39,327
edits
The Nineties/Useful Notes: Difference between revisions
m
update links
m (GethN7 moved page Useful Notes/The Nineties to The Nineties/Useful Notes) |
m (update links) |
||
Line 8:
* For the first time in U.S. history, more Americans lived in affluent suburban neighborhoods rather than in cities or towns or on farms. Fueled by this millions-strong middle class, the American "consumer culture" that had been burgeoning since [[The Fifties]] reached its apotheosis. There were more creature comforts and general amusements than ever before (including some that were relatively new for the decade, such as cellular phones and hand-held videogame consoles), as well as more people to enjoy them and more dollars with which to buy them. The factor most responsible for setting the stage for this fabulous prosperity remains controversial among social scientists and political pundits, but the general consensus is that the country was reaping a generation's worth of benefits from a dramatic economic shift (dubbed the "New Economy") that had phased out the old industrial labor market (which, frankly speaking, had subordinated the material interests of laborers to those of management) and reoriented American workers toward businesses that capitalized more on individual ingenuity and creativity (such as computer technology).
* The 1990s were the point at which [[Drugs Are Bad|drug awareness]] reached the point of [[Narm]]. Anti-drug commercials were sprinkled in between shows aimed at eight-year-olds, most of whom [[Misaimed Marketing|weren't exactly being offered to begin with]]. <ref>Though the young actresses involved helped usher millions of boys into adolescence.</ref> Programs like DARE were at their most aggressive (and least effective), and [[Rachael Leigh Cook]] was [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwu7L38glcQ tearing up her kitchen for unclear reasons]. Amongst adults, employee drug tests were ubiquitous no matter your line of work.
* Professional [[
* [[Moral Guardians]] were at their most hot-and-bothered since [[The Fifties]], as a result of shows like ''[[Beavis and Butthead]]'' and ''[[The Simpsons]]'', [[Murder Simulators|violent video games]] (more on that below) and musicians like [[Marilyn Manson]] and most [[Gangsta Rap]] artists. The guardianship was thought to have [[Jump the Shark|jumped the shark]] in 1994 when a Jerry Falwell-produced video claimed that President [[Bill Clinton]] was a [[Serial Killer]] who had [[Conspiracy Theorist|ordered hits on political enemies]], but it came back with a vengeance after [[
* Product synergy reached its weirdness apex in the '90s when [[Disney]] partnered with Nestle to create the Wonder Ball, a ball of hollow chocolate with character-shaped candy inside, and a hell of a lot of packaging.
* In the mid 90s advertisements for pretty much anything attempting to market to Gen-Xers became in your face and EXTREME!!! Usually came in one of two flavors. Don't Just (verb), (verb) [[No Indoor Voice|TO THE EXTREME!!!]] or This isn't your grandma's(noun).
Line 26:
* And a third hot-button issue surrounding education, particularly in affluent areas of the Northeast section of the United States, was the cousin of school vouchers (which were mainly utilized by various Catholic schools, not public ones), the "desegregation" program. There was a lot of backpedaling by officials to note that [[Unfortunate Implications|it did not refer to race]], it referred to mixing "underprivileged" students in with affluent ones. Call it what you like, it didn't go over well either.
* Unlike in, say, [[The Fifties]], there was a ''huge'' stigma around dropping out of school. Not having a high school diploma essentially doomed one to a life of flipping burgers, pushing shopping carts and other menial, low-paying jobs with few prospects. Skipping class was also a no-no and carried some heavy penalties. Going to college was more or less expected and was considered the rule, not the exception. While not going to college wasn't terrible for you, if you didn't instead get a good job or enter the military right out of high school you were seen as slacking off. This may have had something to do with a lot of fathers in the era being Vietnam veterans, whose schooling was either interrupted or impossible due to being drafted. They wanted their children to have the education they never got.
* [[
'''Entertainment:'''
Line 40:
** On that note, ''[[Toy Story]]'' started the trend towards [[All CGI Cartoon|using CGI in animated movies]]. While 2D and 3D animation lived side-by-side for [[The Nineties]], ever-improving CGI and the runaway success of [[Pixar]] meant that the handwriting was increasingly on the wall for traditional 2D cel animation.
