Painted

In the early years of my life I never really paid attention to this kind of stuff, so I might be completely wrong about all of this, therefore please bear with me.

Looking back upon the culture, attitudes, and personalities of people as a whole during the last fifty years in this country, it sure does seem to me that during the last 10-15 years things have changed a lot from what they were.

Example: I recently watched "The Breakfast Club" again for the 280th time. I'm not saying that ALL kids/people in the early 80's were like what they were in that movie, but I sure as hell remember kids/people like Bender or Brian the nerd. According to my mom, they had the same kind of people in the sixties. But today, (I think, I could be very wrong about all this remember) I think you'd be hard pressed to find "innocent" kids like those.
Not to mention asswipe principles, though that still might be the same

Another Example: My mother went to school in the early sixties/late fifties. I was talking to her the other day, and she remembers being "shocked!" at hearing swear words the first time, in her late teens/early twenties. I wasnt so perfect, swearing prolifically with other guys by my Junior year in HS, yet I still didn't feel 100% right saying stuff like "motherfucker" and "cocksucker", and we'd never do it in front of girls.
I have a nephew who's almost 12, sometimes my sister dumps him off at my place for a night. He already says "FUCK!" whenever I beat him at some random computer game. I've heard a "cocksucker" from this kid once, as well. Not that I really give a shit, but man, things were different.

More thoughts, and perhaps a "shut the fuck up, most things are still the same, you're just confused and old", would be greatly appreciated.

P.S. I'm not 100% sure this is the correct forum for this thread, but I think it is the best choice..

noahfor

it seems to me like society is becoming more aware of itself, and this is sort of connected to that, but i'm not sure how:

it seems like people are more ready to call things genius or the greatest nowadays. in years past, geniuses would pop up a couple every century, but now there's a new musical genius every week. it's like we are obsessed with " the now" more than ever. i heard that that last pope we had is going to be canonized faster than any other pope before him, or something like that. was he that much better than other popes? i feel like it's because he's a pope in "our" time that "we" want him canonized. i don't know. i just kinda feel this way. like "the greatest rapper of all time". isn't it a little early for that. now now now. this election. this president. this war. i mean it seems ridiculous for me to be saying that people didn't used to care about what was going on "now" for them, but it just seems like they didn't as much. maybe, it's just the way i'm starting to look at things.

it kind of ties in with what you're saying. kids don't want to wait to grow up. they want to curse now.

i remember, when i was in sixth grade, one of my friends in eighth grade pointed to a picture of a girl in the year book and said: "that girl sucked a dick" like it was a notable thing. she was known for having sucked a dick, but just two years late, when i was in eighth grade in the same school, all the girls were sucking dicks, girls were pregnant and noone thought it was out of the ordinary. later, i heard 6th graders were sucking dicks.0

slimshaydee

A few things I've noticed that are different in the past 10-15 years

1. Helicopter parents - sure they existed before, but not on this level. College age kids having their parents call the college and demand grades be changed is going way too far.
2. The pussification of children - no red ink, no competitive games, no toys that could scratch precious little junior, Ritalin
3. Selfishness - like helicopter parents they selfishness has always existed, however the concept of politeness, helping a stranger on the roadside, the growing trend of not wanting children etc is a sign to me that we are becomming more selfish.
4. Communication - since the advent of the internet and other devices such as mobile phone, communication has increased vastly. It's just in a different manner than it was. I know a lot of people who'd rather spend time discussing topics on internet forums than sitting in front of the TV.
5. Hollywood is running out of ideas.
6. People are scared - terrorism has scared people into allowing laws to be passed that infringe on their basic rights. The people of the 60/70s would not have had this. They'd be out protesting for their rights.
7. Indoor activities are ever increasing whilst outdoor activities are ever decreasing thanks mostly to technology.
8. More and more countries are developing, which can only benefit it's people.

