Second chance at The 80's
Jun. 24th, 2011 11:44 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
captain_slinkyI was born in 1973. Right around the time I hit 16 and started learning about The Beatles and more specifically John Lennon, I've felt that his death kind of derailed our path of history. Think about it...
In the 1970's we were well on the way towards The Future that had been depicted in popular sci-fi since the 1950's and Buck Rogers times. Fashions that looked like sparkly pajamas, products designed to look all rounded and futuristic, music and dancing that seemed like just people writhing around to loud lazer sounds... video game arcades, regular scheduled trips in to outer space for the purposes of scientific exploration... all of the stuff that was leading us right in to The Future as depicted in shows such as Star Trek and Flash Gordon. A kind of left-wing liberal society focused on helping your fellow man that had it's roots in the far-out groovy 1960's Hippie movement, only those Hippies had grown up and were now in positions of power to actually *do* the things they had all talked about doing.
And then John Lennon died, and The 80's "ME Decade" began. No more "Everybody try to get together and love one another right now", it was now "Money money money". How to make a quick buck. How to screw the little guy to make yourself bigger. Science fiction steered away from hopeful tales of a unified Earth and instead focused on apocalyptic futures where corporations controlled our lives or punk rock killers roamed a radioactive wasteland. Hope was dead and the future seemed bleak.
But just recently, like within the last year or so, I've noticed a great return to the pre-80's mentality. Kids seem more focused than ever on "Changing The World" and helping their fellow Earthlings. Fashions are once again sprarkly and bright reflecting on their outlook. The realm of Science Fiction movies have all but been taken over by the Super Hero genre, all stories of ordinary people having the power to make a change for the better. Everywhere I turn it seems like that optimism of the late 70's/early 80's i back in a big way!
I'm excited for The Future :)
In the 1970's we were well on the way towards The Future that had been depicted in popular sci-fi since the 1950's and Buck Rogers times. Fashions that looked like sparkly pajamas, products designed to look all rounded and futuristic, music and dancing that seemed like just people writhing around to loud lazer sounds... video game arcades, regular scheduled trips in to outer space for the purposes of scientific exploration... all of the stuff that was leading us right in to The Future as depicted in shows such as Star Trek and Flash Gordon. A kind of left-wing liberal society focused on helping your fellow man that had it's roots in the far-out groovy 1960's Hippie movement, only those Hippies had grown up and were now in positions of power to actually *do* the things they had all talked about doing.
And then John Lennon died, and The 80's "ME Decade" began. No more "Everybody try to get together and love one another right now", it was now "Money money money". How to make a quick buck. How to screw the little guy to make yourself bigger. Science fiction steered away from hopeful tales of a unified Earth and instead focused on apocalyptic futures where corporations controlled our lives or punk rock killers roamed a radioactive wasteland. Hope was dead and the future seemed bleak.
But just recently, like within the last year or so, I've noticed a great return to the pre-80's mentality. Kids seem more focused than ever on "Changing The World" and helping their fellow Earthlings. Fashions are once again sprarkly and bright reflecting on their outlook. The realm of Science Fiction movies have all but been taken over by the Super Hero genre, all stories of ordinary people having the power to make a change for the better. Everywhere I turn it seems like that optimism of the late 70's/early 80's i back in a big way!
I'm excited for The Future :)
