Party Like It’s 1995
So I turned 30 last week. And around the same time, I’ve started seeing ads and trailers for the movie version of Rent. Now, I was in college in New York City in the summer of ’96, when the show premiered on Broadway. And back then, the show had a policy of reserving the front two rows of the theater for sale the day of the performance for 20 bucks. So if you were willing to wait in the line, you could see the show for cheap. Well, that summer and fall, you could not get away from Rent. One of my roommates was head of the campus theater group, and I think he saw it around half a dozen times (possibly more). He even dragged me to see it once, the only time I’ve seen a Broadway show. Many of my colleagues on the school paper had the cast album, and blared it on production nights. Well, now most of the original cast is back for the movie version, and it is just so freakin’ weird to see this attempt to recapture a particular moment of cultural history. (I don’t know if the story of the movie has been updated to take place now or if it’s still set in the 90s.)
And the more I’ve thought about that, the more I realize that there is a part of my pop culture brain that is permanently stuck about ten years in the past. I was grocery shopping the other day and found myself singing along to a Gin Blossoms song from 1993. Heck, even when I listen to alternative radio these days, it’s WXPN, the adult alternative station. I use an episode of Babylon 5 called “Passing Through Gethsemane” in some of my classes at Temple to talk about the thorny issues of personal identity. And it hit me the other day that the episode is about ten years old, so that there’s a very high likelihood that today’s 18- and 19-year olds will find it dated. But these things don’t feel old to me. My memories of encountering them for the first time are still vivid enough that they feel fresh It’s interesting that, much as I try and keep up with how technology and other things are changing the world we live in, there’s still some part of my self-understanding that includes the not-really-recent-anymore past as part of its image of the present..
About Dave Thomer
Born and raised in Philadelphia. Studied philosophy at Fordham University in the Bronx, where I made many great friends and met my wonderful wife. We moved back to Philadelphia, where I studied philosophy some more and became a teacher. Online and off, I'm looking for ways that we can be better citizens and build stronger communities.
Thursday, November 10th 2005 at 7:58 pm |
Speaking as someone who still plays, collects and writes about video games from 20-25 years ago, I have no idea what in the world you’re talking about.
Well, okay. That’s a lie.
The truth is, everyone does this, but I suspect as your child gets older, you’ll rapidly find yourself being a little more up to date. Granted, the day she points something out to you that has the social voice of Passing To Gethsemane, I think we’ll be a lot older. But in my experience with my friends who have kids, trust me, the kids will undo the time warp and drag your into the present with them. Whether you like it or not.
Friday, November 11th 2005 at 12:44 am |
Well, I have a sister who’s ten years younger than I am. Between that and the reading I do, I feel like I’m reasonably up to date. But there’s a difference between observing something as an outsider and actually being a part of it. My sister uses “emo” as an adjective in casual conversation quite frequently. I know what the word means, but that doesn’t mean it’s likely to be a word that pops into my head any time soon.
Thursday, November 17th 2005 at 3:47 am |
Wasn’t he that tall gangly guy in UHF? Good of her to remember him all these years later.