Are people recalling the eighties with a particular fervor? I don’t think so. And yet, they seem to be everywhere—and I have an unscientific hypothesis as to why.
I think our culture has the unique ability to !!recall cultural artifacts!! produced in the past that are not books: movies, pictures, fashion, and they are all integrated. You can be interested in Bond movies, in the Soma FM secret agent sound track, in cocktail drinks, bikinis and British cars—and the James Bond RPG. And you could talk about it online with strangers. Without the digital world that surrounds us, that would be hard to do.
I think the generation of our parents had much less to choose from. My dad could read and go to classical concerts and opera. My grandfather only had his job, his friends, fellow veterans. They could talk about it less, they had fewer people to share it with, and perhaps less freedom from financial troubles than we have.
Thus, I don’t think that we today have a particular interest in the 80s and 90s. Every generation that comes after us will have an interest in the various cultural periods that came before them. It’s just that we’re living so close to the digital divide that the 80s are the only thing we have access to *on a massive scale*.
To pick a different example: I am interested in Ancient Greece. What is there beyond a few books? Movies from the seventies onwards. Music? None. Fashion? Hell if I know. Paintings? A few murals. I’m stuck with a visit to the Pergamon altar and the Ishtar gate in Berlin once every twenty years. Compare that to the staggering amount of movies, pictures, hair styles, video clips, and all the other cultural artifacts the eighties left behind—accessible online.
#Culture