Quote:
Originally Posted by esquire
I don't know what it was about the 90s and the silly aggression about everything right down to the t-shirts (NO FEAR) and music (nu-metal) but I hated that.
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The 90s were very much a counter-culture decade driven by Gen Xers coming of age and rebelling against a lot of the cultural norms that existed and persevered throughout the Cold War. There's a ton of youtube analysis videos on it, but it's very easy to culturally see how this played out.
The Simpsons were the most popular show in the world for years - a mundane, normal family that contrasted heavily against wholesome families as they were portrayed in the 80s (Full House, Cosby Show, etc.). They swore and failed and weren't affluent. Ren & Stimpy, Beavis & Butthead. It's easy to see why these would be appealing considering what came before them and the mold that had been set and expected. The Simpsons weren't perfect and they displayed something which was very counter to the
American Dream that had been set up for decades on American TV.
Wrestling increased in popularity, particularly when Monday Night Raw was introduced, with its anti-heroes becoming its most famous characters. Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock, and Mankind were all examples of anti-hero and anti-authority figures, to the point of physically assaulting and beating up their 'boss' in Vince McMahon repeatedly as part of the main storyline, and using the corporate McMahon as its main antagonist.
NASCAR increased in popularity too, and its most popular driver for a long time was anti-hero Dale Earnhardt, who was willing to damage and push others out of the way to be successful.
Movies were an easy source of anti-heroes - and the 1999 roster of movies exemplified a society that was bored of the static, everyday, corporate lifestyle. Office Space, American Beauty, Fight Club, and The Matrix
all feature protagonists who strip away from boring cubicles and office spaces to find out who they really are and to break free from mundane, corporate chains, and in some cases destroying them outright.
etc. etc.
9/11 ended all of that pretty swiftly. Combine that with the internet exploding and mono-culture as dictated by corporations was effectively over a few years later as options expanded.