It seems to me when people talk about enjoying something from their teen years, it CAN make it look like they're kinda "stuck" there and out of touch with anything that came afterwards.

Why do you think that is? My best guess is the high school and college crowd tend to be deeper into aspects of an era than anyone else, so they'd really soak it in and might be reluctant to move beyond it. Like going to concerts and movies, sporting fashions and hairstyles, or having the biggest crushes on whoever is "hot". ;)

Maybe it comes off as more of a personal choice if you love stuff from before high school, because it means you weren't just following the crowd as a teenager. I've always been a huge '80s fan, but I didn't know some stuff until later, so it doesn't pigeonhole me as it would for a 40-year old. Childhood has a cozy, warm worry-free feeling to it.

That would be like if a guy my age (or a little older) went out in public with a backwards baseball cap thinking it made him look all cool and badass like it was still 1995. Some stuff has more longevity than others, but you get my point.

P.S. I know I'm making some BIG TIME generalizations, hope it doesn't offend anybody. It just tends to throw off that image at times.

P.S. I know I'm making some BIG TIME generalizations, hope it doesn't offend anybody. It just tends to throw off that image at times.


No offense taken here, and I'm as guilty of it as anyone.

My fashion's steadfastly "whatever's on sale", my language is relatively current Internet (name the meme, I've seen it), but most of my living space is crammed as full as practical with 80s coin-op games.  I've got a friend who does the same thing with local microbrewery memorabilia.

Picking an era (or culture) in which to stick oneself is (was?) one of the luxuries of living in a prosperous (well, up until last month) economy.  Sorta like the Japanese otaku, you get (got?) to pick a cultural identity and live within it to whatever extent you like, even if it makes no economic or social sense.

I think childhood nostalgia is more natural because people have an unconditional love for things they were born with, including the era they were born into.

If you're a teen and nostalgic, and only like 30 or 40 years old, it makes you look like a loser because people think you're just clinging to your glory days and high school. If you're old, teens and even 20s/30s nostalgia makes sense because it's so long ago and more similar to your childhood than the present is.

I think it blocks off too, like if you were born in 1974 and grew up in the 80s, even 1992 isn't going to be the same as 1989. With your teens it's the same, when you're past 18 you're going to think of it as being like the present.

No offense taken here, and I'm as guilty of it as anyone.

My fashion's steadfastly "whatever's on sale", my language is relatively current Internet (name the meme, I've seen it), but most of my living space is crammed as full as practical with 80s coin-op games.  I've got a friend who does the same thing with local microbrewery memorabilia.

Picking an era (or culture) in which to stick oneself is (was?) one of the luxuries of living in a prosperous (well, up until last month) economy.  Sorta like the Japanese otaku, you get (got?) to pick a cultural identity and live within it to whatever extent you like, even if it makes no economic or social sense.


  Let's try not to make it too obvious that we're dorks, okay..? :P

  Let's try not to make it too obvious that we're dorks, okay..? :P


You say that like it's a bad thing.

http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/grownups.png

Me, I'm old enough dork not to care anymore about what even my cow orkers think!

The 70s  8)

The 70s  8)


Sorry lol that's actually not what I meant. ;)

I'm bad with thinking of titles for threads, but I was basically saying I've noticed when people get obsessed with stuff that was popular in their high school/college years, it tends to come across like they're stuck in the past. Whereas if you're a huge fan of stuff from when you were a little kid (like I do) or totally before your time, it doesn't have that same air to it. That makes you seem more individualistic.

Maybe it's because people who hardcore nostalgize stuff from when they were about 15-21 may not be as willing to move beyond it, since it defined them so much. It influences their lifestyle AND their tastes at the same time I guess.

That's where it's different with me. I love the '80s to death, but I enjoy stuff from after then too. It's not like I was really doing much then (beyond school and family/kid stuff), even if the music and video games give me cozy memories I didn't start going out or having my own life until later. See what I mean?

Darn! I can't say that I'm stuck in the 90s with my Dragon Quests and Mega Mans and listing to my alternative rock musics on the radio... and my Samurai Pizza Cats and my Ranma 1/2s and my Urusei Yatsura and my Weird Als and my Saturday morning cartoons and my lord knows what else what.

:D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D