* [[Animal Planet]] launched in 1996 as a spin-off of the [[Discovery Channel]], focusing on nature and wildlife-centric programming. the network is still running strong decades later.
* The [[24-Hour News Networks|24-hour cable news network]] really got its motor running in the '90s, starting with [[CNN]]'s famous coverage of the [[Gulf War]]. With national stories coming to a head (Bill Clinton's involvement with Monica Lewinsky; [[Missing White Woman Syndrome|JonBenet Ramsey]]; [[
* [[Anime]] was just starting to gain a following in the United States. Girls had ''[[Sailor Moon]]'' and the boys had ''[[Dragon Ball]] Z'', and... that was about it unless you wanted to really do some hardcore searching. Of course, these anime were [[Bowdlerise|Bowdlerised]] out the wazoo, but most kids didn't know, as they had nothing to compare it to. The only way to acquire [[Manga]] was through specialty stores and importers, and it was [[Crack is Cheaper|expensive]] and often poorly translated (if at all). In 1998, ''[[Pokémon (anime)|Pokémon]]'' showed up and really kick-started the anime boom, allowing it to really take root and become the industry it is today.
** In other Japanese media news, the live-action ''[[Super Sentai]]'' franchise was also redone as an American production in 1993 and took hold as ''[[Mighty Morphin Power Rangers]]''. In the wake of it becoming a hit, [[Follow the Leader|there were a bunch of low-budget live-action superhero shows]] square in the middle of the decade; some adapted from other Japanese series and some made from whole cloth - a number of them were even by ''Rangers'' producers Saban Entertainment, [[Self
** Meanwhile, the liberation of air broadcasting in several Latinamerican countries on the early to mid nineties led to the need of fill endless hours of broadcast on the early morning and the after-school-pre-primetime slots. With what they filled it, you ask? With several hundreds hours of dubbed anime (mostly licensed [[Toei]] fare), that's what. Even if most of them were fairly unknown series even today, this still meant that series like ''[[Ranma One Half]]'', ''[[Saint Seiya]]'', ''[[Dragon Ball]]'' (the full series, not just the Z season), ''[[Slam Dunk]]'' and ''[[Captain Tsubasa]]'', among dozens of others, who in USA were known mostly by Japanimation aficionados, were fairly mainstream shows down the border.
* In the world of film, James Cameron gained, or rather secured, his [[Auteur License]] by directing ''[[Titanic]]'', which would displace ''[[Star Wars]]'' from the seat of highest-grossing film of all time (''[[Avatar (film)|Avatar]]'' has since passed it) and become the first movie in history to make a billion dollars. That movie pulled down $600 million domestically.
Line 104:
* The greater Los Angeles area began work rebuilding its massive rapid transit system, which is still 11-29 years from completion. Despite this, the system would not appear in popular media until ''[[24]].''
* [[Seattle]] became a major cultural center for the country during the early '90s, as the home of [[Grunge]], ''[[Frasier]]'' and [[Microsoft]].
* The [[Denver]] suburb of Littleton, Colorado was shocked in the late '90s when Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, two outcast students, gunned down several of their peers at [[
* Also in the late '90s, America was shocked as a young beauty pageant performer named JonBenet Ramsey was killed. News coverage of the search for her killer(s) dominated the airwaves for quite a while -- to this day, it remains unsolved. It also had the effect of changing the opinion of child beauty pageants and the [[Stage Mom]], since both were intensely dissected in the aftermath. Opinion changed from "Oh, she's ''adorable!''" to "This is a little creepy."
* In California, former NFL running back Orenthal James "O.J." Simpson was allegedly involved in the murder of his ex-wife and a close friend of hers. While celebrity trials had gotten press before, this one (and the low-speed car chase along LA freeways that preceded it) absolutely dominated national headlines through 1995. The outcome of the trial (found not guilty) caused a great deal of arguing, particularly along racial lines. This trial also featured the first highly-publicized usage of DNA as evidence.
