We are living in one of, if not the, most technologically advanced eras of all time; AI can do practically anything, you can talk to someone across the globe through your phone, you can stream the newest movies from an airplane, and scientific developments are dipping into prolonged life expectancy. So why do people still yearn for the lost decades of the 20th century? What are we missing in today’s world that makes the nostalgia of the last century almost painful?Â
Let’s face it: the 20th and 21st centuries are vastly different in almost every aspect of life. It’s natural to crave lost remnants of the past, but the romanticization Gen-Z has for the 1970s, 80s, 90s, 2000s, and 2010s is no simple remembrance. In fact, there are social media pages dedicated explicitly to making videos that evoke the nostalgia of these lost years. So, what’s so special about the past that we yearn for?
I’ll narrow it down to, arguably the most pined for decade, the 1980s. Michael Jackson, Duran Duran, Journey, Madonna, and Queen, along with the many talented musical artists of that era, dominate the radio. E.T., Top Gun, Back to the Future, Star Wars, and Ghostbusters rule the box office. Friday night means going to the movies with your friends. Saturday is spent at the mall, followed by rollerskating and the arcade. You’re outside all day playing with your friends. Your biggest worry is being back home for dinner before the lights turn on outside. Compared to today, Olivia Rodrigo, Morgan Wallen, and Ella Langley dominate the radio – or should I say Spotify – I mean, how many people still listen to the radio nowadays? Over the past few years, Spider-Man: Brand New Day, Avatar: The Way of Water, Barbie, and Inside Out 2 flourished at the box office. But did you even see them in theaters? Most people saw them at home once they could watch it via streaming. Friday nights are rarely spent at the movie theaters. Malls are dead, and when was the last time you went rollerskating or to an arcade? Fewer kids play outside day after day, and your biggest worry is getting canceled for something you did or an opinion you have that’s somewhere online/on someone’s phone.Â
Was life easier in the 1980s? There were hardships from the past that we don’t have to deal with anymore. Wondering about someone’s whereabouts isn’t as big of an issue; we can call them, or use an external app to locate them. The high cost of long distance/timed phone calls is resolved. We’re able to plan more accordingly and accurately when meeting someone. When travelling, we can use our phone to find directions, not an obtrusive paper map. Technology has come a long way to make our lives simpler. But is it too simple now?
A critical element of the 20th century that we’ve lost is tangibility. Today it’s very simple – we don’t need the physical objects, we just need the accessibility. Back then, if you wanted an album, you bought the album on vinyl and listened to it. Now you can open it on an app and hear it. You wanted to see a movie, you either went to the theaters and got a ticket, or went to the video store and rented out a VHS tape. Like modern music, you can stream a movie on your device from virtually anywhere. People wrote letters/notes; today it’s all texts and emails. Even books; more and more people are reading them on a Kindle rather than a hard copy. There’s nothing to keep, nothing to hold on to. The advantage of the past was the emotional attachment and sentimental value that physical objects could hold. Is that something Gen Z craves? We rarely have physicality with the digitization of everything nowadays. From movie tickets to school exams to even money, almost everything is losing its physical worth. Digital access brings convenience but at the cost of personal and sentimental value.Â
Another simplicity technology has brought us is being able to connect with one another; not just though texting/calling, but through social media. We can see posts from all over the globe, see what’s trending, stay up to date with what our friends are doing, all the while capturing it on camera and showing it for the world to see. But how much of it are we seeing, the ones actually capturing the moment? Are we doing it for ourselves, or for everyone else? Our generation has found a meaning for every moment to be a post. Whether it be a concert, going to see a movie, or just a quiet night with friends, there’s always some pressure to post something. In the 1980s, no such dilemma existed. Perhaps what is appealing about it is the privacy. A night out exists in your memory, in a photograph, and in the stories you and your friends told afterwards; the preservation of moments like that is what made them more meaningful. For a generation growing up with the ability to document almost everything, it sounds revolutionary; and maybe it is, to an extent. We want to connect with people, we want to look back at memories, but we also want to exist without constantly being observed. It’s not just a pressure to post something, but a pressure to make it look as aesthetic as possible. We fear how we’ll be observed when we post. This was never an issue back in the 80s! Sure people might have judged you for wearing a silly outfit, dancing awkwardly, etc., but the audience was smaller, and moments were more likely to stay as moments – not lasting forever.Â
Technology has also given us distraction. When we’re waiting for something, we can go on our phones, text a friend, watch a video, or do something that might be more amusing than what we’re waiting for. So what did they do in the 1980s? How did they survive sitting at a never ending red light? They survived because they knew how to deal with boredom. Boredom isn’t always pleasant, but the beauty of what can emerge from it is. The more boredom we experience, the more imaginative we can become. We can discover a new hobby. We can become more observant of what’s going on around us. We can come up with a way to solve a problem. For me, I often find myself thinking about a crossword clue I was stuck on, and suddenly I have the answer, hours later, when I’m sitting in traffic. If we don’t always have boredom we won’t be able to think for ourselves. We lose creativity. It’s convenient to have our phones to distract us, but it also means less opportunities to learn more about ourselves, reflect, notice our surroundings, and imagine. Is that something Gen-Z craves – creativity? Less and less people create – they consume. Humans are designed to create. And in the 80s, everyone was doing something. Gen-Z doesn’t know how to deal with boredom because they fill that space with the simple reach of their phone, iPad, or other device. Are they jealous of Gen-X and the Millennials because they know how to be free with their thoughts and think imaginatively?Â
Of course, the 1980s weren’t perfect. What Gen-Z aches for is what is seen from movies, music, people, and photographs that survived. We’ll never experience it first hand. But maybe we can try. What we long for is within reach. We can write someone a letter instead of texting them. We can go to the record store and buy vinyl instead of listening to the album on Spotify. We can enjoy a night out without feeling obligated to post it. Technology has given us extraordinary possibilities, but it’s up to us to determine how much of our lives it takes up.Â
Before we know it, we’ll reminisce about the years we’re living in now. What will we want to remember about them? There’s still time to give our years the same value that we regard for the past decades.Â