I don't think any recent decade has been disliked more than the '80s, although tons of people love the '80s too.

The '70s were very, very widely disliked until 1993 or so. And the '50s were widely disliked in the '60s and earlier '70s. I don't think as many people really hated the '80s as said they did.

The 70's are up there.

  No...

Ive always thought the 70's were a much worse decade than the eighties ever could be both culturally and politically.

The '70s were very, very widely disliked until 1993 or so. And the '50s were widely disliked in the '60s and earlier '70s. I don't think as many people really hated the '80s as said they did.


Yes, the 80s are the decade people love to hate. But often this hate conceals a certain sentimental fondness for the decade. A bit like Michael Jackson, or early Madonna, or the Cosby Show.

The 80s were long regarded as 'the decade that taste forgot' and so therefore people wouldn't like to be associated with it. However, it seems to have reached the point where things from the 80s have become fashionable again to some extent or other.

I have always been proud of loving the 80s.  8)

   Seriously, though...

   There's a good chance the 30's would be despised by many who've lived through them...and I'd understand...

   Also, have read many times the 1340's - 50's's CE weren't all beer and skittles, either...

   
   
     

The 80s aren't the most disliked, they're simply the decade that people poke fun of most. Why? Cos they dared to be different. They were wild, unlike the tame 90s.

Yeah, I think the '30s probably sucked a lot more than the '80s ever did. I imagine this current decade is going to be pretty despised after it is over, the way the country is right now.

I don't think I know anyone who disliked the 80's.  My answer would have to be no.

How can the 80s be the most disliked decade?

I think it was the most celebrated decade. It was all about excess and access to anything you can get your hands on. Music, fashion, films, TV, politics, drugs, and scandals.

Next to the 60s it remains the most talked about decade.

The '70s were really the most-hated decade I think I've known of.  Until sometime in the '90s, although it still got plenty of bad rap.

It's only very recently I hear people "hatin' on" the '80s at least as far as fashion is concerned.  Not much else, though, that I can see.

My most-hated decade overall is the '60s; and that I lived through, the '90s (which copied more '60s than '70s, in reality).  So far.

   Seriously, though...

   There's a good chance the 30's would be despised by many who've lived through them...and I'd understand...
     


Well sure, if you consider the collapse of economies, massive loss of jobs, and the rise of fascist regimes that would lead to global warfare at decade's end to be so bad... ;)

TWO WORDS:
Ronald Reagan

TWO WORDS:
Ronald Reagan




Which is 1 more reason alot of us LOVE it.  (Sorry to bust your liberal-leaning board.)    ;)

TWO WORDS:
Ronald Reagan


Margaret Thatcher was a similarly polarizing figure in the UK... Probably even more so than Reagan, I think.

The 80s aren't the most disliked, they're simply the decade that people poke fun of most. Why? Cos they dared to be different. They were wild, unlike the tame 90s.


Couldn't agree more.  And those very same people who spent most of the time in the early 90's slagging the 80's off, are probably those very same people who now yearn for something different and original.  There was a real 80's backlash, but not so now because the sense of creativity back then has inspired modern day artists and fashion.

I think there was always a tendency to dislike the decade that just finished, because progressively you always tend to look forward to new decade. 

I don't think any recent decade has been disliked more than the '80s, although tons of people love the '80s too.


The worst of the 80s can't touch the worst of the 70s.  The 70s hate that was going on made 80s dislike look like a spring shower.  The 70s are still thought of as something of a stupid and funny decade, though not nearly like it used to be.  It became much more retro cool in the 90s, and the harder parts of the decade were seen as cool.

The worst of the 80s can't touch the worst of the 70s.  The 70s hate that was going on made 80s dislike look like a spring shower.  The 70s are still thought of as something of a stupid and funny decade, though not nearly like it used to be.  It became much more retro cool in the 90s, and the harder parts of the decade were seen as cool.


My mom (born 1955) still claims that the '70s "sucked," even though that was her time as a teenager and young adult. I'm sure there are many things about the '70s that she actually likes, and she glosses over them whenever she passes judgment on the whole decade. Nonetheless, it's still pretty clear that she much preferred the '80s, which I don't think I've ever heard her criticize at all... I think she found the '70s on the whole rather drab.

TWO WORDS:
Ronald Reagan


Two more words...

Margaret Thatcher

Two more words...

Margaret Thatcher


You've got to be joking, right?

Tony B-liar makes Thatcher looks like an angel.  Actually, I'd have a hard time deciding which decade, politically speaking, sucked the most.  The 70's were REALLY awful, unions had the goverment by the nadgers, the 80's were ruled with an iron fist with no compassion whatsoever, and the 90's were just utterly drab, drab drab!!

