Between all the dark gritty movies (many of which showed a seedy underbelly to US politics, often involving drug trafficking or murder), the immense racial tension (with Rodney King, and Al Sharpton being stabbed in 1991) as well as the gritty crime shows like early Law and Order which made you think the U.S. was riddled with crime, it seem like there was a darkness to the early 1990s. Combine that with the cocaine fueled banality of hair metal, the violence in gangsta rap, and the heroin soaked darkness of grunge, it seems like the early 1990s were an almost unpleasant time. Why was this so?

Actually I'd say the mid 90's (especially 1996) were the darkest period of the 90s. This was when rap became aggressive with the east coast - west coast hip hop rivalry, disaster movies were more popular than ever with films like Twister, Independence day, Die Hard With a Vengeance, etc. and domestic terrorism peaked with events like the Oklahoma city bombing, OJ Simpson bronco chase, and the Waco siege.

Maybe because there weren't any lights.

The recession. The early '90s recession was even worse than the Great Recession in many parts of the world.

Is the 90s cheesy/campy or is it dark? I'm confused now as people saying it's one or the other constantly.

Is the 90s cheesy/campy or is it dark? I'm confused now as people saying it's one or the other constantly.


"The cynical '90s" was a 1990-1995/6 thing. 1990-1992 had cheesy pop music (carrying on from the' 80s) but the darker stuff like grunge and gangster rap was bubbling under the surface and eventually got popular too.

Well, crime rates hit their absolute peak in the early 90s and the 80s pop culture was phasing out very quickly. We also had a recession, Gangsta Rap and Grunge was also really exploding. We were also seeing the after affects of the Crack Epidemic and it was also the peak of the Aids epidemic too.

For me personally, it was mid-1992 to 1996. I liked the early-90's and the late-90's.

Always thought this as well. The grunge music in particular was some of the hardest darkest stuff at the time.

A period of time can be many things at once. If you can't get that, that's your problem, not the era.

Sonic was like the only lighthearted thing of the early 90s i guess
the cartoons we had were dark like Ren & Stimpy even Rocko which was lighthearted was kinda dark; sonic satam and BATMAN THE ANIMATED SERIES
also GARGOYLES
YUUUUUH

What do you mean by dark?

What do you mean by dark?


He explained why.

What do you mean by dark?
...because those years had the most power cuts?  ;D

...because those years had the most power cuts?  ;D

;D ;D

A period of time can be many things at once. If you can't get that, that's your problem, not the era.


True, but I'm of the opinion that the media of a period reflects what that time was like to a certain extent and I feel like a lot of the early 90s content is dark and the whole era has a weird darkness to me. I was born in 1990. My memories don't start until May 1993, and my memories don't become vivid until 1994 so I have no memories of the period. But even looking at family photos and videos from 1990, 1991, everything looks a little cheaper, a little bigger, a little boxier, and just somehow different from 1994 onward.

True, but I'm of the opinion that the media of a period reflects what that time was like to a certain extent and I feel like a lot of the early 90s content is dark and the whole era has a weird darkness to me. I was born in 1990. My memories don't start until May 1993, and my memories don't become vivid until 1994 so I have no memories of the period. But even looking at family photos and videos from 1990, 1991, everything looks a little cheaper, a little bigger, a little boxier, and just somehow different from 1994 onward.


I just reread my response. Damn, I came off hostile as hell.

When I was very young, I didn't really like the early 90s because it felt like the future was right around the corner and the early 90s had this "culture past its prime" feel to it. What I didn't know at the time was that the era that had past was the 80s.

I just reread my response. Damn, I came off hostile as hell.

When I was very young, I didn't really like the early 90s because it felt like the future was right around the corner and the early 90s had this "culture past its prime" feel to it. What I didn't know at the time was that the era that had past was the 80s.


I have a family tape which is from June 1990. I wasn't born yet. It is the only tape of my parents together before I was born actually (they got together around Thanksgiving 89). If you didn't know that it was June of 90, you could a easily think it was June of 88 or 89 or even 87. Both my sisters have HUGE hair. My metal loving sister is wearing a ripped up denim jacket (like, the sleeves are cut up) which has pins all over the back. My other sister has huge hair and is wearing those warm late 80s tones. My sisters rooms' have 80s posters. Flash forward just four years video wise and everyone looks utterly different. Maybe teens and young adults living at the time didn't recognize it but I think that between 1990 and 1994, Pop culture had done a massive leap. Like, if you went back to 1994 dressed the way my sisters were in 1990 you would be seriously outdated. Whereas you could go back to 2010 dressed the way you are now and you'd fit right in.

I have a family tape which is from June 1990. I wasn't born yet. It is the only tape of my parents together before I was born actually (they got together around Thanksgiving 89). If you didn't know that it was June of 90, you could a easily think it was June of 88 or 89 or even 87. Both my sisters have HUGE hair. My metal loving sister is wearing a ripped up denim jacket (like, the sleeves are cut up) which has pins all over the back. My other sister has huge hair and is wearing those warm late 80s tones. My sisters rooms' have 80s posters. Flash forward just four years video wise and everyone looks utterly different. Maybe teens and young adults living at the time didn't recognize it but I think that between 1990 and 1994, Pop culture had done a massive leap. Like, if you went back to 1994 dressed the way my sisters were in 1990 you would be seriously outdated. Whereas you could go back to 2010 dressed the way you are now and you'd fit right in.


Definitely. When you juxtapose photos from those time periods, it totally looks like the 90s were about shaving off the excess of the 80s.

What I noticed back then was that places that were a lot more isolated like small towns far from cities kept up the late 80s, early 90s look throughout the entire 90s.

Definitely. When you juxtapose photos from those time periods, it totally looks like the 90s were about shaving off the excess of the 80s.

What I noticed back then was that places that were a lot more isolated like small towns far from cities kept up the late 80s, early 90s look throughout the entire 90s.


Here are some screenshots from the June 90 video
http://i64.tinypic.com/2luyy5k.png
http://i66.tinypic.com/2uhxu75.png
http://i66.tinypic.com/289zbza.png
http://i66.tinypic.com/2bnpco.png
http://i64.tinypic.com/244bcav.png
http://i64.tinypic.com/2hdwl20.png

Between my mom's clothes, sis's clothes, my mom's Molly Ringwald doo, my one sister's Sarah Connor haircut and the other's female James Hetfield (and both sis's were highly fashionable) you'd think the vid was from 87, 88, 89 or even 86....Not the 90s.

Definitely. When you juxtapose photos from those time periods, it totally looks like the 90s were about shaving off the excess of the 80s.

What I noticed back then was that places that were a lot more isolated like small towns far from cities kept up the late 80s, early 90s look throughout the entire 90s.


Try the entire 00's. Still rocking like it's 1991 in some places  ;D ;D

Try the entire 00's. Still rocking like it's 1991 in some places  ;D ;D


You're right. The 2010s are special in the fact that through Wal-mart, globalization, the internet, etc, it's really narrowed the field.

Well, I remember being in the middle of hurricane Bob in 1991. And because of it the electricity went out!

"The cynical '90s" was a 1990-1995/6 thing. 1990-1992 had cheesy pop music (carrying on from the' 80s) but the darker stuff like grunge and gangster rap was bubbling under the surface and eventually got popular too.

Ur very US centric. Europe has plenty of cheesy pop and dance in 1993-1995.