Sometimes I wonder how the 2000s went from being hated on and panned by everyone to being trendy and adored by a lot now that it’s been 20 to 10 years since it started and begun. Just reading up on the politics of the decade would make anyone think it might have been one of the worst times to be alive, but now we have kids born in the 2000s who even though they didn’t live the decade are romanticizing the decade for all its pop culture and soon I wouldn’t be surprised if it takes over at some point regardless of what others who loved it think.

I mean same thing happened with the 80s, they were panned and seen as a very backwards time politically initially yet people can't get enough of it since then.

I don't think past politics matter too much in nostalgia as long as the daily life, the aesthetics and pop culture seem retrospectively charmingly attractive. A decade like the 30s has been widely forgotten because no one wants to live in a world severly impacted by the depression.
That's why I believe 2020 will similarly be put to shame in the future, because very little would like to reminisce or return to a pandemic life.

Edit: wait why is this thread in the 2010s section ???

Edit: wait why is this thread in the 2010s section ???
Is this a part the shift that happens?

Well, first of all, this should be in the 2000s section since you talked about how the 2000s were romanticized, like what Shruggie said.

Anyways, it depends on how pop culture is like in the decade.

The 2000s had 9/11, the Iraq War, and the 2008-09 financial crisis, but pop culture wasn't as severely impacted as the 1930s where there was the Great Depression that affected almost everyone or 2020 when everywhere was practically closed and celebrities had to stay inside (thanks again, Shruggie).

But it's all a matter of opinion and nostalgia of positive things.

I am someone who spent their childhood in the 2000s and loves it. I acknowledge it's been a terrible time politically (9/11 and the PATRIOT act introducing widespread surveillance and xenophobia, violence, economic recession), and as someone who's more woke, the 2000s can be a little problematic for me, but I overall find the 2000s far easier to relate to and appreciate. I don't understand and even like much of the 2010s aesthetic, and most of what I love about 2010s culture comes down to it being more inclusive and open. To be fair too, I didn't really see 9/11 when it happened and I only understood the world as what was deemed normal or aspirational for a child from the 2000s.
I think people do that but right now, I think people are making so many inaccurate assumptions about the 2000s (likely because 80s and 90s nostalgia still seems to be at an all-time high and official 2000s nostalgia may not hit until the 2030s at the absolute latest  :\'( ).
Maybe political awareness wasn't such a thing or so important (and maybe still isn't) for a lot of people until fairly recently - we may be more willing and/or able to question our past owing to recent societal changes, which I think may be why nostalgia for the past the late 2010s has been far less consistent in my opinion compared to decades before that.

I mean same thing happened with the 80s, they were panned and seen as a very backwards time politically initially yet people can't get enough of it since then.

I don't think past politics matter too much in nostalgia as long as the daily life, the aesthetics and pop culture seem retrospectively charmingly attractive. A decade like the 30s has been widely forgotten because no one wants to live in a world severly impacted by the depression.
That's why I believe 2020 will similarly be put to shame in the future, because very little would like to reminisce or return to a pandemic life.

Edit: wait why is this thread in the 2010s section ???


Because I was talking about this in relation to the 2010s if people think they’ll be romanticized later in life, I just used the 2000s as an example since it’s another recent decade that was panned before but now adored/romanticized

I mean same thing happened with the 80s, they were panned and seen as a very backwards time politically initially yet people can't get enough of it since then.

I don't think past politics matter too much in nostalgia as long as the daily life, the aesthetics and pop culture seem retrospectively charmingly attractive. A decade like the 30s has been widely forgotten because no one wants to live in a world severly impacted by the depression.
That's why I believe 2020 will similarly be put to shame in the future, because very little would like to reminisce or return to a pandemic life.

Edit: wait why is this thread in the 2010s section ???


I thought the 30s were forgotten cause most people from that era are dead

I mean same thing happened with the 80s, they were panned and seen as a very backwards time politically initially yet people can't get enough of it since then.

I don't think past politics matter too much in nostalgia as long as the daily life, the aesthetics and pop culture seem retrospectively charmingly attractive. A decade like the 30s has been widely forgotten because no one wants to live in a world severly impacted by the depression.
That's why I believe 2020 will similarly be put to shame in the future, because very little would like to reminisce or return to a pandemic life.

Edit: wait why is this thread in the 2010s section ???


2020 is just one year though not the entire decade

NO

On social media, 2010-summer 2016 is already being heavily romanticized, lol. When the early-mid 10s were going on I remember most people not appreciating them at the time and wanting the 90s to come back.

