Like a joke you know is coming but still surprises you
November 20, 2013 10:51 AM   Subscribe

Will we be able to forget things long enough to remember them again? Nostalgia Confuses Me
posted by sacrifix (19 comments total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
I couldn't make it through the whole essay (sorry, the 90's just aren't my nostalgic era), but this seems to be his central question:

"Will we ever be able to forget things long enough to remember them again through rose-colored glasses?"

The answer to that is yes, I think. Nostalgia is something we're all hard wired for, and that isn't going to change because of technology. At one point in time everybody was small, and everything was new and mind blowing for us because we'd never experienced it before. That's how nostalgic memories are made. There are little kids alive right now who will undoubtedly look back on 2013 as The Good Old Days, when computers were still incarnated in little boxes and robots were the subjects of funny YouTube videos. You know, back when they still had TV.
posted by Kevin Street at 11:08 AM on November 20, 2013 [1 favorite]


I was stoned

Ah, ok. That pretty much explains not just the nostalgic flashback but the entire rest of the article right there.
posted by Greg_Ace at 11:41 AM on November 20, 2013 [3 favorites]


People need to stop writing about how uncool things were back in the 80’s and 90’s when they were 12. I’m going to go out on a limb and suggest that maybe you weren’t into the coolest things when you were 12. I only know what "Saved by the Bell" is from people reminiscing about it on the internet the last few years, I had no knowledge of it at the time. It really didn’t define a whole time period.
posted by bongo_x at 11:46 AM on November 20, 2013 [7 favorites]


That Britney and Justin all-denim monstrosity was from 2001, not the 90s. And nobody thought it was a good look back then, either.

I do sometimes wonder what people will be nostalgic for from the '00s. Reality TV? Ultra-low-rise jeans? MySpace?
posted by Metroid Baby at 12:06 PM on November 20, 2013


Jobs? (Not Steve Jobs. Well, maybe him too.)
posted by Kevin Street at 12:11 PM on November 20, 2013 [1 favorite]


Really tiny typeface too...
posted by Billiken at 12:18 PM on November 20, 2013


I wouldn't think I'd have a 90s themed nostalgia reaction either but when I saw what Donna wore to Ben's 90s themed birthday party (pictured here at the far right), I was proven totally wrong.

That Britney and Justin all-denim monstrosity was from 2001, not the 90s. And nobody thought it was a good look back then, either.

That brings up another weird thing about decade-based-nostalgia. It doesn't really match the time we think it is. I think "the 90s" actually ended on 9/11. I think "the 90s" began when Bill Clinton was elected. But that's just me.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 12:26 PM on November 20, 2013 [2 favorites]


"We had no great war, no great tragedy, everything was kind of … okay."
Not precisely true, but true enough to make the 90s a winner in my book.
posted by octobersurprise at 12:30 PM on November 20, 2013


Also, how anyone could fail to be nostalgic for the decade that gave us Pop-Up Videos is beyond me.
posted by octobersurprise at 12:33 PM on November 20, 2013 [3 favorites]


Nostalgia: it ain't what it used to be.
posted by stenseng at 12:34 PM on November 20, 2013 [1 favorite]


I do sometimes wonder what people will be nostalgic for from the '00s. Reality TV? Ultra-low-rise jeans? MySpace?

This show has already been made, which itself says something, but that wikipedia page actually pretty much covers everything in mainstream culture anyone could be nostalgic for, except Pokemon.
posted by vogon_poet at 12:45 PM on November 20, 2013


I remember when I was confused by nostalgia. Good times, good times.
posted by lore at 1:57 PM on November 20, 2013 [2 favorites]


"We had no great war, no great tragedy, everything was kind of … okay."

Not precisely true, but true enough to make the 90s a winner in my book.


The Gulf War, the collapse of the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia and all the wars that resulted, the disintegration of Somalia, and Rwanda... Jesus, Rwanda. I liked the '90s too, but come on.

Anyone who was under twelve in 1994 should read this to see what they missed.
posted by rory at 2:07 PM on November 20, 2013 [1 favorite]


the cartoons pretty much sucked

I'm sorry but this person is insane. The (early) '90s were a golden age. Eek the Cat! Tiny Toon Adventures! The Tick! Space Goofs! Beavis and Butthead! Ren and freakin' Stimpy, fercryinoutloud.
posted by Daily Alice at 2:35 PM on November 20, 2013 [1 favorite]


It's funny, I actually remember wondering, circa the early 2000s, what would be the cultural signifiers of the 90s. What is the 90s equivalent of bellbottoms, disco, the beehive hairdo, hula hoops, etc?

And now, despite living through the 90s, then wondering how we'd be nostalgic for the 90s, somehow, though the magic of the collective consciousness, I know these things. Somehow, an aesthetic concept of what the 90s was exists for me where none did before.

(FWIW, I still think we're in a period of being nostalgic for the 80s, when it comes to aesthetic revivals. I'll start snickering about The 90s Comeback when people start getting The Rachel haircut, khakis are in again, and the Intel astronaut becomes an inscrutable cultural signifier a la the peace sign and the smiley face.)
posted by Sara C. at 3:56 PM on November 20, 2013


It's funny, I actually remember wondering, circa the early 2000s, what would be the cultural signifiers of the 90s

I don't think we ever know, at the time, what the signifiers will be. I never have been able to.

(edit: Or usually we don't know. In 1985 I think everyone in my generation knew that The Breakfast Club had pretty much nailed it for the decade).

I didn't know what 'the 90's' would be until I digitized my music collection. My CD collection started with Sinéad O'Connor in 1987, went heavy on Putumayo collections, neo-soul, and trance for awhile, and ended sometime in the early 2000's with a Buddha Bar collection. And I realized that there was definitely a 90's sound, at least for me ... I just wouldn't have recognized it at the time.

My first glimpse of more public 90's nostalgia was on a gay cruise, where one of the most popular events was the 90s Diva Dance Party. I didn't see that one coming at all.
posted by kanewai at 5:46 PM on November 20, 2013 [1 favorite]


Re the "90s Sound", oh yeah.

I remember first realizing there was a 90s Sound when I was watching Buffy The Vampire Slayer on DVD, years after it aired. (This would have been maybe 2008?) The theme song, by Nada Surf, and every band that ever played The Bronze suddenly sounded so... nineties.

In fact, I think a lot of my recognition of what the 90s was, aesthetically, happened while watching Buffy years after the fact. Lots of "hey, I had that backpack!" or "that's exactly how I did my hair for prom!", and then I realized... it all looked super dated.
posted by Sara C. at 5:58 PM on November 20, 2013


A while back I watched Until The End of the World which was set 20 minutes into the future but written in pre grunge 90s and it was mind breaking. Still obviously the 90s but also not the 90s at the same time.
posted by aspo at 6:17 PM on November 20, 2013 [1 favorite]


U.S. Dept. Of Retro Warns: We May Be Running Out Of Past

"While all the facts are still not in, this much is clear: Now, more than ever, we must conserve our precious pop-cultural past, for it is our future."
posted by HillbillyInBC at 7:53 PM on November 21, 2013


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