It seems like the '90s were primarily focused around people born within five years or so of 1969 or people born around 1988 or 1987 like myself...in other words, '80s teen Gen Xers and early-peak Gen Yers like myself. Things were more targeted to people born in 1969 and 1989 than 1979, basically...so people born about 1976-1980, the peak '90s teens, were stuck in the middle, with some of their own culture (Clueless, grunge and ska music, Beverly Hills 90210, etc.), but most of it centering around people older or younger than them. I've actually met alot of people around this age who identify more with the '80s than the '90s. Like my hairdresser was born in 1979 and liked music like Erasure and the Pet Shop Boys all through her teen years (and was ostracized for it.) Why do you think it was that the '90s were so little focused on teens, though of course there was teen culture? Maybe that was part of the reason that there seemed to be so many teen runaways and such back then.

ROFLMAO! 

It's nice to know somethings haven't changed around here.   ;)

The great thing is, you might actually have a plausible theory there, what with Friends and Power Rangers dominating so much of the 90s.  That's what's hysterical about this place, every theory has a sound background to it that actually kinda makes sense.

ROFLMAO! 

It's nice to know somethings haven't changed around here.   ;)


Um, what'd that mean?

It seems like the '90s were primarily focused around people born within five years or so of 1969 or people born around 1988 or 1987 like myself...in other words, '80s teen Gen Xers and early-peak Gen Yers like myself. Things were more targeted to people born in 1969 and 1989 than 1979, basically...so people born about 1976-1980, the peak '90s teens, were stuck in the middle, with some of their own culture (Clueless, grunge and ska music, Beverly Hills 90210, etc.), but most of it centering around people older or younger than them. I've actually met alot of people around this age who identify more with the '80s than the '90s. Like my hairdresser was born in 1979 and liked music like Erasure and the Pet Shop Boys all through her teen years (and was ostracized for it.) Why do you think it was that the '90s were so little focused on teens, though of course there was teen culture? Maybe that was part of the reason that there seemed to be so many teen runaways and such back then.


I don't really know many people born in the late Gen X, very early Gen Y (1975-1982) period, but they would have been the classic teens of the late 80s and early 90s. Pop culture in the late 80s and early 90s was very adult-orientated - I personally think the line dividing adolescence and young adults were more blurred in the 80s than today, and hence many teens felt increasing pressure to 'grow up', and hence were not into kids stuff. A Nirvana groupie would was about 18 in 1992 would've been born in 1974 - someone born in 1979 would be about 12 in 1991, so yeah I sort of get what you mean. The classic young mobile adults of the late 90s were mainly in their late 20s and 30s, the main '80s haters' who seemed to have no time for nostalgia. Gen Xers don't actually seem to have nostalgia for the 80s, or the 90s for that matter.

ROFLMAO! 

It's nice to know somethings haven't changed around here.  ;)


;D

Some applause for you, for making me laugh

I don't really know many people born in the late Gen X, very early Gen Y (1975-1982) period, but they would have been the classic teens of the late 80s and early 90s. Pop culture in the late 80s and early 90s was very adult-orientated - I personally think the line dividing adolescence and young adults were more blurred in the 80s than today, and hence many teens felt increasing pressure to 'grow up', and hence were not into kids stuff. A Nirvana groupie would was about 18 in 1992 would've been born in 1974 - someone born in 1979 would be about 12 in 1991, so yeah I sort of get what you mean. The classic young mobile adults of the late 90s were mainly in their late 20s and 30s, the main '80s haters' who seemed to have no time for nostalgia. Gen Xers don't actually seem to have nostalgia for the 80s, or the 90s for that matter.


Gen Xers have PLENTY of nostalgia for the '80s and '90s...just look at this board.

It seems like the '90s were primarily focused around people born within five years or so of 1969 or people born around 1988 or 1987 like myself...in other words, '80s teen Gen Xers and early-peak Gen Yers like myself. Things were more targeted to people born in 1969 and 1989 than 1979, basically...so people born about 1976-1980, the peak '90s teens, were stuck in the middle, with some of their own culture (Clueless, grunge and ska music, Beverly Hills 90210, etc.), but most of it centering around people older or younger than them. I've actually met alot of people around this age who identify more with the '80s than the '90s. Like my hairdresser was born in 1979 and liked music like Erasure and the Pet Shop Boys all through her teen years (and was ostracized for it.) Why do you think it was that the '90s were so little focused on teens, though of course there was teen culture? Maybe that was part of the reason that there seemed to be so many teen runaways and such back then.

Yeah, I remember distinctly thinking I was a few years too old for, say some of the Disney/kid adventure movies circa 1994 (I liked them in secret, lol), and on the same end, I kinda resented being way too young to hang out with the 17, 20 or 25 year olds and being able to do what they did. I think I get what you mean about being "caught in the middle".

