As of late, myself and others have noticed a growing trend of nostalgia amongst teenagers on YouTube and across the internet.

Why? There's nothing wrong per se with having fond memories of being 8 or 9, but why are they so focused on nostalgia when they are still so young? Why can't they focus on today, and create a future for themselves? I'm sure they'll eventually appreciate their memories much more as they get older.

When I was 13, 15, even 19, I lived the current time. I didn't just live in the past. I made something out of the present day, because I was still young. Even now, I find new things to appreciate.

I'm happy that I created new memories as a teenager, instead of only looking back at old ones.

That is a bit strange. I know that in my teens I enjoyed recalling things of the past, but it wasn't until college that I really began to appreciate it. Even then, I was glad to be making new memories while still having a healthy respect for days gone by. Hopefully this isn't a trend that has a negative affect on these kids in their adulthood.

I think it's the culture they are exposed to. The internet fetishizes the 80s and 90s, because the kids who grew up then are the people who first grew up with internet access as a commodity. On top of that:

Hollywood is running the remake train into the ground. what can the kids be expected to think when so many movies are outsourced to the past, and we keep doing superhero origin stories over and over?

There is a serious lack of a strong music movement for the past ten years or so. There is a lot of music coming out, but without a nationwide trend featuring many artists and enthusiastic radio support by real DJs, there's not much to connect to. I'm very grateful for my local scene.

Youth TV programming production values have plummeted. And what kid would not thrill to the glory days of Saturday morning cartoons?

Narrative structures in adult programming, while still prevalent, continue to decline in favor of "reality" genres.

Pop culture is diluted now. There is so much of it and the good-to-bad ratio is pretty low.

I'm not repulsed by the fascination with the 80's and 90's on the internet (for obvious reasons), but it does feel like (and perhaps it's just me-probably is) that youth today are struggling to find an identity in the annals of pop culture.

As for Hollywierd's need to recreate in ruinous fashion some of the great and fun movies of the past, it's nothing new... but it's just getting out of hand now.

Music, from say the beginning of the 2000's to now, all sounds the same to me. There's not much in there, for me anyway, to distinguish it as anything more than just "millennial".

I think, when it comes to the old days of making certain to set aside time to "be at" the tv for those Saturday Morning Specials, or any of your favorite programs for that matter, we have lost the experience of it being an "event". That is to say, when you sat down to watch those Saturday Morning Cartoons, you knew there were millions of other kids doing the exact same thing, at the exact same time. You felt like you were tuning in to an "event", which you were sharing with others. Nowadays, you can just pop in the DVD or bring it up on Netflix or Hulu, and everybody's doing everything on their own time. There is very little of that feeling of experiencing the "event" that others are experiencing along with you.

This is partially what made me want to create the Theater here, so that whatever you're watching there, you are experiencing with others... like an event.

With regard to reality shows, I'm done with them. They all seem so contrived and fake now. Unless it's a game show, I just can't stand to watch them.

Yes, perfectly expanding what I mean. I agree with all of that, except reality shows. I do like some of them, like the ones that are focused on business and skill -- so mainly, Shark Tank, Undercover Boss, and everything Gordon Ramsay does.

shakin steak wrote :

I think it's the culture they are exposed to. The internet fetishizes the 80s and 90s, because the kids who grew up then are the people who first grew up with internet access as a commodity. On top of that:



Hollywood is running the remake train into the ground. what can the kids be expected to think when so many movies are outsourced to the past, and we keep doing superhero origin stories over and over?



There is a serious lack of a strong music movement for the past ten years or so. There is a lot of music coming out, but without a nationwide trend featuring many artists and enthusiastic radio support by real DJs, there's not much to connect to. I'm very grateful for my local scene.



Youth TV programming production values have plummeted. And what kid would not thrill to the glory days of Saturday morning cartoons?



Narrative structures in adult programming, while still prevalent, continue to decline in favor of "reality" genres.



Pop culture is diluted now. There is so much of it and the good-to-bad ratio is pretty low.

You are right about remakes, but if the kids looked hard enough, I'm sure that there is originality out there.

A percentage of the music of the last 13 years has been decent, but without any clear direction.

Personally, I just don't really like those talent/singing shows (American Idol, X Factor, America's Got Talent). They just don't seem authentic, at least today.

As for kids thrilling "glory days of Saturday morning cartoons", there is some sense to that, but it just seems silly for 17 year olds to be approaching life with a nostalgic attitude when they're still very young.

PastGarden wrote :

it just seems silly for 17 year olds to be approaching life with a nostalgic attitude when they're still very young.

For sure. Those are just my guesses. The internet informs everything they do, and it's chock-full-o-nutstalgia.

World Wrestling Entertainment, or WWE for short, feels lifeless these days. Someone just sucked the entertainment out of it.

thecrow174 wrote :

World Wrestling Entertainment, or WWE for short, feels lifeless these days. Someone just sucked the entertainment out of it.

You can "thank" the creators of the PG Era.

PastGarden wrote :

thecrow174 wrote :


World Wrestling Entertainment, or WWE for short, feels lifeless these days. Someone just sucked the entertainment out of it.

You can "thank" the creators of the PG Era.

Thanks, creators, for destroying something good. Much obliged.