Ample

I graduated high school 12 years ago, so fall perfect in that 10-15 range. Maybe it has something to do with the area that you live in? I mean take "The Breakfast club" and "Footloose" two different views of high school that came out about the same time. Of course its Hollywood so they are going to sensationalize and exaggerate. If you compare the differences from those movies to a movie in your mother’s time, I would have to guess that the amount of differences from the 60s to the 80s are about the same from the 80s to today. So I would say that its generational more than anything.

I would have to guess that the major difference is that technology. Nobody had a cell phone, and I think our school had three computers that internet access and they were all in the library. I currently work for an engineering firm and when we get projects that involve school, we design drawings with data ports for just about every desk or a wireless network for a whole classroom.

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Painted

I disagree, I think that more things changed from the 80's to today than the 60's to the 80's. Remember, I'm not really talking about technology, but just the "people".

Ample

Lets see....

In my parents age....
Kids dress conservative
Corparal Punshiment was okay'd
Didn't swear
Didn't have sex (Unless you were a slut)
Most had strong Christian values/morals

All of that changes, in the 80s (happen before that) All of those things that were taboo got reversed.

I dont see the....
lost of dickhead school admistraters
kids screwing earlier
lack of respect
As slimshaydee put it, the pussification of the kids
I dont know about bullies, are they still around?

I dont see 80s to now being greater than the change that took place between the 50s/60s and the golden John Hughes era.

__________________

Her juju beads are so nice
She kissed my third cousin twice
Im the king of pomona

xepherys

I'm not really sure, but to me it seems partially due to overstimulation. Has anyone noticed that ADHD is rampant these days? I used to think (despite definitely beind ADD myself) that it was all hype. But at the same time, even since *I* was a kid, I look at how it's different for my kids. Video games and music and TV and movies, evenrything is on the go, fast fast fast. It used to be that you'd sit down for a movie and by the end, you'd be done... that was enough. It satisfied. Nowadays, kids don't have the patience to sit through a two hour movie, parents don't have time to sit through one, but even if you do, you want another that you can't have.

At the same time, there is no longer a sense of amazement. Or rather, what little amazement occurs is only fleeting. The Mars Rovers, for instance, were really a big deal, but even those of us who WERE excited about the live footage from Mars forgot about it and became interested in something else within a week. As a kid I remember being enthralled by things for a whole summer... one summer was Space, the next was computers, the next was Nintendo. A whole SUMMER? Three months of being crazed for just one thing. No more! A new video game, show or movie comes out every week. A new band or music video... a new concert event. There's no lasting enjoyment in life... there's only striving to find the next interesting or fulfilling thing. Much the same way people don't have lifelong careers... they change jobs, companies, careers, lifestyles, all in the name of moving up, getting a 5% raise here or a 10% raise there. There's no loyalty to local businesses or community.

*sigh*

I could go on, but it's really quite depressing...

Ustwo

The only real difference is the information age is exposing kids to stuff they would never be exposed to at the ages they are today.

I remember finding an old playboy at about age 11 and thinking I found pure gold. Now any 11 year old can find some chick fucking a donkey while getting peed on without any effort.

I don't know if its a good or bad thing long term, ask me again in 20 years.

The pussification is real as well, but its going to be short term, odds are the kids raised as pussies today will raise their kids very hard nosed, my generation is already seen as harsh parents compared to their 60's parents.

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Average_Joe

Technology and the media are probably the biggest factors in the changes in the last 15 years. When I was growing up in the 80's as a teenager, everything seemed much slower and tamer than what I'm experiencing now.

Examples:
MTV then: rock music videos with VJ's 24/7
MTV now: the videos are more edgy with more sex and attitude, reality shows with swearing and sexual situations, MTV spring break with bikinis & thongs in constant view.

video games then: Atari, Space Invaders, Asteroids
video games now: Grand Theft Auto (violence, blood, murder)

recreation then: outdoor activities (the sun is great - get a tan!)
recreation now: indoor activities (the sun is bad for you - melanoma)

These are just some examples. Computers have a lot to do with it as well (internet, does most of the thinking for you, etc.)