The 70s had stagflation, Watergate, oil shock, skyrocketing crime rates, etc. but even they're romanticized. Boomers and early Xers remember the 70s as a goofy, fun, lovable time, since the 24 hour news cycle and social media didn't exist yet and didn't pound people over the head with the bad parts of the 70s.

I thought the 30s were forgotten cause most people from that era are dead
I mean people of the 20s are deader than those of the 30s, yet people were still throwing 1920s-themed parties and all (at least before the pandemic hit).
They are far from forgotten.

2020 is just one year though not the entire decade


You're right, and we have 6 months left. Hopefully those months can save 2020 from being a total wreck.

On social media, 2010-summer 2016 is already being heavily romanticized, lol. When the early-mid 10s were going on I remember most people not appreciating them at the time and wanting the 90s to come back.

The 70s had stagflation, Watergate, oil shock, skyrocketing crime rates, etc. but even they're romanticized. Boomers and early Xers remember the 70s as a goofy, fun, lovable time, since the 24 hour news cycle and social media didn't exist yet and didn't pound people over the head with the bad parts of the 70s.


You can be like me and be nostalgic for the '90s while also loving the 2010s (as it was ongoing) :P

The 70s had stagflation, Watergate, oil shock, skyrocketing crime rates, etc. but even they're romanticized. Boomers and early Xers remember the 70s as a goofy, fun, lovable time, since the 24 hour news cycle and social media didn't exist yet and didn't pound people over the head with the bad parts of the 70s.


This is manifestly incorrect. A someone who was there, in no way do I remember the 70s as "a goofy fun loveable time". God forbid. It was a dead serious, introspective, earnest time.  That's what I love about it so much. The seriousness, the spirituality, the search for a higher consciousness. Especially the early 70s. Of course there was a lot of bad. the Vietnam War dragged on until 1975 leaving everybody dazed and shell shocked. It isn't called "the era of malaise" for nothing. I think you are making the classic mistake of buying into the "day glow", "Brady Bunch", "disco" 70s.  That's what is now glommed on to by the misleading media as being definitive of the 70s. It just isn't true. It is, in fact, it is the very people who WEREN'T THERE who think this is what the 70s were like. Just like this whole gang of misguided people who weren't born in the 80s, yet they worship it for it's frivolous pop culture, as if that's a thing to worship. Unlike many of us who were there and saw the 80s for the shallow, empty, materialistic time it was.

This is manifestly incorrect. A someone who was there, in no way do I remember the 70s as "a goofy fun loveable time". God forbid. It was a dead serious, introspective, earnest time.  That's what I love about it so much. The seriousness, the spirituality, the search for a higher consciousness. Especially the early 70s. Of course there was a lot of bad. the Vietnam War dragged on until 1975 leaving everybody dazed and shell shocked. It isn't called "the era of malaise" for nothing. I think you are making the classic mistake of buying into the "day glow", "Brady Bunch", "disco" 70s.  That's what is now glommed on to by the misleading media as being definitive of the 70s. It just isn't true. It is, in fact, it is the very people who WEREN'T THERE who think this is what the 70s were like. Just like this whole gang of misguided people who weren't born in the 80s, yet they worship it for it's frivolous pop culture, as if that's a thing to worship. Unlike many of us who were there and saw the 80s for the shallow, empty, materialistic time it was.


There was a survey here in the UK touching on this subject and people over 50 generally had a very positive view of the 1970s.

There was a survey here in the UK touching on this subject and people over 50 generally had a very positive view of the 1970s.


And rightfully so!

And rightfully so!

The 1970s were a very turbulent decade here, and I suppose in many other places as well. Certainly the most chaotic post-war decade imo.

The 1970s were a very turbulent decade here, and I suppose in many other places as well. Certainly the most chaotic post-war decade imo.


Indeed, it was chaotic from beginning to end. From the Kent State Massacre in May, 1970 straight through to the Iranian Hostage Crisis (which cost Jimmy Carter the election) in November, 1979. Inbetween that we had the ever escalating Vietnam War, Watergate, the resignation of Richard Nixon, oil shortage, gas shortage, paper shortage.  But in addition it was an absolutely magnificent time for music (if you ignore disco which reared it's ugly head in the second half of the decade), movies and the arts. It is widely hailed as the golden age of "New Hollywood" as far as movies go, and as for music, a brilliant album was released by someone seemingly every day. Albums that are played to this day. Television was in a groundbreaking phase with cutting edge social commentary shows like "All In The Family" and the original era of "Saturday Night Live". People were concerned about feminism, civil rights, LGBT rights, the dangers of nuclear power, etc, yet people were not yet the easily offended politically correct "snowflakes" they are today. It was not the "victim culture" it is today. People still had fortitude. People were still funky. They had soul. People still thought for themselves, unlike the groupthink and cancel culture caused by today's social media.  People went to college to have their minds and opinions  CHALLENGED and OPENED which resulted in growth, rather than today's colleges where hurting somebody's feelings is a "microagression" and a punishable offense and "safe spaces" abound.  I might add that fundamentalists and the religious right had no power whatsoever. People used to pooh-pooh them. They were insignificant. Certainly not the political force they are today. That all changed  when Ronald Reagan came to power in the 80s.  EVERYTHING changed when Ronald Reagan came to power in the 80s.

