Catcher in the Rye for me.....read it in my 30s. Although not a 80s book, it was a cultural icon where I grew up.
What was it like growing up in the 80's.
- Thread starter ThatAsianGuy
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Catcher in the Rye for me.....read it in my 30s. Although not a 80s book, it was a cultural icon where I grew up.
I like films from all decades......I am not particularly nostalgic probably because my life during the '80s was pretty hard, but a good movie is a good movie, whenever it was made.
I agree there, but don't you feel you have special memories of films you saw as a child?
I have special memories of some films, but not just in my childhood and not because they were particularly good, for example I have fond memories of watching Inner Space, not because of the film, but because of the girl who I went with....the same with Ghost and Salute of the Jugger and Clueless.......
It's all about the women, not the films...
Soldato
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen. One of many films that stuck with me as a child. Only after watching it again recently did I notice Uma Thurman's naked breasts tho'. It's a PG too, very cunning.
Ah... I have a few of those.
First date with a girl... went to see Trainspotting. Not the best film for it.
First date with another girl... Lawnmower Man... ideal for a back of the cinema grope as it was awful
I'm a shade younger, so those were 90s films. I didn't hit puberty until near the end of the 80s so my memories are a little purer
First date with a girl... went to see Trainspotting. Not the best film for it.
First date with another girl... Lawnmower Man... ideal for a back of the cinema grope as it was awful
I'm a shade younger, so those were 90s films. I didn't hit puberty until near the end of the 80s so my memories are a little purer
Ah... I have a few of those.
First date with a girl... went to see Trainspotting. Not the best film for it.
First date with another girl... Lawnmower Man... ideal for a back of the cinema grope as it was awful
I'm a shade younger, so those were 90s films. I didn't hit puberty until near the end of the 80s so my memories are a little purer
I remember going to watch Superman (the original one with Christopher Reeve) with my Dad, I was about 9 and it was the last time my Dad was really a Dad tbh....I hold mixed feeling about that film, happy because my Dad was being a Dad, bad because it marked the end of my childhood in many ways.
I have never watched Trainspotting, but I really like The Lawnmower Man.
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This thread brings back a lot of good childhood memories.
Soldato
Born in 73
Winters were snow covered and the world didn't grind to a halt.
You walked to school on your own, rain or shine and if you forgot your PE kit you did it in your underpants, no one brought you the kit from home for you.
Schools didn't close because it was a bit windy or there was a dusting of snow on the ground
You had a paper round if you wanted money
and you went to cub scouts and knocked on doors for spare change (forgot the cause)
You messed around in the woods and built hideouts without fear of being anally raped
You didn't worry about getting mugged or having the **** kicked out of you
You wondered what the hell that white poo was from on the pavements.
You mowed the lawns without question
You mowed your neigbours lawns for extra pocket money
You helped wash the dishes without question
and you certainly didn't back chat your parents teachers or elders, well unless you liked getting slippered / belted or caned that is.
If you got caught by a copper doing something you shouldn't, you were dragged back to your home by the ear lobe and got more slippering / belting or caning by your parents.
Your parents thanked the police for this service!
You didn't get £1 million quids worth of Christmas presents, you got a few wooden toys, maybe a Tonka toy if you were really lucky and you were thankful.
Your parents had big hair, beards and frilly clothes and didn't sit you in front of a TV to keep you quiet.
OK bored now.
+ 1 in a nutshell
Soldato
Hell yeah, that was brilliant.
Comics?! In my day we had to make do with pictures drawn in the mud with sticks!
Lol, we had shell suits, how classy.
Penny chews.
Beano and Beezer.
Saturday morning kids TV.
Stonewashed Jeans.
Half penny coins.
Mullets.
Reebok Pumps.
Pogo Balls.
ZX spectrum and commodore 64 and atari ST.
Arcade machines.
Monster munch
Walkmans.
VHS videos.
BMX and choppers.
Rotary dial telephones.
............
Penny chews.
Beano and Beezer.
Saturday morning kids TV.
Stonewashed Jeans.
Half penny coins.
Mullets.
Reebok Pumps.
Pogo Balls.
ZX spectrum and commodore 64 and atari ST.
Arcade machines.
Monster munch
Walkmans.
VHS videos.
BMX and choppers.
Rotary dial telephones.
............
Commissario
Don't forget
Don't tell mum the babsitters dead*
Ferris Bueller's Day Off**
Adventures in Babysitting*
Blade Runner
Aliens
Oddly enough I've been having a bit of an "older" film catch up over the past couple of years, what with picking up a number of the classics on DVD and blu
Back to the question in the title.