Anyway, there is only one thing I hate more than politics, and that is discussion of politics!

Maybe I was too young but I agree on the whole politics thing. Thatcher and Reagan might have been the power houses, but culturally I don't associate either with my 80s.

For poor families in general, the 80s were indeed a miserable time.

Let's list all the domestic problems of the 80s:

Unemployment
Class inequality and growing disparity between Rich and Poor(the middle and upper classes rapidly growing)
Yuppies consuming working-class resources
Rising housing prices
The crack cocaine epidemic.
Increasing racial tensions
AIDS

This is the first I've heard of this. I remember during the early '90s a lot of people were saying the '70s were the decade that taste forgot, which is true to some extent in terms of clothing (just look at what Richard Nixon's wife and daughters were wearing) and cars.

The '80s were definitely a time of high consumerism, and a lot of the hippies of the late '60s and early '70s became yuppies in the late '70s or later. For me, that was disappointing. I wonder what made them change their attitudes.

I can't find anything to hate about the 80's. I think it's the fashion that people don't like about it. I don't know why cuz I like the clothes. The 90's were a boring, dark time, I couldn't wait for the 90's to be over.

I can't find anything to hate about the 80's. I think it's the fashion that people don't like about it. I don't know why cuz I like the clothes. The 90's were a boring, dark time, I couldn't wait for the 90's to be over.

Amen, Sister! I think we all should face up to the fact that the 80's were a fun, prosperous, creative time, when you could find something interesting and exciting wherever you went. I truly believe the 90's were a dark age, where creativity was thrown in the trash can and all the garbage they found in there was smeared onto the TV, radio waves, and(with the most exceptions) movie screens.

TV & movie jokes in the 80's were clever(& funny), while in the 90's the goal seemed to be how many cursewords and genital references they could cram in. Case in point:

popular 80's sitcom - Family Ties, whose main theme was smart young people following their dreams, assisted by wise, supportive(albiet bumbling) parents.

popular 90's sitcom - Seinfeld, whose premise was four losers sitting in a restaurant/apartment either complaining about problems they're not even trying to solve, or discussing pointless little facets of their self-involved lives, which people almost never fret over in real life. In other words, this show was based on an absolute dearth of intelligence.

Shall we discuss this more?

Your Pal,
Doc
8)

My feeling about why the 1980s are disliked is that it wasn't the decade itself that was the problem. Rather, the Baby Boomers who were running the media (and who the media were aiming their stories towards) resented the next generation.  They couldn't handle that their youth was fading, so they took it out on the 1980s kids, calling their culture shallow. As if "I Wanna Hold You Hand" was deep.

How do we know this? Because once the Boomers' kids become teens, then their culture was given center stage, and taken very seriously by the media. And if anything, pop singers like Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears are a zillion times more shallow that the 1980s musicians, who at least tried to have some sembalance of social consciousness (i.e. Prince, Madonna, etc).

If my ranting hasn't turned everyone off, I do more of it on my blog on obscure 1980s music: www.lost80smusic.net

Here is the thing.  I find that, no matter what group I'm with...a party, with friends, with co workers, everyone has a nostalgic ans sentimental love for something from the 80s.  Then there is always that one person that thinks it was classless, cheesy, that music was crap, that tv sucked....and this person is always cheesy and classless themselves.
I believe it's one out of 5 hate the 80s for some personal reason.

^ I agree. I think a lot of people will put it down, but one can't deny that the music and culture at the time was a very creative time for both. Today, it's extremely hard to find such diversity in music and styles and innovations. See, I may view these days as rather callous times, but I am sure I'll be looking back fondly of this time 20 years later. I think it's just in our nature to want to recall bygone times - whether they're good or bad. Some of us see them with rose colored glasses, and some of us see it with smoke colored glasses  ;D

For poor families in general, the 80s were indeed a miserable time.

Let's list all the domestic problems of the 80s:

Unemployment
Class inequality and growing disparity between Rich and Poor(the middle and upper classes rapidly growing)
Yuppies consuming working-class resources
Rising housing prices
The crack cocaine epidemic.
Increasing racial tensions
AIDS




Are people unwilling to admit these issues existed, so they ignore them?

P.S. I forgot to include sky-rocketting crime rates

^ To be honest, these are truths that we are still faced with today. AIDS was probably the most shattering of them. "Just Say No" to drugs was a campaign I grew up on as a kid in the '80s. Racial tensions have always existed, and may never go away. Yet, weren't racial tensions worse in the '60s and '70s, though?

