The 80’s Were The Future
In the 1980’s, everyone suddenly got confused and thought it was the future. That might sound like it doesn’t make any sense, but let me first define what I mean by “the future”.
Throughout the twentieth century, people had this idea of the future world having flying cars, computers everywhere, humanoid robots, and for some reason bright flashing lights and colors. This was really the idea everyone had for what the 21st century would be like. So when I say “the future”, I’m referring to this idea.
The very beginnings of this concept started coming out in the 1980’s. We had computers, video games, synthesizers; new technology. I guess everyone got ahead of themselves and lost their patience, because suddenly the 80’s became a really cheesy version of the future. The problem was that none of this new technology was really developed yet. That didn’t stop the excitement that shaped the culture though.
I use music as a way of really getting an idea of what pop culture is like in a given era. In the 80’s every song had a synthesizer in it, a dance called “the robot” was invented, Michael Jackson did “the moonwalk”, and everyone dressed in bright big clothes with teased up hair. Also, almost every song was ridiculously happy as if to celebrate how awesome it was to be living in the future.
Then the 90’s came along and everyone kind of realized that it hadn’t been the future for the past ten years and life was pretty much the same the whole time. The result was the grunge era, where everyone was kind of depressing. Nirvana, Calvin Klein commercials, flannel shirts - these are the images that come to mind.
When I think back to the 80’s, it just seems like everyone lost their minds. It’s also funny how one of the most popular movies in the 80’s was called Back to the Future - how symbolic.
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