It dawned on me this morning that this year will mark the 25th reunion of my high school graduating class. Nothing makes you feel so old as realizing you’re a quarter century down the road from starting the adult phase of your life. It makes you a little introspective, thinking about the right and wrong choices during the course of 25 years that have made the face staring back at you from the mirror. Overall, I could have come out a lot worse, and thankfully I have more to be thankful for than to regret at this stage in my life.
Thinking about that time in my life also made me think about just how different life is in 2009 than it was in 1984. It was the time foretold by Mr. Orwell, and it certainly did feel at times that the future of our species was in doubt. The cold war, something kids today probably have no concept at all of, was at it’s height, and we all lived in the shadow of the threat of an apocalyptic nuclear showdown between the United States and the Soviet Union.
The 60s generation’s promise of a more enlightened society was a mirage. They had all traded in their ideals for disco and cocaine in the 70s, and by the 80s had become their parents. Every generation does this, so it’s not too big a condemnation of that generation to say so.
The 1980s was an era on the edge of apocalypse. It was also an era of excess, hedonism, and superficiality. Little did we know that before long we would be watching the incident at Tiananmen on CNN, and of all things, the fall of the Berlin Wall.
The world changes, the world stays the same.
It’s interesting to compare 1984 and 2009 to see what’s changed and what hasn’t:
-
Computers
- 1984- Jeez, I had a TRS-80 color in 1984. You had to enter lines of Basic all afternoon to get a game to play by evening, hopefully. If you mis-entered any of those lines the party was over. Internet? No such thing. A friend of mine had parents who were teachers and they had an Apple II. Another friend had a Commodore, and that was actually pretty cool. There were some cool games for it. PCs were that computer with the Charlie Chaplin TV commercial, and Apple was releasing the MacIntosh. Microsoft who? Intellivision was still state of the art for videogame consoles.
- 2009- One of my computers could have run the country back in ’84. We’re all plugged into the rest of the globe via the internet, and information has never been so free. Best of all, computers actually do something useful today. Back then, you didn’t really need one, today, you couldn’t live without one. Today’s videogame consoles are inching closer and closer toward a completely immersive experience, and have probably become cheaper to boot. The price for a game console has always been approximately $200. An NES was $200, so is an Xbox 360. $200 was worth more back then. Computers are cheaper too.
-
Television and Movies
- 1984- Cable television was still in relative infancy. ESPN filled it’s slots with lots of filler like Australian Rules Football, kickboxing, volleyball, etc.. HBO and Shotime were around, and probably better than they are today because they were most people’s ticket to seeing motion pictures at home. VHS was just taking off, and it marked the beginning of being able to watch what you wanted when you wanted at home. Laser disc was state of the art, and if you ever watched a laser disc way back then, you remember how they were like something out of science fiction. Very cool. Computer generated effects didn’t rule motion pictures, and directors had to achieve their results with good old fashioned moviecraft. You still couldn’t say “bitch” on television, and worthwhile programming was tough to find.
- 2009- We now have 250 channels, and there still isn’t anything to watch. On demand is a Good Idea, and Netflix capable set top boxes are better yet. High definition is a big improvement. The DVD is king, and Blu Ray is an upscale alternative. Computer generated effects have permeated the movie industry to varying degrees of success. The plus side to this is that well done, big budget action movies are better than they’ve ever been. Comic books finally get the movie versions they deserve because the technology is capable. You can say “bitch” on television now, and worthwhile programming is still tough to find.
-
Music
- 1984- Genesis, The Police, Madonna, Tina Turner, Bruce Springsteen. For those who didn’t like to be spoon fed the mainstream crap the recording industry thought you wanted, there was actually a huge and thriving music underground. Hardcore punk was everything that hard edged rock and roll was supposed to be, and bands like Black Flag, D.R.I., Crucifix, Jerry’s Kids, Gang Green, Christ On Parade and the like provided blistering blasts of high energy angst that showed bands like The Scorpions, Van Halen, Motley Crue and Twisted Sister to be the pussies they were. There was also a burgeoning industrial scene that would lead toward bands like Skinny Puppy and Front Line Assembly, death rock like Christian Death and Bauhaus that would become the foundation for all things Goth, and Glenn Danzig was still a Misfit. The 1980s was a hell of a time for underground music, and the classic music of my generation came from it, unbeknownst to most of the members of my generation.
- 2009- This one is tougher for me, because I am not 18 anymore and can’t claim to be as in tune to what is going on in music as I was as a younger man. I will say that there is an incredible death metal scene going on in Sweden and in the States, and that if I was 18 right now I would most assuredly be in a death metal band. There are also a handful of bands that have come up with an evolution of death metal that is today’s progressive rock. Think thinking man’s metal. My 15 year old son is really into it, and I’m not so old yet that I don’t recognize kick ass rock and roll when I hear it, and there are several gigabytes of what I think is the cream of the death and black metal that I’ve heard. In fact, I am taking my 15 year old to see Opeth in May, who happens to be our current favorite band. Death metal is not for everyone, but if you like music that kicks ass and takes no prisoners you need to be exploring what is out there in the death metal world.
25 years. A lot has changed. Nothing has changed. In 1984 the world had come a long way from the days of the civil rights movement, and in 2009 we have a black president, which would have been unthinkable in 1984. We are moving in the right direction, slowly. I hope the world is a better place when my three year old is 18, and better still when he’s 43. I’ll raise him to know that the only things in this world that really matter are the love of his family, the support of his network of friends, and finding a place in society where he feels fulfilled. That’s all I can do. That and love him with all my heart. If all of us do this, the world will become a better place, you can bank on it.
