Monday, December 29, 2008

Define the 90s and the 00s in three cultural products each

I am going with TV for everything:

The 90s: Buffy, X-Files, Seinfeld
The 00s: Sopranos, The Wire, Arrested Development

This is how I process the sweep of a decade, and it is obviously idiosyncratic. I would be very interested in how other people do it.

14 comments:

James said...

I wanna say the 00s has seen the mainstream culture really embrace serialized story-telling in a big way: The Matrix, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Nu Star Wars, Pirates of the Caribbean, DVD box-sets, Lost, Superhero Movie Franchises... And Marvel Studios is taking it on a step with the inter-connectivity idea.

Anonymous said...

90's:

Nirvana's 'Nevermind'

Seinfeld

Pulp Fiction

00's

The iPod

The Office

Harry Potter (not a personal favorite or anything... but, then again, I kind of think its success best reflects what James is talking about above)

Kyle Hadley said...

90s: Friends, Pulp Fiction, Tupac

00s: iPods, Harry Potter, Spiderman

Jake said...

90s: Seinfeld, Buffy, uh...OK Computer?

00s: Wii, Lost, iPod

sdelatovic said...

Also rooted in personal taste:

90s: Friends, MP3s, Buffy

00s: Wii, HBO, Twitter

I don't know when HBO became a force for quality TV in the US, but down here, I've only been able to experience it through DVD box-sets, making it a 00s thing.

Matt Jacobson said...

90's: The letter "X"; Sitcoms; Samuel L. Jackson.

00's: The letter "i"; Dramedies; Smauel L. Jackson.

finsof72 said...

90s: Fresh Prince, Nirvana, 'Titanic'

00s: sequels, Ipod, MySpace

Ping33 said...

TV:
90's:
Seinfeld, Sex and the City, X-Files
(Unifying themes: Light, navel-gazing, insubstantial)
00's:
24, Lost, How I met Your Mother
(Unifying themes: confused, scared, nostalgic)

Music:
90's:
Nirvana, Rage Against the Machine, Arrested Development
(Themes: self-important, egotistical, importance of the 'Truth' in a phony world)
00's:
Kelly Clarkson, Eminem, Outkast
(Themes: self-referential, Fan driven, commertial)

Paul said...

Comics:
'90s - Holo-Foil, Embossed, Die-Cut

'00s - 2nd Printing, 50/50 Variant, Mega-Event

Music:
'90s - Nirvana, Tupac, Garth Brooks

'00s - Britney Spears, Kanye West, Radiohead

Television:
'90s - Sienfeld, X-Files, Star Trek (TNG, DS9, VOY)

'00s - Lost, Battlestar Galactica, The Office

Movies:
'90s - James Cameron (Titanic, T2), Quinten Tarantino (Pulp Fiction), Kevin Smith (Clerks, Mallrats, Chasing Amy)

'00s - Kevin Nolan (Momento, Prestige, Dark Knight), Darren Aronofsky (Requiem for a Dream, The Fountain), Judd Apatow (40 Year Old Virgin, Knocked Up)

Streeborama said...

90's: Death of Superman
SPAWN
The Invisibles

00's: Planetary
Captain America 25 - Death of Captain America
Casanova

90's: ECW
Oscar De La Hoya
Royce Gracie

00's: WWE
Floyd Mayweather jr.
Fedor Emilianenko

Streeborama said...

90's: Clerks
Pulp Fiction
Scream

00's: Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
Grindhouse
George A. Romero's Diary of the Dead

Anonymous said...

You know, if we're really being honest with ourselves, isn't the TV show that most defined the '00s 'Survivor'?

Michael said...

90s

Nirvana (Music)
Dead Man (Film)
X-Files (TV)

00s

Radiohead (Music)
Children of Men (Film)
The Wire (TV)



I don't get the opportunity to read comics anymore (time and money), but I was a fan of the X-Men from way back and I just saw the trailer for the Wolverine film. Looks good... I'm actually excited to see it (whereas the Watchmen film has me feeling anxious whether they will rob it of its deconstructive power...)

Pura Vida!

Bluegrass Film Society

Christian O. said...

I turned 13 in 2000, so I just classify it as youth and teenage years.