Question for those who dislike traditional things...

[Reaganfan]

For those who mock me or criticize me, putting your politics aside, do you honestly like culture today? Pop culture, music, movies, and the ways things are in America as opposed to the 1950s, 60s, ect? Again, I'm not talking about race relations or political ideology.

[minionofmidas]

No one who likes actually traditional things can look at an 80s haircut without being sick, Mike.

[phk]

I prefer the 1980s and 1990s culture.

[Ebowed]

Why on earth would we discount improved race relations from this exercise?

[Snowstalker Mk. II]

Why on earth would we discount improved race relations from this exercise?

Because Naso dislikes the darkies unless they have 80's hair.

[Middle-aged Europe]

Prefer the movies/music of the 1970s myself.

The 50s suck. The 60s are kind of okay, but get better during the latter half.

[tpfkaw]

Eh, there's more good stuff in the past because the past has been around a longer time than the present.  I suppose we're going through a rather unpleasant phase in pop culture though; hopefully it'll pass in a few years.

[Holmes]

Obviously I can't compare the 50's and 60's to today, but yes. I love the technology culture of today a lot.

[Mr. Taft Republican]

It definitely seems more classy than today, and I'll take Buddy Holly over Lil Wayne any day. Still, I'd prefer it even more if the overt racism could have been less prevalent.

[Brittain33]

For those who mock me or criticize me, putting your politics aside, do you honestly like culture today? Pop culture, music, movies, and the ways things are in America as opposed to the 1950s, 60s, ect? Again, I'm not talking about race relations or political ideology.

I like that there is a much greater variety of programming today, which means more specialized shows for different audiences. Sunday tv in the 1980s without cable was *boring.* It was all martial arts movies, b&w movies, and golf.

There is greater access to music today, and much greater opportunity to learn about new kinds of music and sample it before buying than in the dark ages. This is a great column about how constricted information was back then. You live in a golden age now to be able to track down every '80s or '50s song and video you want, whenever you want it. The fact we have a much more diverse popular culture that meets more people's individual needs, instead of a few broad mainstream cultures metered by gatekeepers, is an unambiguous win for us all.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/10/opinion/sunday/10coates.html

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Mike, you have no interest in traditional things. You just want a mythical yesterday back; but no further than yesterday.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

No one who likes actually traditional things can look at an 80s haircut without being sick, Mike.

[Paul Kemp]

Yes. Film-making is at a level not seen since the 70s and television was been reinvented for the better in the past decade, turning out some of the greatest television shows of all time ("The Sopranos," "Mad Men").

Clearly there is some influence from the past but that is always the case.

[Lief 🗽]

Music, television, and film are currently all better than they were in the 50s.

[bullmoose88]

Mike, you have no interest in traditional things. You just want a mythical yesterday back; but no further than yesterday.

Flawless...Victory.

[J. J.]

Prefer the movies/music of the 1970s myself.

In terms of cinema, the 1970's are seen as a golden age.  I would even say the late 70's early 80's.  The summer blockbuster, slasher films, epic science fiction, were invented (for lack of a better term).   

In terms of television, you never would have had a George Castanza or an Alex P. Keaton without an Archie Bunker.  You would without a Ward Cleaver, a Steve Douglas, a Jed Clampett, or a Mike Brady.

[opebo]

J.J.'s right, the 1970s were the high point.  Not coincidentally, 1973 was also the peak of the standard of living (and it didn't really get serious about falling till the 80s).

But while Naso is a bit off base and fantastical in his nostalgia, he's tapping into a vital and meaningful reality - namely that the present is worse.  The main reason for this is neoliberalism and the fall in the standard of living this has caused, but one other factor that is nothing to take lightly is the diminution of sexual opportunity due the the 'aids crisis' and the resultant neo-prudism.  All my friends in their sixties crow about what hopelessly dull lives we young people must lead, and how they used to have more poonanny than we could even imagine, all 'free' and eager.

[The Mikado]

My username should be a giveaway that I like many things that are quite a bit older than the things you like (insert hipster glasses "pretty obscure" thing here), but I'm perfectly willing to admit that the 1880s were a pretty f**ked up time to actually live in and that liking Oscar Wilde and Gilbert & Sullivan and Wagner does not make me a Late Victorian born in the wrong period.

[Stranger in a strange land]

90% of pop culture is s*** that gets forgotten very quickly. We only remember the "good" stuff, because only that stands the test of time. Even though the 60s and 70s produced some very good music, movies, and TV, most of the cultural output of that time has long been forgotten.

[memphis]

Why on earth would we discount improved race relations from this exercise?

Because Naso dislikes the darkies unless they have 80's hair.

The darkies did have some awesome hair in the 80s.

[angus]

No one who likes actually traditional things can look at an 80s haircut without being sick, Mike.

80s hair is the best!!!  The spike.  The mullet.  The spike mullet.  The frolet.  The asian G-shock mullet and fro top.  And always lots and lots of hairspray. 

Actually, 80s fashions were fun.  The clothes were fun.  The music was fun.  The hair was fun.

[Paul Kemp]

Yea, the 1950s' culture was great . . .

[King]

Pretty much everything has been said.  But yes, pop music is really the only thing that sucks about modern times and, frankly, pop music has always been bad.  Go look at the Billboard #1 hits of the 70s, 80s, and 90s and tell me honestly how many of those are classics you can still listen to today.

Film, television, and print are more skillfully crafted and emotionally honest than ever.  Meanwhile, horrible things like "popular fashions" are almost non-existent as subcultures have broken out and there's more individuality in such things than ever before.

Of course, Mike doesn't see this through his a Freudian complex.

[TheDeadFlagBlues]

I came up with this formula just the other day:

I wish we had the social protocol of 1910,
The fashion of 1940,
The politics of 1950
The technological level of 1970, and
The medical technology and racial relations of 2100.

I'll copy this and insert my own numbers:

I wish we had the social protocol of the 90s
The fashion of the mid-60s
The politics of the 60s (European politics, obviously)
The technological level and race relations of a utopian 2100 (not the future that we're headed towards)

[King]

I came up with this formula just the other day:

I wish we had the social protocol of 1910,
The fashion of 1940,
The politics of 1950
The technological level of 1970, and
The medical technology and racial relations of 2100.

Fasion of the 1940s with social protocol of the 1910s does not compute.