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The X-Files has made me nostalgic for a time I never experienced

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Re: The X-Files has made me nostalgic for a time I never experienced

#71

Post by Aurornis »

rayiner wrote: post #41

On a similar note, go back and watch the party scene from the 1991 movie “City Slickers.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_Slickers For 90s kids who remember their parents having people over, parties were really like that! Obviously without the drama and comedy. But people would come over and socialize and not be glued to screens. And we have data that things have changed dramatically. In 1990, 55% of men reported…

> But people would come over and socialize and not be glued to screens. And we have data that things have changed dramatically.

My wife and I are moderately social with diverse groups of friends. I haven't been to a party where guests were glued to screens in years.

I can think of a few, but they were so uninteresting that we didn't prioritize future events with those people. Why would I spend my limited free time hanging out with people who don't want to socialize?

Thinking back, those people probably think that staring at phones at social events is just what people do, so it was okay. When you don't see your friend group self-selecting into a bubble of people with shared beliefs and behaviors, you think everything around you is how everyone in the world operates.

Re: The X-Files has made me nostalgic for a time I never experienced

#72

Post by fidotron »

layer8 wrote: post #42
NoSalt wrote: post #24

The X-Files was the right show at the right time; a "bubble" of the '90s, if you will. The internet and mobile technology was nascent. The world was getting bigger, but was still quite "small". I definitely feel quite privileged to have lived through this time, and enjoy all things '90s quite a bit. Any, and I mean any, attempt to remake this show is doomed to failure, and I wish they would just stop. Now, if you wil…

It might just be age and experience, but the world felt bigger in the 90s than it does now.

It totally felt bigger because so many experiences required access to specific physical objects and getting those took forever.

35mm film processing, CDs (tapes even worse), VHS . . . these were all things deemed not exactly ideal at the time.

Re: The X-Files has made me nostalgic for a time I never experienced

#73

Post by crtasm »

dustfinger wrote: post #35
NoSalt wrote: post #24

The X-Files was the right show at the right time; a "bubble" of the '90s, if you will. The internet and mobile technology was nascent. The world was getting bigger, but was still quite "small". I definitely feel quite privileged to have lived through this time, and enjoy all things '90s quite a bit. Any, and I mean any, attempt to remake this show is doomed to failure, and I wish they would just stop. Now, if you wil…

> Any, and I mean any, attempt to remake this show is doomed to failure I second that. Please, for the love of all good things, do not remake the X-Files, or Firefly.

The upcoming Firefly series will be animated, seems like the right choice

Re: The X-Files has made me nostalgic for a time I never experienced

#74

Post by criddell »

travelalberta wrote: post #44
autotune wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Books have been replaced by DVDs at my library. I spent almost all my time at a book store for a year in Austin and can count the number of active readers I saw in there on one hand. It's depressing.

Reading is an independent activity by nature. I don't really see how other people not reading should affect you. There is nothing depressing about nature. It's natural that the majority of people would shift away from reading and gravitate towards easier forms of media consumption.

Reading is an independent activity, but wandering through a magazine store with friends while you were on your school lunch break wasn't.

Re: The X-Files has made me nostalgic for a time I never experienced

#75

Post by commandlinefan »

saltyoldman wrote: post #4

The 90s were incredible. The Matrix had it right when it mentioned in 1999 "peak of human civilization". * Music was incredible * Movies were amazing, enough to go to the theater 12 times a year at least * Homelessness was pretty much non-existent * People were friendly and had time for strangers * Employment was 10x better than today, and not by today's way of counting (which don't count group x y and z) * Jobs actu…

> The 90s were incredible

I was born in 1974 and I remember being vaguely annoyed in my 20's at how the 90's "ruined" the 80's - I remember things being way better in the 80's and society starting to go downhill around 1991.

I will say, though, the poster's lament that he's nostalgic for a time he never knew is one I've heard a _lot_. My kids watch "Stranger Things" and ask if it was really like that when I was a kid ("did you really just get on your bike and go over to your friends houses?") and wish they had experienced the 80's (and even the inferior 90's). I _never_ felt that way about my parents generation - the 60's were interesting from a historical perspective but I never wanted to be there.

Re: The X-Files has made me nostalgic for a time I never experienced

#76

Post by commandlinefan »

cestith wrote: post #34
ramesh31 wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Music was incredible Ehhh, the post-grunge world was a bit of a musical wasteland. Rock died as a culturally relevant force with Cobain, but hip-hop hadn't ascended yet, so we were stuck in this weird doldrum that gave us things like the swing revival, ska, nu metal, and boybands. I mean Counting Crows were the big megastars at the time. Really hard to name a timeless album from '96-'99 the way you easily could on e…

Here’s a list of albums just from 1998. Mezzanine from Massive Attack, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, Big Pun’s Capital Punishment, You’ve Come a Long Way Baby from Fatboy Slim, and Hello Nasty from the Beastie Boys. The K&D Sessions from Kruder and Dorfmeister. Stunt by Barenaked Ladies. Then there’s one of my personal favorites, Mermaid Avenue from Billy Bragg and Wilco. You mentioned rock. How about Hellbilly De…

You're making his point for him.

