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1990s Cinema: An Emergent Typology and Analysis

1990s Cinema: An Emergent Typology and Analysis. Dr. Julie J. Park LAAF XIII June 21, 2009. (Re)Visiting the 90s. Newly acquired distance Difficulty of analyzing an emerging culture (fish out of water) For most of us, fullest decade of our lived experience. Some Markers of 90s Culture.

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1990s Cinema: An Emergent Typology and Analysis

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  1. 1990s Cinema: An Emergent Typology and Analysis Dr. Julie J. Park LAAF XIII June 21, 2009

  2. (Re)Visiting the 90s • Newly acquired distance • Difficulty of analyzing an emerging culture (fish out of water) • For most of us, fullest decade of our lived experience

  3. Some Markers of 90s Culture • Clinton presidency • Flannel • Racial conflict (92 riots, OJ, culture wars, etc.) • Gen X • Continuing evolution of hip-hop, grunge/alternative, Nirvana • Prominent centers of culture breeding: Silicon Valley, Seattle, Austin, etc. • The interweb! AOL, Prodigy, Netscape

  4. 90s Television • Saved by the Bell (1989 to 1993) • Beverly Hills 90210 (1990 to 2000) • Doogie Howser M.D. (1989 to 1993) • My So-Called Life (1994 to 1995) • Full House (1987 to 1995) • Family Matters (1989 to 1997) • Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (1990 to 1996) • The Simpsons (1989 to present) • Seinfeld (1989 to 1998) • Murphy Brown (1988 to 1998) • ER (1994 to 2009), Friends (1994 to 2004) • Daria, Beevis and Butthead (1997 to 2002, 1993 to 1997)

  5. Setting the Stage for the Next Decade • Sex and teens (Totally chaste in SBTB -> Doogie Howser -> 90210 -> Dawson’s Creek -> The OC/Gossip Girl) • Randomness (Seinfeld -> Arrested Development, Curb Your Enthusiasm, etc.) • GLBT characters (Ellen -> Any show where there’s a GLBT person) • Race (Post-Cosby, intersections with social class, All American Girl’s flop) • Angstiness and self-awareness (My So-Called Life, Felicity) • Cynicism and sarcasm • Animated shows for teens and adults (Simpsons, etc.)

  6. What You Didn’t See Within-cast diversity (except for Lisa on SBTB) Reality TV References to current events Inner-city life Neon (except in some of Lisa from SBTB’s earlier outfits…and Fresh Prince) Probably…a lot of other stuff

  7. 1990s Cinema Thug life (“Don’t be a menace to South Central while drinking your juice in the hood”) Chris Farley/David Spade/Adam Sandler/Mike Myers Really big action movies Teen movies (Scream, 10 Things I Hate about You, She’s All That, Clueless, etc.) Miramax, Dreamworks Slacker films (Dazed and Confused, Kevin Smith) Everything with Tom Hanks/Cruise or Julia Roberts

  8. Reality Bites as a Reflection of 90s Culture The non-familial unit (Friends, Seinfeld) Blend of cynicism and self-awareness Gen X / Slacker Flannel MTV-esque channel Corporate co-option of coolness Rebelling against corporate culture (Matrix, Office Space) but challenge (futility?) of resisting AIDS David Spade The Gap White people //Singles, Threesome

  9. Gen X and the Passive Search for Meaning From Douglas Coupland’s “Generation X” (1991) Born 1965-ish to 1980-ish “United States of Depression” (Elizabeth Wurtzel, Prozac Nation), intellectual underachievers Reaction to 80s yuppie-ism Reconciling “lessness” with “2+2=5ism” “What’s the meaning of life?” “Pizza”

  10. Adultolesence An upper-middle class ailment? Structural causes: Greater college debt, rising cost of living, delayed marriage, no draft Helicopter parenting Personal causes: What do I want to do with my life? The tension between wanting a meaningful life/not selling out and…reality (which may or may not bite) “Hey Sammy, what’s your goal?” “My goal is…I’d like a career or something.”

  11. Is it so bad? Yes and no The 1990s setting the stage for… Later 2000s: Search to blend authenticity/meaning with the tools of the man (social entrepreneurship) Interweb blurring lines between Citizen Joe Smith Kim and the establishment Obama presidency: Legitimization of “making a difference”

  12. Anyway, let’s have some advice! Dear Dr. Park, I am an ambitious female recent college graduate who wants to make a difference in the world. My boyfriend is really, really, really smart but doesn’t want to look for a job. He just sits on the couch all day watching TV. He says that it’s because he doesn’t want to sell out and lose his soul to the man. He also wears a lot of flannel. Is this just a phase or should I be genuinely worried? By the way, did you know that Evian spelled backwards is naïve? Sincerely, Lelaina Kim Smith

  13. Dr. Park says… Hi Lelaina Kim Smith, Hmm, sounds like you got a real keeper. Just kidding. Well there are a few possible things going on. If you two only recently graduated from college, your boyfriend might be entitled to a little post-college drift/denial of impending reality. However, there must be a time when, in the words of the wise Liz Lemon, he learns to “nut up” and be a man. Not only does he sound lazy, but he’s also possibly being a bad steward of his gifts and talents. I get that he doesn’t want to give in to the man, but c’mon, seeing meaningfulness/purpose and ->

  14. … practicality / being able to pay the bills as being mutually exclusive arenas is SO 1990s. However, the 90s do have a lot of wisdom to offer us, such as that found in the 1998 TLC single “No Scrubs,” which I believe could be applicable to your situation. So if your guy is “always talkin’ about what he wants and just sits on his broke ass,” I say that’s a warning sign. It’s great that you can see his potential, but he’s the only one who can turn it into a reality. Who knows, he may grow up and snap out of it, but in the meantime, I hope you aren’t paying his cable bill. Sincerely, Dr. Julie J. Park

  15. Julie’s 90s Soundtrack Violent Femmes Smashing Pumpkins REM 10,000 Maniacs The Cranberries Salt n’ Pepa Enjoying 80s music during the 90s (New Order, Depeche Mode, Erasure, the Cure) 90s worship music 90s Christian artists (Out of the Grey, Susan Ashton)

  16. 90s music that’s so bad, it’s good…no, it’s still bad Real McCoy Ace of Base Meat Loaf Total Eclipse of the Heart (remix) Blessed Union of Souls Celine Dion (sorry lois) And many, many others…

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