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They're nostalgic for the pop culture version of the 80s, not actual life in that period.
Growing up, there were still tons of reruns of 80s shows on TV in addition to 80s movies being very common in late night movie slots. The entertainment and pop cultural landscape also seemed pretty familiar to a millennial growing up in the late 90's and 2000's- many of the same franchises, movies, actors, artists and bands I liked originated in that period and you also had things like home computers, video game consoles, table top RPG's and so on, just cool old school versions. I've also always found the look and sound of 80s music, fashion and movies to be cool (again, probably because I was exposed to it as a kid) whereas the 60s and 70s just seemed like dad decades to me.
The very shallow ethos of the era has also somehow always had a weird appeal to me, it's all about flashy colourful disposable fun whereas in the 60s and 70s you have a bunch of guys with horrible hair and even more horrible mustaches taking LSD and being angry about the Vietnam War or whatever
As a borderline zoomer it's purely an aesthetic thing for me. Ha ha synth music and neon lights go bzz
This vulture article talks about this https://www.vulture.com/2016/10/2016-why-are-we-obsessed-with-the-80s.html
So the traditional nostalgia cycle goes like this: the 70s were aping the 50s, the 80s were aping the 60s, the 90s were aping the 70s and the 2000s were aping the 80s. Youd think that starting in 2010 wed forget about the 80s and move on to the 90s right? Now while there is also a good degree of 90s nostalgia right now, I think one reason the 80s still play a huge role is that neoliberalism has broken culture. We're more overworked and overstressed than ever, and so artists, instead of being risky and avantgarde (though there are people doing that ofc, just not in great enough numbers and I dont blame those that dont, you gotta eat), are mining 80s music cuz that's proven to work. We can see that just this past year with albums like future nostalgia by dua lipa and what's your pleasure by jessie ware, both of which I enjoyed. Movie studios, wary of risky investments in a climate where margins are thinner than ever, greenlight remakes and sequels to the great 80s franchises eg indiana jones, alien, Ghostbusters, star wars. Also nowadays a plurality of millennials and old zoomers live with their parents, unlike their parents or parents' parents at the same age. This also influences those generations' cultural tastes. I think it's also because most young people recognize that we live in a horrible decade, we look back to the last decade where things seemed okay. The 60s and 70s are too far away, too alien, but the 80s seems just right, even tho that's when Reagan came to power and everything started going to shit. Anyways I'm gonna stop now but I hope this made sense. Feel free to ruthlessly critique me
I can't speak for everyone, but I feel that if you grew up in the 90s you probably watched a bunch of stuff that came out in the 80s since your parents would have owned/liked a lot of stuff from then. I always felt like having nostalgia for the time right before you were born was common because of that.
Definitely, the 80's and early 90's seem like something I just barely missed (well, I was around for the latter but as a literal baby)
I have never found the tech, cars, suits, hair, or bleh video quality to be aesthetic. Even the music bothers me 9 times out of 10. I will forever be thankful for Nirvana coming along and cancelling the 80s.
Hello me.
There is some good music from the 80s, but it absolutely falls under Sturgeon's Law: 90% of everything is crap. And yes, Nirvana destroying 80s music was amazing: just a practically overnight switch in musical taste in popular music, like a switch was flipped.
The 80s were a morally, aesthetically, and culturally ugly era.
The 80s are when Regan and Bush Sr. held the presidency. Holy shit, morally ugly is an understatement. Margaret Thatcher was serving in the 80s like holy shit. My guy, the cold war was won by the bad guys shortly after. South America and the middle east were getting fucked on.
All the while the aesthetic was trash 💩💩💩🗑️🗑️🗑️🗑️
I think "The Americans" did a great job of portraying the 80s in a more balanced manner. The Cold War was portrayed as an actual danger, the Soviets are real humans with wants and needs, Reagan is portrayed as a dangerous loon, etc. Plus not every episode is shiny and clean.
Eh I like the music from the era. People are still so heavily influenced by 80's shit. How many Weeknd songs are just repackaged 80's tunes?