Re: The X-Files has made me nostalgic for a time I never experienced

#77

Post by commandlinefan »

_whiteCaps_ wrote: post #22
ramesh31 wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Music was incredible Ehhh, the post-grunge world was a bit of a musical wasteland. Rock died as a culturally relevant force with Cobain, but hip-hop hadn't ascended yet, so we were stuck in this weird doldrum that gave us things like the swing revival, ska, nu metal, and boybands. I mean Counting Crows were the big megastars at the time. Really hard to name a timeless album from '96-'99 the way you easily could on e…

Tool, Weezer, Sublime, RATM, Radiohead, Foo Fighters, Blink-182 all put out amazing albums from 96-99. Rose coloured glasses though - I was a teenager at the time.

I was in my 20's at the time. I saw all of those guys as being inferior GnR, Motley Crue or Metallica wannabes.

Re: The X-Files has made me nostalgic for a time I never experienced

#78

Post by thenthenthen »

Grosvenor wrote: post #58
ramesh31 wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Music was incredible Ehhh, the post-grunge world was a bit of a musical wasteland. Rock died as a culturally relevant force with Cobain, but hip-hop hadn't ascended yet, so we were stuck in this weird doldrum that gave us things like the swing revival, ska, nu metal, and boybands. I mean Counting Crows were the big megastars at the time. Really hard to name a timeless album from '96-'99 the way you easily could on e…

Underworld / Second toughest in the infants NIN / The Fragile Radiohead / OK Computer Daft Punk / Homewerk All of these are generation defining albums.

I would like to add, all the jungle/dnb of the 1990’s and Rhythm & Sound.

Re: The X-Files has made me nostalgic for a time I never experienced

#79

Post by commandlinefan »

slopinthebag wrote: post #28

Literally everything is just shite now. Movies and TV are shite, food is shite, the economy is shite, politics is shite, dating is shite, electronics and tech is cheap ad infested shite, even the reffing in sports is shite! Things get more expensive yet also worse somehow, our wages don't even come close to matching inflation, housing is propped up to keep old people's investments secure meaning we don't even have pl…

The media landscape we have is something I couldn't have even imagined when I was young in the 80's. However, I can go back and watch, for free, essentially every movie ever made. I've gone back and watched dozens (maybe hundreds) of movies that I remember coming out when I was a kid, wanting to see, but never getting to because I was too young, or I couldn't find them at video stores, etc.

There were a _lot_ of _really_ bad movies and TV shows that came out when I was young, including movies and TV shows that I loved at the time. They were awful - we just watched them because there was literally nothing else to do. We're bombarded with entertainment choices now and our standards have gone up.

Re: The X-Files has made me nostalgic for a time I never experienced

#80

Post by travelalberta »

criddell wrote: post #62
travelalberta wrote: post #32

To anyone with this kind of nostalgia I'd recommend watch 'Perfect Days'. You can live however you want. While it is impossible to not have a smart phone at this point you get to decide how you use it. Want to feel like you are in the 90's? Stop using your phone. Consume only old or physical media if you want, get rid of streaming services. Go buy an old car if you feel like it. Go read a book. Anything you could do…

That was a great time to be a kid and so much of what I did in that era is gone now. Going with friends to Blockbuster? Hanging out at the arcade? Stopping in at the mall because you will probably run into friends there? From age 15 to 25 I was at a house or field party a couple times a month. And things like streaming services are no replacement for video stores. Scrolling though a list doesn't compare to going to a…

> That was a great time to be a kid and so much of what I did in that era is gone now. Going with friends to Blockbuster? Hanging out at the arcade? Stopping in at the mall because you will probably run into friends there? From age 15 to 25 I was at a house or field party a couple times a month.

This is true. I didn't really think about it from a kid/youth perspective. As an adult I think you can live a similar life style but kids definitely have been robbed of all of this. I'm past 25 and I average a house party a month still I would say. House party's are permission free though, if you want one then host one.

> And things like streaming services are no replacement for video stores. Scrolling though a list doesn't compare to going to a video store, wandering the aisles, bumping into people you know, talking and flirting and finding out about parties, and totally changing your plans based on who you happened to run into. The random social interactions were important.

Video stores still exist. Depending how big of a town/city you will still bump into people you know if you are out and about.

>You can do 90's larping, but unless you are doing it with all the people of the same generation from your community it's only a shallow facsimile of the real thing.

Live how you want. If it's good others will follow your lead. I deleted all social media over five years ago and I have some friends who have at least tried to follow my lead. I read a ton, my friends do as well. I have a group of guys to play magic with every week where we take turns hosting.

If you have a vision of what you want the world to be the first step is to live that way yourself. Either others will follow or they won't, but you can't force people to do anything.

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