Amen, Sister! I think we all should face up to the fact that the 80's were a fun, prosperous, creative time, when you could find something interesting and exciting wherever you went. I truly believe the 90's were a dark age, where creativity was thrown in the trash can and all the garbage they found in there was smeared onto the TV, radio waves, and(with the most exceptions) movie screens.

TV & movie jokes in the 80's were clever(& funny), while in the 90's the goal seemed to be how many cursewords and genital references they could cram in. Case in point: popular 80's sitcom - Family Ties, whose main theme was smart young people following their dreams, assisted by wise, supportive(albiet bumbling) parents. popular 90's sitcom - Seinfeld, whose premise was four losers sitting in a restaurant/apartment either complaining about problems they're not even trying to solve, or discussing pointless little facets of their self-involved lives, which people almost never fret over in real life. In other words, this show was based on an absolute dearth of intelligence.

Shall we discuss this more?

Your Pal,
Doc
8)


That is true. It seems like most shows in the 90's were like that. Shows had no morals to them. It was just people doing random things, throw in sime tasteless jokes and the show is done.I'm not from the 80's but the only shows I watch are from the 80s. Epsiodes actually had a point to them and taught you something. I don't know how times turned from being happy and creative to dark and depressing.

I can't find anything to hate about the 80's. I think it's the fashion that people don't like about it. I don't know why cuz I like the clothes. The 90's were a boring, dark time, I couldn't wait for the 90's to be over.


I think those that disliked them never had the chance to really experience them, primarily those born in the 1980s and beyond. So to cover up their envy, they choose to hate them.  ;)

What TV shows & movies can be salvaged from the 90's
(Man, is this gonna be a SHORT list! ::) ):

TV:
Home Improvement
Law & Order
Full House(OTOH, that started in the 80's)
Quantum Leap
Northern Exposure
Rescue 911

Movies:
City Slickers
Apollo 13
Mr. Holland's Opus
The American President
Dave
The Fugitive
Mission: Impossible
The Thomas Crown Affair
Sleepy Hollow
Cool Runnings
The Wedding Singer
Most Disney animated films
All films based on novels by Tom Clancy, Michael Crichton, or John Grisham
All Pierce Brosnan's James Bond films
All Pixar Animation films

Did I miss any?

Your Pal,
Doc
8)

Did I miss any?



I wouldn't have even included all those...  ;D, well except for Thomas Crown Affair which was a great film!

I think those that disliked them never had the chance to really experience them, primarily those born in the 1980s and beyond. So to cover up their envy, they choose to hate them.  ;)


Ew. Get over yourself.

I think those that disliked them never had the chance to really experience them, primarily those born in the 1980s and beyond. So to cover up their envy, they choose to hate them.  ;)


I agree to some degree, but mainly for the kids born after 1985 (I don't want to go into a Donnie Darko style of analyzation, so I'll keep this short, lol). I was born in 1982 and some of my very first memories are from 1985. I know I didn't experience it as an adult or young teen, but again, I do have fantastic memories of that time and I do have an appreciation for it that maybe kids born after wouldn't quite understand the same way.

I don't think the "80's" are the most disliked decade.  Every decade has it's high and low points.  In fact I think the question is a little unfair. :-\\

I think those that disliked them never had the chance to really experience them, primarily those born in the 1980s and beyond. So to cover up their envy, they choose to hate them.  ;)


I don't envy the 90s.  :o

That deserves karma!!!  No offense, but I barely remember the "90". :) :)

I don't "dislike" the 80s anymore than the 70s, or the 90s or whatever. Having never really "lived" in the 80s so to speak (my first "real" memories were from around 1988-1989) I have a better connection with the 90s than I do with the 80s, so by personal "experience", I have to say I prefer the 90s more than the 80s. For example, when I hear Nirvana, for instance, I feel more "nostalgic", so to speak, than if I heard Duran Duran or The Smiths.

But yeah, "I" don't particularly hate the 80s, just never really been interested enough to look back on them. They were just another period in time as far as I'm concerned.

The 60's by far.
Woodstock,Bellbottoms,Acid ...HIPPYS!!

So, is that 'by far' the most liked or disliked?
The 70's were Studio 54, Leisure suits, Quaaludes... DISCO!!!  http://www.inthe00s.com/smile/06/lsvader.gif

Of course, my preference is the 80's:
Live Aid, Pastels, Crack... NEW ROMANTICS!!!!  http://www.inthe00s.com/smile/13/iroc.gif

Hated the 90's, though.
Starbucks, piercings, heroin... GRUNGE  http://www.inthe00s.com/smile/03/confangry.gif

Anyone wanna do the 00's?  http://www.inthe00s.com/smile/07/pirate2.gif

Your Pal,
Doc
8)