Bill O'Rights

No..please do. I find your take to be fascinating, and not at all inacurate.

Consider even television commercials. When I was a kid, they were s l o w m o v i n g. They told a story. Now they're fastaslightningwithimagesliteralyjumpingoutatyouevery1/4second. Talk about overstimulation.

__________________
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Ustwo

1970's hair is comming back into style (god help us all) so not everything is changing.

__________________
Agents of the enemies who hold office in our own government, who attempt to eliminate our "freedoms" and our "right to know" are posting among us, I fear.....on this very forum. - host

Obama - Know a Man by the friends he keeps.

flstf

I'm probably close to your Mother's age and one of the biggest changes I have noticed is the breakup of families. When I was young I only remember one classmate who's parents were divorced. Now I think it is approaching 50% or so.

Starting with my "babyboom" generation, we don't seem to have the same commitment and staying power as our "WWII" generation parents. We are quick to throw in the towel instead of working through our problems. I'm not sure what effect this has on our children.

Zeraph

I don't know about the other stuff but I agree with the language. More cursing, more hyperbole (calling things heaven, best ever, etc.) Not too surprising really, there's no way the puritanical values could have lasted.

I agree, but I look at it a different way. We are discovering marriage is mostly useless now yet we still have the socilization to want to get married. Therefore we get a lot of divorces. When you figure out on some level marriage is mostly pointless, divorcing isn't giving up, its facing reality.

Ustwo

15 years together with the same woman, married for 8 going on 9, still happy as a newlywed. Your reality isn't mine.

__________________
Agents of the enemies who hold office in our own government, who attempt to eliminate our "freedoms" and our "right to know" are posting among us, I fear.....on this very forum. - host

Obama - Know a Man by the friends he keeps.

Zeraph

Hey I never said they never work or that they can't have meaning to the people involved. What I mean is, couldn't you have lived the same life with your wife without being technically married?

I meant marriage as an institution is mostly pointless and only one form of raising a family not that unconditional love between two people is bad.

Marriage is based in politics/government, don't let the fairy tales and propaganda fool you. But again, don't take it the wrong way, I'll probably get married some day but the person I chose to live my life with won't be because some judge said we could.

I'm just pointing out the difference between lawful marriage and unconditional love between two people. Since most people don't and never find the latter, they finally figure out that they don't need the lawful marriage and get divorced.

And I was using "we" in the sense of society, not my personal reality.

xepherys

I don't think I can agree with this at all. While marriage isn't for everyone (and/or isn't NEEDED by everyone) you can't really call politics or propaganda into play on this one. Marriage have existed for thousands of years. They've taken differnet forms (religious, civil, etc). Sometimes it was a court official that could do it, othetimes the captain of a ship. Sometimes the local priest or witchdoctor, other times someone else. This changes over time, but the basic principle stays the same.

Wow, wish I'd read this earlier... but yeah, you and I seem to agree on the basics of this matter. It's funny you mentioned telling a story. I don't find movies, especially, to be very full of story these days. If they are, it's usually a cookie-cutter story in the chick-flick scene. What is the "story" of Fast and the Furious? What about XXX (Vin Diesel)? Most action movies barely have any plot at all, let alone an actual story. People go to see "hot" actors and actresses, explosions, sex scenes and violent action. I admit it, I do the same thing. It actually disgusts me a little bit, but at the same time, it's now habit.

Ch'i

Your right, and I think it has alot to do with marketing competition. If you take the last 10-15 years in the film industry, for instance, it's fairly obvious how styles like Lord of the Rings, and DieHard with a Vengeance start to become the norm. Too many movies trying too hard. Everything about our society is speeding up, it only makes sense with the rapid growth technology, population, demand, ext.