I don't experience that level of obsession with nostalgia among my friends, I've seen it out there.

Things are better now for me (although I feel very fortunate that my childhood was good too). I absolutely love having control of my destiny. Everything I do or don't do is under my control. My decisions have weight. So yes, I'd rather live in the present, and work to make tomorrow better than today.
 
you can bust all sorts of unprotected sperm into a myriad of vaginas, and thus the meaning of life is laid bare before you.

only after that can you leave the nostalgia behind and live in the moment of things
 
Cause the 90s was the decade between the end of the Cold War and 9/11. America was the shit, we had a surplus going on and everything was looking rosy.
 
Konka said:
Cause the 90s was the decade between the end of the Cold War and 9/11. America was the shit, we had a surplus going on and everything was looking rosy.
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That and, most American's were in the dark when it came to our foreign policy, and the kind of conflicts we were in. For most Americans, this was a time of peace. Nostalgia is a very real thing. But when you compare the 90's decade to other decades, it was relatively calm. Factor in all the positive factors (such as a good economy), it actually makes sense why people are fond of the 90s. Even adults feel this way. I also think the 80's were relatively good too.
 
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