Line 139:
'''Social Concerns:'''
* As stated above, [[The Nineties]] was the era in which the [[Moral Guardians]] were always in a tizzy. While it was brewing in the '80s and early '90s ([[Dan Quayle]]'s complaints about ''[[Murphy Brown]]'', the [[You Can Panic Now|moral panics]] over [[Rock Me, Asmodeus|heavy metal]] and [[
* The first big controversy was centered around ''[[Beavis and Butthead]]'', which was never a favorite of those who made the rules. A young boy supposedly lit his trailer home on fire because he wanted to imitate the main characters' pyromaniacal tendencies. The resulting outcry led [[MTV]] to move the show to a later timeslot, causing a decrease in ratings. Oh, and that boy who lit his trailer home on fire? They didn't have cable.
* Violence in the media was another hot-button issue. In the early '90s, ''[[Power Rangers]]'' had the [[Moral Guardians]] having panic-induced heart attacks at the thought of young children imitating their martial-arts style violence. As has been repeatedly stated before, ''[[Doom]]'' was the next big whipping boy, entering the public consciousness after the Columbine massacre, as was [[Professional Wrestling]].
Line 157:
'''Technology:'''
* From our perch in [[The New Tens]], the '90s can seem hopelessly primitive. In fact, dramatic change was the norm throughout the decade: it began with a handful of people on Usenet or text-only BBSes<ref>Bulletin Board Systems, tiny message boards usually run by someone out of his basement and/or bedroom, to which you dialed in directly (as in "Come check out my kewl BBS! 555-1212, 8 bits, parity, no stop bit.")</ref>, and ended with everyone and their dog having web pages and sharing music on Napster. We even had viral videos -- [[wikipedia:Troops
* For most of the Nineties, though, personal computers were a minor luxury. Like televisions in the '50s, most homes had only one computer for the whole family to use. The age of the model and operating system varied, but Windows 95 became the standard after, well, '95. Most printers were of the dot matrix variety, and laptops were rare, bulky luxuries. For many young people, the only time when they had access to a reasonably modern computer was in school, and then, it was usually only in the computer lab (if the school even had one).
* Most of what we now know as the Internet (and the word was always capitalized then) did not exist. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFF0oQySsh4&feature=related Here] is a look at how crude the internet was as recently as 1995. No [[Friending Network|friending networks]], very primitive search engines, no [[YouTube|streaming video]], and use of the words "[[Blog]]" or "wiki" in casual conversation would earn you blank stares. Message boards only came into their own late in the decade -- before that, there was [[UseNet]], a huge collection of discussion groups for every topic in the universe. The only three browsers were Netscape (and its precursor, Mosaic), Internet Explorer, and America Online. Yes, AOL, or as many people came to call it, AOHell. Millions got suckered into AOL's crappy business policy and spyware-ridden software thanks to its mass mailing of CDs and its ads proclaiming that it was "so easy to use, no wonder it's #1!". AOL was instrumental in kick-starting the [[Eternal September]], which is when public interest in the internet first began to surge.
Line 163:
* The late '90s saw the growth of the "dot-com" bubble, which is when everybody and their dog decided that they were an "e-ntrepreneur" and started up a website offering them some kind of service in the "new economy" that would be created by the internet. As it turned out, claims about the "new economy" were about [[Web 2.0|ten years premature]] -- the spectacular burst of the dot-com bubble put a lot of people out of work, killed most of the start-ups that proliferated, and hammered the economy of Silicon Valley. Still, the dot-com bubble was, in hindsight, the clearest turning point in public acceptance of the internet as a necessity of everyday life, as proven by the fact that its bust had such a large impact on the economy. Afterwards, the "old internet" (or "web 1.0"), reserved primarily for computer geeks and first adopters, was replaced with the multi-billion-dollar networks we have today.
