What does the 1990s look like to you? - Politics Forum.org | PoFo

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Those who do not remember the past are condemned to relive it. Note: nostalgia *is* allowed.
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#15136823
Local Localist wrote:The 1990's was a decade I did not see one minute of. In a few images, this is what I conceptualise when I think of that decade.

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How it really looked like:

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#15136833
You guys sort of got it, but not really. I came of age in the 90s, so although I was alive in the 80s, my strongest memories start in the late 80s, early 90s.

I'll respond more later, because I'm going out on a family bike ride.

Two things to point out:
1 - Nirvana was a bigger deal in the 90s. They were the band that shut the door on 80s rock/metal, and blew open the door to the 90s alternative/grudge rock. Although Pearl Jam was a big deal too, Nirvana was bigger. Over inthe punk rock world, Skate punk was taking hold (my scene). As was Xtreme sports culture was started to become more main stream (also my scene).

2 - As for Cartoon network. noooo nooo. Nickelodeon DOMINATED the 90s, no question. Cartoon network were scrubs, they came to prominence in the 2000s through today. That was the same time where Nickelodeon's dominance fade away.
#15136846
Rancid wrote:You guys sort of got it, but not really. I came of age in the 90s, so although I was alive in the 80s, my strongest memories start in the late 80s, early 90s.

I'll respond more later, because I'm going out on a family bike ride.

Two things to point out:
1 - Nirvana was a bigger deal in the 90s. They were the band that shut the door on 80s rock/metal, and blew open the door to the 90s alternative/grudge rock. Although Pearl Jam was a big deal too, Nirvana was bigger. Over inthe punk rock world, Skate punk was taking hold (my scene). As was Xtreme sports culture was started to become more main stream (also my scene).

2 - As for Cartoon network. noooo nooo. Nickelodeon DOMINATED the 90s, no question. Cartoon network were scrubs, they came to prominence in the 2000s through today. That was the same time where Nickelodeon's dominance fade away.


How big was Dianas death in America? Europe was covering it 24/7 for such a long time. It is one of the reasons why her death is filled with conspiracy theories nowadays. I guess the closest American example of her crash is the assasination of Kennedy. She is also remembered nowadays as some kind of martyer or saint.
#15136857
Rancid wrote:You guys sort of got it, but not really. I came of age in the 90s, so although I was alive in the 80s, my strongest memories start in the late 80s, early 90s.

I'll respond more later, because I'm going out on a family bike ride.

Two things to point out:
1 - Nirvana was a bigger deal in the 90s. They were the band that shut the door on 80s rock/metal, and blew open the door to the 90s alternative/grudge rock. Although Pearl Jam was a big deal too, Nirvana was bigger. Over inthe punk rock world, Skate punk was taking hold (my scene). As was Xtreme sports culture was started to become more main stream (also my scene).

2 - As for Cartoon network. noooo nooo. Nickelodeon DOMINATED the 90s, no question. Cartoon network were scrubs, they came to prominence in the 2000s through today. That was the same time where Nickelodeon's dominance fade away.


Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon came with a lag outside the US.
#15136859
wat0n wrote:Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon came with a lag outside the US.


Yeah, Neckelodeon was the shit like from the 2000 and so on. 90s was dominated by CN.
#15136866
JohnRawls wrote:
How big was Dianas death in America? Europe was covering it 24/7 for such a long time. It is one of the reasons why her death is filled with conspiracy theories nowadays. I guess the closest American example of her crash is the assasination of Kennedy. She is also remembered nowadays as some kind of martyer or saint.


Yes, her death was covered like crazy in the US. For whatever reason, many Americans love the royal family. I guess it's because there is no royalty in America. The kind of people that follow the royal family are the same kind of people that obsess over movie stars, which is many people.

@wat0n

ok, I understand. I have Indian friends that say the same thing. That that is, in India it was usually like 10 years behind on stuff like that too. That makes sense to me. However, here in the US, the 90s was dominated by Nickelodeon shows/IPs and Cartoon network was some far flung shit that ran old and tired cartoons. They took off in the 2000s though while Nickelodeon failed to innovate. To this day, my kids seem to prefer Cartoon Network content over Nickelodeon, but I think Nickelodeon has caught up a bit (I watch cartoon with my kids :) ).

Let break down what the 90s was like from my perspective. Mind you, I was a child-teen during the 90s, however I do have a good sense of the political/economic climate as well because in college (early 2000s) we would study the economy of the 90s and so on in my courses.

This is kind of just random shit that pops to mind:
- The first gulf war occurred here. This was considered the first "high-tech" war. The media and experts constantly talked about this, and the larger question of "what is the future of war?"

- NAFTA, the left hated it, the right loved it. Funny how it's reverse today....

- Interventions in eastern Europe. Honestly, I don't remember much about this in the media. I was young too. Politics_Observer served there, he might be able to say more.

- Economically, the BRICS countries were seen as the next emerging markets now that Japan, Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan (the Asian tigers) had largely industrialized and developed into advanced economies. The belief was that the BRICS nations will naturally adopt more western styles of government and democracy, and peace through the world would be achieved.... seriously. This all didn't really happen. BRICS = Brazil (could never get corruption under control), Russia (Putin/corruption), India (corruption), China (doubled down on Authoritarianism after Tienanmen square), South Africa (??).