Having to go out to the shops to get a new release of virtually anything.
Having to ring up to place a "mail order" (or send a letter
) and "allow up to 28 days for delivery" (which seemed an age when you are 8).Your computer, if you were lucky involved playing around with a tape recorders volume controls to get it to load that new game, with a "boot time" of up to about 10 minutes from turning on, to starting a game - and your joystick would likely work on your mates computer by a different company
You were excited that your new camera had a built in flash, and auto wind/rewind!
You were excited that your new phone wasn't a rotary dial and went "beep" rather than "brrrrrrding" when you dialed a number.
A cordless phone was a miracle of modern technology.
You would buy a brand of cereal (or pester your parents to), to get the toy in it
Knightmare and the like, when CITV was actually a programming block that tried to make good children's entertainment in opposition to BBC/cBBC, rather than an unwanted afterthought of a channels PSB license requirements.
*Bpth seemed much much better when they came out than they do now
**When John Hughes died, it prompted me to pick up a number of his films that I hadn't seen in years
I don't think there is massively more traffic than during the 80s, and the traffic there is probably gives off fewer harmful fumes. I hardly ever see exhaust smoke now, whereas I used to in the 80s (before catalytic converters and unleaded petrol became widespread).
As for the original question every decade is better to grow up in than the last, telecommunications have massively improved, in the old days if you wanted to contact a friend/girl that meant phoning up and speaking to their family, nowadays everyone has mobile phones, internet etc. The latter making pretty much everything easier especially research for school projects etc.
In terms of TV etc, in the 80s you had 4 tv channels watched on a shared CRT tv much smaller than modern sets, if you were a flash git you might have teletext. Whereas nowadays kids get dozens of freeview channels on their posh LCD tv, maybe a TV in their bedroom as well. Many of the classic 80s shows can still be watched nowadays anyway e.g. on Challenge or Dave. Watching football basically mean The Big Match on ITV, none of this round the clock Sky coverage kids have today. Recording stuff via PVR is dead easy now, no messing about trying to find space on VHS tapes.
In terms of movies being better in the 80s even if that is true, there is nothing to stop people from watching 80s movies now. I'd rather have 80s+90s+00s+10s movies than just 80s movies!
In terms of music, MP3 is a much better format than Vinyl/Cassette, you can walk around with 100 albums in your pocket.
Gadgets a lot worse in the 80s of course, no digital photography so you'd take pics and have no idea how they'd look until you spent a fortune in boots having them developed, assuming you didn't expose the film when you removed it. Computer games very basic, 8bit computers maybe a really crappy console.
On the flipside there may be a few things that were marginally better, education standards allegedly better, yuppy parents bringing in the cash so plenty of holidays in Majorca etc. But overall being a child of the noughties/deccies is way better than being a child of the 80s.
I was born in 1989, but over the last few years everything about the 80's I have took a bit of an interest in. First it was mainly the music as my Dad got me into it a lot and my huge variety of music interests largely stems from the 80's now.
Even 80's (American mostly) films, there's something about them which even now makes them so much better than films released today and loads of suggestions already mentioned in this thread is just to point out a few!
A lot of people I know who were in there 20's/30's during the 80's state that it was one of the worst points of their lives due to high unemployment, lack of money in a way & Maggie Thatcher's conservative government. However, without a heartbeat I would love just to step back into the 80's for 1 day and see what it was really like.
Liam
Even 80's (American mostly) films, there's something about them which even now makes them so much better than films released today and loads of suggestions already mentioned in this thread is just to point out a few!
A lot of people I know who were in there 20's/30's during the 80's state that it was one of the worst points of their lives due to high unemployment, lack of money in a way & Maggie Thatcher's conservative government. However, without a heartbeat I would love just to step back into the 80's for 1 day and see what it was really like.
Liam
Nah you wouldn't have lasted there long. As you said the Tories had this depressing ideology basically they taught "survival of the fittest", or "know your place" and in theory they may have been correct but in practice they created a lot of divisions and angry people. The "class system" was very much in your face, people were poor, council schemes were rife and basically nobody could care less. The 80's and early 90's could be very depressing, the music was very creative and meaningful however. Now we have simon cowel and his xfactor, ppffft. Not that i was a massive music fan however. generally people were very lost in the 80's there was a lack of hope and many angry disgruntled people about, you wouldn't want to go there as compared to today.
Man, that's true & the cartoons (not sure about the uk) seem dumb now, I grew up with Rockos modern Life, Angry Beavers & Ren & Stimpy (the old one, not the newest one) they were good & funny. Plus what a strange fashion era the 80s were. The town I grew up in was a lot better back then.