* [[Cell Phone|Cell phones]] were in the transition period between the giant bricks of the '80s and the smaller, sleeker, multimedia-enabled devices of today. While prices were coming down, they were still most definitely a luxury item, even more so than a home computer, and were predominantly the domain of businessmen and people who worked on the go. For the rest of us, there were pagers. (Remember [[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]] saying "If the Apocalypse comes, beep me"? That's a pager she's talking about.) Cell phones started becoming smaller, cheaper and more common late in the decade, but even then, anything beyond the basics (sending and receiving calls and text messages) was reserved only for the most high-end models. Service was found only in more urban areas, and was still rather spotty. Text messaging was a lot more expensive than it is today, and was practically unheard of. It wasn't for nothing that most people still relied on land lines during this period, and things like pay phones and the Yellow Pages (massive [[Doorstopper]] books that listed all phone numbers in a given area) were commonplace.
* Video gaming really started taking off amongst kids. The early '90s saw the [[Super Nintendo]] and the [[Sega Genesis]], which is seen by some as the last great [[Console Wars]] -- to this day, it's truly difficult to tell who was the clear-cut winner. Gaming started improving from a technolgical standpoint, and by the late '90s we had both a 64-bit system and the birth of the compact disc as a gaming medium. [[Nintendo]] owned the market after the Genesis fell off, but [[Play Station|Sony]] would take over until the [[Wii]] came along in the mid '00s.<br /><br />A number of noteworthy trends took place in early-mid '90s gaming. [[Sega]]'s ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog (video game)|Sonic the Hedgehog]]'' pioneered the [[Mascot with Attitude]] in 1991, bringing a [[Totally Radical]] flair into gaming and spawning a legion of [[Follow the Leader|copycats]] who would often take digs at [[Mario]] and [[Sonic the Hedgehog|Sonic]]. This trend went out of fashion in the end of the decade, as the Sonic franchise went through its [[Sega Saturn|Saturn]]-era [[Dork Age]] and many of its copycats ran head-first into the [[Polygon Ceiling]], with 2001's ''[[Conkers Bad Fur Day]]'', a ''[[South Park]]''-esque parody of the genre, providing the denouement. [[Full Motion Video]] and virtual reality were also hyped up, with many people predicting that the future of gaming was in interactive movies and the ability to actually be ''in'' the game, man. After a few years of grainy, sub-VHS-quality video with [[Dull Surprise|production]] [[Special Effect Failure|values]] [[No Budget|to match]], [[Sensory Abuse|eye strain]], and bombs like the [[Virtual Boy]] and ''[[Night Trap]]'', gamers realized that, no, [[Deader Than Disco|this was not the future]].<br /><br />The later part of the decade, meanwhile, saw the appearance of numerous games that would go on to influence the industry for the next decade. This includes ''[[Half-Life (video game)|Half-Life]]'', ''[[Deus Ex]]'', the first three ''[[Resident Evil]]'' games, ''[[Final Fantasy VII]]'', both ''[[System Shock]]'' games, the first two installments in the ''[[Grand Theft Auto]]'' franchise, and ''[[Silent Hill 1]]'', among many others. 1998 in particular may go down as the single "best" year in gaming history, much like how 1939 is remembered by film buffs as the high point of the [[Golden Age of Hollywood]].<br /><br />Of course, accompanying the growth of gaming was the [[A Worldwide Punomenon|genesis]] of the anti-gaming movement, which managed to bring about a Senate hearing over the violence in ''[[Mortal Kombat (video game)|Mortal Kombat]]'' and ''[[Night Trap]]''. This prompted the creation of [[Media Watchdog|the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB)]] to pre-empt government censorship. Near the end of the decade, [[
* In June 1999, a young man named Shawn Fanning (not Sean Parker, despite what ''[[The Social Network]]'' would have you believe) launched a website named Napster, which allowed people to download music for free and share it with each other. It was the center of [[New Media Are Evil|a ton of controversy]], like everything else in the '90s. While it lasted only two years before it was shut down, its legacy proved impossible to erase. It was one of the first beacons of the death of not only the compact disc, but the whole concept of music needing a physical copy -- in 2003, just two years after Napster was shut down, the record companies would rally behind iTunes in order to undercut the explosion of file-sharing websites that emerged to fill the void Napster left.
| |||