- War on drugs.... I remember going to DARE (to keep kids off of drugs) rallies in school. This was an anti-drug effort created by Nancy Reagan. Even though she created this program in the 80s, it was still present through much of the 90s.

- Names like Bill Gates became commonly known names. Also, although silicon valley had been established 20-30 years prior. This was also the time that the phrase "silicon valley" became a common parlance outside of the tech industry.

- First World trade center bombing and the bombing of the USS Cole. This is when the concept of Islamic terrorist started to creep into the American Psyche. However, no one really cared about it as the middle east was just some far off place. It wasn't until 9/11 that people really started to think about terrorism.

- Oklahoma city bombing as well as the unibomber. This started to creep in the concept of the domestic terrorist. Also, Far right wing groups, and crazy militia types. However, even then, they weren't seen as anything significant, just a bunch of isolated wackos

- My understand is the the raise of the Religious right and it's alignment with the Republican Party really happened in he 90s. I don't know too much about that.

- There was a general optimism about the economy. Two reasons, the rise of tech like Microsoft, personal computers, Intel, etc. The fall of the USSR was seen a validation of capitalism, and also the fall of a great enemy. Everyone was felt like the possibilities were endless.

- NES is really mostly seen as an 80s console. The 90s are marked by SNES, Genesis (Mega Drive), PS1, N64, as well as the rise of 3d based graphics in the PC side of things.

- Violence in video games was a big talking point among parents and in the media. The release of Mortal Kombat raised a lot of questions. The question of "do video games encourage real life violence?" became established. The first studies of violence in video games and their effect on young minds started in this time. Also the video games ratings board was established.

- This was the period of time where the masses in America got connected to the internet. Even me, poor kid in the ghetto got internet access at home in the mid-90s (richer suburban kids were likely connected in the late 80s and early 90s). That said, I was one of the first families to get connected in the hood. I was a tech geek from an early age, and my parents wanted to foster it, so they went out of their way to get me a computer. I was also one of the first among my peers in school to have a computer at home.

- Gen X started to join the professional work world and significantly change it. New management styles as well as a more casual attitude in the office (many companies dropped the requirement to wear a suit at work for example). This was at the confluence of the tech boom, so Gen X planted the seed for what tech became today (bean bag chairs, foosball tables, and all that bullshit). Today, Gen Xers are the CEOs and executives of these companies, as well as the senior leadership.

- Hip hop started to go mainstream. Gangsta rap exploded. Censorship was on everyone's mind due to the explicit nature of gansta rap lyrics. Similar to video games, the explicit content ratings was placed on many rap and rock albums. You now had to be 18 or older to buy these albums.

- Aside from hip hop, the other black art form that really took over was R&B. It was fucking huge!

- Independent from the hip hop and R&B boom you had what was happening in Rock. Nirvana changed the face of mainstream rock, almost over night. Seriously. They killed hair metal, and opened the door for grunge, and other forms of so called "alternative" rock. Punk rock, although always underground, got a boost from this, because Nirvana was heavily influenced by punk rock bands. In fact, Nirvana was a punk band before a grunge band. This was also the time in which Rage Against the Machine came up. This was the time where anti-establishment rock music became really popular.

- In the underground punk scene (my scene), skate punk took a strong hold on the subculture. Hardcore punk also solidified itself. The "Nirvana moment" in punk was came in the 80s with Bad Religion. The hall mark difference in my eyes, is that after Bad Religion, punk bands actually became talented at playing their instruments. Prior to that, they had the energy and message, but not the musicianship. The musicianship in punk started to appear in the 80s after Bad religion hit the scene, and solidified in the 90s. This gave punk a revival in the 90s, which is where most of my favorite punk bands reside.

- Skate board culture become very intertwined with both Punk Rock culture and hip hop culture. I think the common theme here is anti-establishment. Lots of punk rock kids enjoyed hip hop too. I used to skateboard with kids with mohawks, and kids that were dressed like Tupac. No joke.

- Extreme sports (BMX, Skateboard, motocross) started to gain acceptance as a legitimate sport. The Xgames were first held in the 90s. Watching the xgames is what made me get a skateboard.

- Electronic based music started to take on stronger, along with the drug use that went with it. This corresponds with the fact that more people had a computer at home, and more software was developed to aid in the development and recording of music

- Napster..... Basically, it forced/created itunes and subscription streaming services.

I'm sure I can come up with more stuff, but I'll leave it at that.
#15136990
Rancid wrote:1 - Nirvana was a bigger deal in the 90s. They were the band that shut the door on 80s rock/metal, and blew open the door to the 90s alternative/grudge rock. Although Pearl Jam was a big deal too, Nirvana was bigger. Over inthe punk rock world, Skate punk was taking hold (my scene). As was Xtreme sports culture was started to become more main stream (also my scene).


Of course, I don't need to remember the 90s to know that Nirvana was more popular than Pearl Jam, lol. I mainly used that cover because it also connects to a visual of the American desert which seems to have been commonly depicted in American popular culture of the time. It reminds me of a certain nihilism, a certain postmodern indulgence in the 'end of history' which seems to have become all-encompassing in that decade.

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