Are we perpetually stuck in 1992?

[Liquid Smoke]

Here's a Vanity Fair article from 2011.
http://www.vanityfair.com/style/2012/01/prisoners-of-style-201201

The author makes the case that our culture, books, movies, fashion, etc. have been stagnant for the last 20 years. He says this is a new problem, that you would never confuse a movie made in the 30's with one from the 50's and you'd never confuse them for one from the 70's.

He claims it's a paradox that we have this amazing technological and scientific progress but our culture is increasingly focused on the past. It may be a reaction to the technological change, that we crave familiarity in the face of a changing world and it may simply be that the internet has provided us with instant ever-present access to nostalgia.

I think he has a point. Recycling of old ideas is the new norm whether it's remakes of old films or hip hop sampling or even the meme culture online.

What do you guys think?

 

[drstrangelov]

Bing!

 

[PolishHeadlock]

I'd say that television is drastically different from Reality TV shows to epic dramas like GOT, Breaking Bad, Boardwalk Empire and even comedies like Modern Family and Silicon Valley.

I can' speak to music since I only listen to Nirvana and DMX

 

[Liquid Smoke]

I'd say that television is drastically different from Reality TV shows to epic dramas like GOT, Breaking Bad, Boardwalk Empire and even comedies like Modern Family and Silicon Valley.

I can' speak to music since I only listen to Nirvana and DMX

Good point. He does mention the rise of long form drama television as one example of innovation.

 

[EJAXXX]

The bottom line is that it's the internets fault.

 

[Lucifer Alpha]

Pop culture started catering exclusively to women around that time.

Blame them.

 

[Primitivo]

I'm well beyond the year Delta-9001.

 

[Big L]

I do still listen to The Chronic a bit.

 

[ookii]

Don't styles just recycle themselves every 20 years. The 70s had a 50s revival with Sha-Na-Na, Happy Days, Grease and Frankie Avalon etc. 80's kept talking about Woodstock and bands like Squeeze, Crowded House borrowed heavily from the Beatles. 90s which had the Grunge peroid borrowed extensively from 70s rock. 2000s had those 80s new wave revival bands

 

[sh1tehawke]

Tony Wilson, the boss of factory records, said a similar thing about music.

His theory was that music moved in 13 year cycles and something revolutionary happened every cycle. So in 50 you had rock and roll, the Beatles in 63, punk in 76 and acid house in 89. Based on this theory we were due a leap forward around 2002 but it didn't happen and hasn't since.

 

[RoryFan]

That's bullshit.

There's a lot less dreadlocks than there were in the 90's.

 

[Satsui Ryu]

Technology seems to have turned culture into a commodity as there is just so much "stuff" out there. Nothing can really stick around long enough to have a meaningful impact on society.

 

[blitzk]

 

[ICHEERTHEBULL]

Where are the the long fucking chains attached to wallets with absailing locks? Where are they man??

 

[Streeter]

Tv is drastically different. Come on. From HD 4k curved to the 35 inch trinitron by Sony was considered the ot tv then. 35 inch tv I have in my garage now. Everything g is different accept for maybe music there hasn't been much change there.

 

[AronaBeatsJones]

Stagnation implies that things are staying the same.

From what I see, films, television, music, and entertainment in general has gone downhill fast since the late '90s.

The only thing that has continuously improved is gaming, and that's more to do with its backing from the rapidly-evolving technology industry than any influence from the worsening entertainment industry.

 

[Liquid Smoke]

That's bullshit.

There's a lot less dreadlocks than there were in the 90's.

That's because we're more sensitive to cultural appropriation now.

 

[Organic Damage]

Culture has become self-referential to an extreme degree, probably because of technology.

When at any other time in history were such high fidelity sources of previous styles available to be remixed so easily?

IMO, it's only the 90s because that's when computers became a commodity.

 

[GSPOAB]

Uh , I think culture, movies, fashion and music today is very different than it was in 1992

 

[OverCoronavirus Pressure]

I'd say he either hasn't been paying attention or the attention he's been paying has been selective.