This is manifestly incorrect. A someone who was there, in no way do I remember the 70s as "a goofy fun loveable time". God forbid. It was a dead serious, introspective, earnest time.  That's what I love about it so much. The seriousness, the spirituality, the search for a higher consciousness. Especially the early 70s. Of course there was a lot of bad. the Vietnam War dragged on until 1975 leaving everybody dazed and shell shocked. It isn't called "the era of malaise" for nothing. I think you are making the classic mistake of buying into the "day glow", "Brady Bunch", "disco" 70s.  That's what is now glommed on to by the misleading media as being definitive of the 70s. It just isn't true. It is, in fact, it is the very people who WEREN'T THERE who think this is what the 70s were like. Just like this whole gang of misguided people who weren't born in the 80s, yet they worship it for it's frivolous pop culture, as if that's a thing to worship. Unlike many of us who were there and saw the 80s for the shallow, empty, materialistic time it was.


That’s the point of my thread, can you romanticize a miserable and turbulent decade

That’s the point of my thread, can you romanticize a miserable and turbulent decade

I think the answer is obviously yes. My grandma was a kid during WW2 and the UK still had rationing until 1954, but guess what? She looks back at that time of her life fondly, despite things being objectively pretty bad. Even chaotic  decades have their redeeming qualities, and the passage of time helps as people are more inclined to remember the good vs the bad.

I think the answer is obviously yes. My grandma was a kid during WW2 and the UK still had rationing until 1954, but guess what? She looks back at that time of her life fondly, despite things being objectively pretty bad. Even chaotic  decades have their redeeming qualities, and the passage of time helps as people are more inclined to remember the good vs the bad.


So you guys won't be angry at me in the future when I inevitably become nostalgic for 2020? ;D

Indeed, it was chaotic from beginning to end. From the Kent State Massacre in May, 1970 straight through to the Iranian Hostage Crisis (which cost Jimmy Carter the election) in November, 1979. Inbetween that we had the ever escalating Vietnam War, Watergate, the resignation of Richard Nixon, oil shortage, gas shortage, paper shortage.  But in addition it was an absolutely magnificent time for music (if you ignore disco which reared it's ugly head in the second half of the decade), movies and the arts. It is widely hailed as the golden age of "New Hollywood" as far as movies go, and as for music, a brilliant album was released by someone seemingly every day. Albums that are played to this day. Television was in a groundbreaking phase with cutting edge social commentary shows like "All In The Family" and the original era of "Saturday Night Live". People were concerned about feminism, civil rights, LGBT rights, the dangers of nuclear power, etc, yet people were not yet the easily offended politically correct "snowflakes" they are today. It was not the "victim culture" it is today. People still had fortitude. People were still funky. They had soul. People still thought for themselves, unlike the groupthink and cancel culture caused by today's social media.  People went to college to have their minds and opinions  CHALLENGED and OPENED which resulted in growth, rather than today's colleges where hurting somebody's feelings is a "microagression" and a punishable offense and "safe spaces" abound.  I might add that fundamentalists and the religious right had no power whatsoever. People used to pooh-pooh them. They were insignificant. Certainly not the political force they are today. That all changed  when Ronald Reagan came to power in the 80s.  EVERYTHING changed when Ronald Reagan came to power in the 80s.



THANK YOU. The 1970s were very unstable, but at least you can get a differing political opinion across without being censored unlike today with "hate speech" and "safe spaces".

Adult life can be rough for everyone, but there is no need to have these preschool-esque safe spaces or getting triggered (feels like I'm back in 2016 again  ;D) by an opinion you don't like.

So you guys won't be angry at me in the future when I inevitably become nostalgic for 2020? ;D

I could see myself being nostalgic for 2020 in about 10 years tbh. Cleaner air, clearer skies, safer roads.. it’s not all terrible. Crises can bring about positive changes. After all, without WW2, the UK probably wouldn’t have introduced the world’s first universal healthcare system.

So you guys won't be angry at me in the future when I inevitably become nostalgic for 2020? ;D


People are already nostalgic for 2016 despite the major tumultuous events that happened that year, so, no, I wouldn't be angry because it's your opinion.