The '90s seemed to have a "college" air to it in many respects, just alot of what was cool and the basic atmosphere. There was teen culture of course, but it seemed to tilt like a seesaw either towards the "kid" or the "adult" side. I mean, the 16 year olds of 1992 tended to either seem 12 or 22 in personality if you know what I mean. The grunge teens/runaway kids seemed very "grown up" to me when I was around 11-13.

Yeah, I remember distinctly thinking I was a few years too old for, say some of the Disney/kid adventure movies circa 1994 (I liked them in secret, lol), and on the same end, I kinda resented being way too young to hang out with the 17, 20 or 25 year olds and being able to do what they did. I think I get what you mean about being "caught in the middle".

The '90s seemed to have a "college" air to it in many respects, just alot of what was cool and the basic atmosphere. There was teen culture of course, but it seemed to tilt like a seesaw either towards the "kid" or the "adult" side. I mean, the 16 year olds of 1992 tended to either seem 12 or 22 in personality if you know what I mean. The grunge teens/runaway kids seemed very "grown up" to me when I was around 11-13.


That was definitely the ideal '90s atmosphere...grungey college towns and college neighborhoods, particularly on the West Coast, filled with people who are like, 27 who still work at the local food co-op. Alot of TV Gen Xers, like Nate on Six Feet Under, are very much like that. The people who were really the core of the grunge movement and Lollapalooza-esque indie rock movement personified by Beck and Pavement were born more around 1970 than 1980. There was a teen culture to the '90s (Beverly Hills 90210, Clueless), no doubt, but people born 1976-1982 were stuck in between. Perhaps this led to all the heroin addicts, teen prostitutes, and runaways born in the late '70s, since grunge didn't fit all that well into the teen syntax. And there were certain "'90s teen" things that didn't extend as much to the adult culture, like goths and skaters. You could argue people born 1976-1982 are the real lost teen generation, not the John Hughes generation. There's a '90s teen culture and attitudes for sure, but it's harder to get than a John Hughes '80s teen or a very "dazed and confused" sort of '70s teen. One thing that personifies it is the whole "whatever" attitude. I was watching the Simpsons episode "Summer of 4 Ft. 2" (the one with Christina Ricci, where Lisa tries to be cool while the family is at a beach-house on their summer vacation), and the way the teens acted reminds me alot of the way I perceived teens to act when I was a little kid back in the '90s...very much so "whatever", laid back to a fault, and either obsessed with the ecology or just apathetic and sort of nihilistic-in short, slackers. The commentary for the episode said that when it was made in 1996, it was a view more of people born around 1977 or 1978 (who were 18 or 19 then) than the Gen Xers who wrote the show, who were born in the '60s.

Um, what'd that mean?



I just think you're overanalyzing it too much.  (I'm not trying to be mean)


:)

I just think you're overanalyzing it too much.  (I'm not trying to be mean)


:)


:)

bump...

There was a teen culture to the '90s (Beverly Hills 90210, Clueless), no doubt, but people born 1976-1982 were stuck in between. Perhaps this led to all the heroin addicts, teen prostitutes, and runaways born in the late '70s, since grunge didn't fit all that well into the teen syntax.

Are you saying it was just the general mood of contemporary pop culture that caused all those problems? You really think pop culture can have that much of an impact on society?

Are you saying it was just the general mood of contemporary pop culture that caused all those problems? You really think pop culture can have that much of an impact on society?


Or maybe it was vice versa...the appeal of some of these things was due to the social problems inherent among alot of later Gen Xers.

Or maybe it was vice versa...the appeal of some of these things was due to the social problems inherent among alot of later Gen Xers.


I agree, pop culture just kinda reflected what was already around.

I will say this again, though. About the Lost Generation thing: I always felt grunge and the subculture of it was "in between" to me. I was a little too old for it to be super nostalgic childhood memories like 1985 or '87 was, but I was also too young to be "a part of it" too (i.e. I was 10 when the stereotypical '90s Grunge era teen was like 13-16 and those who comprised the culture itself were anywhere from, say 17-30).

Or maybe it was vice versa...the appeal of some of these things was due to the social problems inherent among alot of later Gen Xers.


The 'Lost Generation' Marty speaks about was named Gen X for that very reason - they were a generation lacking an identity, wedged between idealistic Boomers and Generation Y. I think the 'stoner/slacker' culture you talk about, which was very much a part of Grunge and other related subcultures, and was probably most pronounced on the West Coast of America, was in a large part due to economic problems, high unemployment in the early 90s (after the 'Golden era' of the 80s, in terms of low unemployment rates and whatnot). It was also a mutation of the late neo-Hippie ascetic many early former (or neo) Hippies - born in the late 30s and 40s, passed on to their Gen X kids. That of a rejection of capitalist materialism, and an embracing of a psuedo-philosophical atittude and ethos which glorified a bucolic lifestyle where slacking off was somehow rebelling against Economic Rationalist Regeanite politics, which in turn they hoped would shape up as 'contributing to a better world'. Cobain's dream was dark and fractured by irony - yet somehow, he pulled it off and it was embraced by the masses.