JJJ's Ulcer
Avenger
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- Nov 3, 2006
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I was thinking that pop-culture really hasn't changed in the last fifteen years or so. A little, but not nearly as much as it used to change during previous intervals of time. Compare 1998 to 2013. Most changes are related to technology (like social media, streaming movies or smart-phones) or are geopolitical/economic in nature. But clothes, music, slang and other cultural hallmarks are more or less the same. Now compare how different 1998 was to 1983. Or 1983 to 1968. Or 1968 to 1953. And so on.
The hit animated shows in the late 90's were Simpsons, Family Guy and South Park.... Much like today. People wore clothes in the late 90's and early 00's that wouldn't be seen as ridiculous today. In fact, at 31, I still have a couple sweatshirts I bought when I was 18 or 19. And music hasn't gone through any great changes. Rap-rock may be a little out, but there's nothing that really distinguishes the late 90's and early 00's from today, in contrast to grunge which is immediately linked to the early 90's or disco which is late 70's. Most musicians from back then are still in the game, releasing new albums periodically. Eminem is still doing gang-busters. Some faces have changed. Now we have Katie Perry and One Direction, and back then we had Britney Spears and N'Sync, but sonically there's not much difference.
Movie franchises that began over a decade ago, like the 'Fast & Furious' franchise are still going strong (or at least it was until the tragic death of Paul Walker). Even the most bankable videogame franchises of today, like Halo and GTA, or the main companies backing them, Microsoft and Sony, are the same players as a decade ago. A decade before that it was Sega and Nintendo and everything was Sonic verse Mario.
Even slang hasn't really changed all that much. Okay, a little with annoying new venacular like "Yolo" and "selfies", but the slang that was used in the late 90's hasn't been pushed out either.
I'm not saying the WORLD hasn't changed a lot. Obviously it has. And even Americans have changed in terms of their reliance on technology and being more accepting of things they didn't used to be, like gay marriage and recreational marijuana use. But on a purely surface level, America looks almost the same as it did almost two decades ago. It doesn't really bother me, but it does make me wonder if we've kind of reached a point where there's nowhere to really go with television, music, clothing or other cultural trends.
The hit animated shows in the late 90's were Simpsons, Family Guy and South Park.... Much like today. People wore clothes in the late 90's and early 00's that wouldn't be seen as ridiculous today. In fact, at 31, I still have a couple sweatshirts I bought when I was 18 or 19. And music hasn't gone through any great changes. Rap-rock may be a little out, but there's nothing that really distinguishes the late 90's and early 00's from today, in contrast to grunge which is immediately linked to the early 90's or disco which is late 70's. Most musicians from back then are still in the game, releasing new albums periodically. Eminem is still doing gang-busters. Some faces have changed. Now we have Katie Perry and One Direction, and back then we had Britney Spears and N'Sync, but sonically there's not much difference.
Movie franchises that began over a decade ago, like the 'Fast & Furious' franchise are still going strong (or at least it was until the tragic death of Paul Walker). Even the most bankable videogame franchises of today, like Halo and GTA, or the main companies backing them, Microsoft and Sony, are the same players as a decade ago. A decade before that it was Sega and Nintendo and everything was Sonic verse Mario.
Even slang hasn't really changed all that much. Okay, a little with annoying new venacular like "Yolo" and "selfies", but the slang that was used in the late 90's hasn't been pushed out either.
I'm not saying the WORLD hasn't changed a lot. Obviously it has. And even Americans have changed in terms of their reliance on technology and being more accepting of things they didn't used to be, like gay marriage and recreational marijuana use. But on a purely surface level, America looks almost the same as it did almost two decades ago. It doesn't really bother me, but it does make me wonder if we've kind of reached a point where there's nowhere to really go with television, music, clothing or other cultural trends.
yes pop culture. As I get older the less patience I have with it all. I don't care who's having a baby, who's getting a divorce, who cut their hair. Just shut your mouths and aim your strength towards real world issues you blood sucking media ****es.........but I digress...I understand the need for it and how people thirst to read about other peoples lives to escape theirs...kind of like how film is a form of escapism...so is reading People Magazine.
And they're screwing that part up. I'm glad people are interested in the "geeky" stuff, but it's like what Twilight did to vampires. I can't believe for one second that the vampire/gothic culture that existed before Twilight is happy with what they did to it. I don't want that happening with the superheros/villains.
