The Deal with Nostalgia

Recently, I have been spending (too) much of my time procrastinating and devoting what feels to be like endless hours to scavenging through pages and pages on websites like www.BuzzFeed.com, www.betcheslovethis.com, and other chapter articles on Her Campus. I am consistently noticing a current trend that is circulating through all social media sites: nostalgia. For our age group, this is specifically referring to nostalgia of the 90s. Articles like “35 Things You Will Never See Again In Your Life” and “Throwback Thursdays: Betchiest Trends of the 90s” always catch my eye, and I am always quick to send the link on for my friends to read. Why is it that, all of a sudden, it’s a fad to reminisce on the “good ‘ole days” when our only concern in life was wondering when the next Mary-Kate and Ashley movie was coming out on VHS?

Pride

I pride myself on being a “90s kid”.  I will always remember playing with my Tamagotchi electronic pet and listening to Spice Girls or ’NSync on my Discman, all while rocking my stretchy black choker necklace. Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen were (and possibly still are) my idols. I always wore butterfly clips in my hair because they did. I used Kids AOL that was connected to dial-up Internet and I still rented all of my movies on VHS from Blockbuster. When I think about all of the wonderful things the 90s allowed me to experience, I feel a sense of pride. I am proud that I get to be a part of the generation of “90s kids” because, well lets face it, the 90s were awesome and so are the kids that grew up during that decade. I find it so unfortunate when I babysit five-year-old girls and they tell me they have never heard of Mary-Kate and Ashley or the Spice Girls. I am grateful that I got to grow up with these trends and sad that these girls don’t get to experience the same awesome childhood that I had.

The 90s Were Just Better…

The other day at dinner I asked my friends, “Why are we so obsessed with reminiscing over the 90s?” Their response? “The 90s were just…better”.  Maybe 2012 was somewhat of a depressing year for people or maybe everyone who grew up in the 90s is now about to enter the “real world” or is already there, but life in the 90s just seemed to be better.  There doesn’t seem to be any TV quite like “Boy Meets World,” “Saved by the Bell,” or “The Amanda Show” (side note: who’s excited for “Girl Meets World?!”). Additionally, Disney Channel Original Movies were the highlights of my Friday nights. Remember “Wish Upon a Star,” “Brink!,” “Halloweentown,” “Zenon,” or “Smart House”?  I can say, with confidence that these movies were outstandingly better than the Disney Channel movies that air today. I would consider some of these still to be my favorite movies. It is possible that I thought the plot and acting in these movies were better in the 90s then in the movies today because I was of a younger age and now I have a better understanding of acting and plot when I watch these Disney movies today. But then again, I don’t believe this is the case. I am not embarrassed to say that I have recently watched both “Wish Upon a Star” and “Zenon” or that they still are incredible movies. I looked up the most recent DCOM and it is called “Girl vs. Monster.” It is about a teenage girl who discovers that she is a fifth generation monster hunter on the eve of Halloween. Really? These ideas are not the same anymore. 

Like the days of “good TV,” we also grew up with “good music.” Remember when music consisted of feel-good songs you could rock out to in your bedroom with your friends while singing into hairbrushes and shampoo bottles? Those were the days.You simply cannot do that anymore to electronic music or dubstep. Spice Girls, Destiny’s Child, ’NSync, Backstreet Boys, Third Eye Blind, Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera; I could go on… Just the fact that we still, at Bucknell, constantly play these old school tunes at our parties just show how these artists will never get old and will always hold a special place in our hearts. Lets not forget Third Eye Blind is performing for Spring Concert…enough said. We can’t, and refuse, to let go of 90s music. I understand boy bands are trying to make a comeback. And as much as I admittedly like One Direction, they will never be as good as ‘NSync or Backstreet Boys. Never. 

Common Ground

Lastly, we love being nostalgic because it is common ground among friends.  Regardless of which state we grew up in or where we went to school, we all experienced the same, or at least very similar, 90s childhood. It is always fun to remember our favorite DCOM movies or favorite episodes from TV shows and see who else had the same favorite movies or shows. We all remember the same good music; I can’t even count how many times I have sang “Wanna Be” by the Spice Girls at the top of my lungs with a group of my best girlfriends. My personal favorite is asking my friends if they remember a particular piece of clothing that I rocked in the 90s, for example my favorite pair of black stretchy Steve Madden clogs. As I look back and realize how ridiculous I looked, it’s even more fun to realize my friends also were obsessed with the questionable shoe trend. 

So, I will leave you with my last thought:  reminiscing over the 90s and being nostalgic is exciting, as some of our most prized possessions of that time are so outdated that reminding us of those objects takes us back to a time when we had not a worry in the world. We can be proud of it, we can miss it, and we can share memories with our friends. In fact, if you haven’t caught on to this latest trend, I encourage you to remember your favorite things from the 90s; you’ll be surprised how thrilling it can be. Once you start generating a list of your most memorable toys and your favorite movies, you won’t be able to stop. 

http://www.buzzfeed.com/daves4/things-you-will-never-see-again-in-your-life

http://www.betcheslovethis.com/article/throwback-thursdays-betchiest-trends-of-the-90s

HCXO,

Blair