The Future
In a few short weeks, we’ll be saying goodbye to 2010 as well as the group of perfunctory “Best of the Year” lists that come in tandem with late December. While 2010 was the inaugural year of a new decade, 2011 is going to be the year that we as a society pull our toe out and decide if we actually want to jump into the boiling cultural stew that’s been simmering. As a society, we’ve already unofficially decided what we want to rule pop culture for the foreseeable: Tweets, smartphones, Angry Birds, tablets, Kinect, healthcare debates, racism, etc. Perhaps unconsciously, we’ve decided to evolve everything we hold pedestrian forward in one form or another; everything I just listed is basically an evolution of something else that used to be a standard of some sort, after all. With this in mind, I’ve realized it’s time that we move forward on another staple of the past 10 years: our obnoxious obsession with the ‘80s.
As far as retro trends go, the 1980s as a whole have arguably been the most popular for the past decade. And that makes sense when you think about it. For as long as I’ve been consciously “with it,” so to speak, pop culture has been obsessed with the sensibilities and styles of those from the generation that thrived 20 years prior to it. For instance, growing up in the ‘90s I remember my peers being obsessed with Dazed and Confused, tie-dye, KISS and other pieces of charm derived from the1970s. Then, around the beginning of the century, said focus shifted to something else: The 1980s. Since around that time, the average 18-35 year old has been obsessed with Labyrinth, DayGlo and screaming “I LOVE THIS SONG!!!” every time The Outfield’s “Your Love” comes on during their local bar’s weekly “’80s” night.
And it’s retarded. Completely and utterly retarded.
Oh...that whole thing is still going on...?
Don’t get me wrong; I enjoy looking back at the ‘80s. I’d have to considering I was born then. But this obsession everyone has had with the decade is a lot like Sarah Palin: Silly and humorous at first, but now teeth-grindingly obnoxious after only a short time. I can’t be the only one who gets a headache every time I see a bunch of tipsy girls screech and spilling their cosmos while dancing to Toto’s “Africa.” I can’t be the only one cringing every time I get an evite to yet another ‘80s party. The point is that the decade is beyond played out by now, and the longer it takes to realize that, the worst it is for everyone.
The worst part, in my opinion, is that this obsession with the ‘80s is with all the superficial fluff that came out of the decade and not the pure stuff that made that time the milestone it is. The average person is too busy obsessing over Journey songs and John Hughes movies to appreciate the ‘80s for the dark, albeit pivotal time it was. The country was in a Cold War, a nuclear arms race. The world was darkening around the edges as the “free spirit” mentality of the ‘70s grimly matured and our country became more obsessed with money and power than music and art. This is the decade yuppies came into power, after all. The decade was a gritty growing pain for this country, one that should be respected and understood for more than just Jellies shoes and The Cosby Show.
But alas, with this new decade of ours in full swing, now is as good a time as any to move on from this kitschy obsession with the ‘80s. I propose we now spend out time culturally obsessing over the ‘90s. And why not? It’s been 20 years since the ‘90s began, and if my theory holds water then it’s about time we began looking at that decade with the rose-tinted glasses we used for the ‘80s. It’s about time bars started having weekly “’90s” nights in which a DJ wears his pants backwards and starts playing Kriss Kross and Another Bad Creation. It’s time that people started watching crappy ‘90s movies like Kangaroom Jack ironically. It’s time for hipsters to start wearing ‘90s video game icons on their shirts now.
Most importantly, it’s time to let go of the ‘80s. They’re dead and been that way for a long time. Let them rest in peace.
