Now that you've seen some video footage and read some articles, I'd like you to write a reaction, something you didn't previously know, about the 80s. Then read through some other posts and write a reaction to his/her post.
Something that surprised me was how historical events that I associated with much longer ago was still around in the 1980s, while inventions and movies that I thought were produced much more recently were actually produced nearly 40 years ago. For example, I thought Tianamen Square and Berlin Wall events happened much earlier and further forward in time, and I didn't realize USSR was still around in the 80s. I thought the space program ended much earlier in time, but it was indeed still running in the 1980s, with Columbia and Challenger taking off. And at the same time, I didn't realize Batman, Terminator, or the Simpsons were created in the 1980s. I always thought they were much more recently, like 1990.
Me too! When viewing the video as well as the reading, some things that I correlated with the 1990s and the 2000s were actually from the 80s. I agree that the creation of Terminator as well as the Simpsons surprised me.
same here! i did not know the movie rain man was created in the 80s. its such a good movie. the fashion trends ended in the 90s and its sad because the 80s fashion was cool.
Me too! I thought that the computer wasn't introduced until close to the 20th century. The fall of the USSR and other important world events we learned about in history are a lot more recent than I thought they were.
I was surprised at how much the world changed from the 80s to now. For example, in fashion, people had gigantic hair and punk/rock clothes, which is very ugly in comparison from now. The first personal computer with graphics was made by Apple, and now it has been improved and built upon so much with modern cutting edge technology.
It's always amazing to see what technology looks like from a different era. Can you believe the internet used to come in floppy disks shipped to your mail?
I was surprised by the homophobia that was present in the 1980s. I knew that there was homophobia back in the 1980s, but never expected it to be that much. Even during the AIDS crisis people associated it with gays and it was known as "gay cancer". It's surprising to see how time changes things as 70% of all people now accept same-sex marriage.
I agree. People feared the gay community and anyone with HIV AIDS because they were so afraid of becoming infected dying. It can also resemble the fear of what happened in Charlottesville recently.
I agree. It is interesting how knowledge and things like science can be used to argue about social controversies. I like to see that we now know the correct answers and we can clearly see the changes in our society.
After doing the 80s assignments, a combination of historical events as well as trends surprised me. I knew what Tianneman Square was and what the event entailed, but I didn't connect it with the 80s at all. Additionally, like my realization of Tianneman Square, I didn't put the 80s together with Margret Thatcher or the Aids Epidemic either. As for trends, I was surprised to learn that shoulder pads were a big deal in the 80s. Furthermore, I was surprised to learn about the stereotypes of the 80s as well as the actions taken to combat them.
I think you made a really good point about making international historical connections and comparisons, something that occurs a lot. For example, for me, reading about Margaret Thatcher, she was in the middle of the Cold War, playing a sort of neutral role between the USA and the USSR. At the same time, she started to turn against the developing notion of what would become the EU!
I have always been familiar with 80's music and fashion because my mom would force me to listen to 80's music in the car as a child and I would watch a lot of my parents favorite movies. However in terms of the worldwide events such as the aids epidemic and the war between Argentina and Britain, I was not very educated. It was also interesting to see how much phobia of homosexual people there was. In fact it led to the word "gay" being used as a derogatory term to non-homosexual things.
I also was a little familiar with 80s music, as well as not knowing about the war between Argentina and Britain. I also didn't know why the word "gay" was thrown around as an insult towards things or people that had nothing to do with homosexuality, and I learned that it's because of extreme widespread homophobia in the 80s.
I completely agree, I never knew about so much of the events at that time. It's crazy to learn about all the struggles we aren't really aware of. Especially because now we are much more accepting in terms of homosexuality, but back then there were such wide spread, hurtful stereotypes.
I agree, but it is more interesting to see that they have become less prominent. Usually, the progression of society comes with the amplification of cultural elements, such as technology, but popular stereotypes of the 80's have rapidly diminished over the course of the 21st century.
What I learned about the 80's is that it was, to say the least, an eventful decade. Much political friction resulted in great historical moments (the Cold War ended, the Berlin Wall fell, etc.), and the only thing that pop culture shared in its sheer diversity was a desire to be different, featuring big hair, flashy color combinations, and cult classics that everyone could relate to. Technology and commercialism boomed, and several sports figures that eventually became legends and icons dominated their sports (Jordan, Montana, Tyson, etc.). Looking back today, it is interesting to see how some elements of the 80's have been expanded upon, such as technology, while others, such as the discrimination of homosexuality, have taken a complete turn.
I agree, and I think the phrase "eventful decade" really summarizes the 80s really well. It is true that just like the 60s 20 years before, the 80s was also characterized by issues both between the Western Bloc and Soviet Bloc and inside the society of the both blocs, and it is also very interesting to see elements of 80s is expanded upon.
I was not familiar with the war between the UK and Argentina over the Falkland Islands. It is interesting to see that before this war Margaret Thatcher was really unpopular but after UK had won, Margaret Thatcher quickly rose in popularity. It is very interesting to see how one event can have a huge impact and change a person's life completely.
I also think it is interesting to see how war can be influential to the world. It was huge shock to me that there was a war between the UK and Argentina.
I thought I didn't know anything from the 80s, but the video jogged my memory a bit. I knew about the Tiananmen Square and the tank man that disappeared, but I didn't know that was when the AIDS epidemic occurred, nor was it arcade game era. I never really bothered to find out when pac-man was first released, but now I know. Gender roles and stereotypes weren't even on my mind until the question popped up, and that people's views on these changed quite a bit over time.
I also think it is really interesting to see the differences in the way people currently see gender roles and stereotypes compared to back then. It's hard to believe that so much as changed between now and then, with it being so peaceful right now compared to all the devastation with Tiananmen Square and the ongoing Cold War in the 80's.
Me too, I was also surprised at how much I already knew about the 80's however, there was also a lot of stuff that I knew about but didn't know when it happened
the 80s was the golden time for my mom, so many of the styles and music that was hip i'm familiar with thanks to her. I personally thought the big hair was cool and should make a comeback. the 80s stereotypes and the phobia towards gay people is truly disgusting and I'm happy I was not there to see it because it makes me furious. the only reason i was familiar with the huge aids crisis that broke out was because of family guy. i was not really educated in the ugly the 80s had to deal with. im very happy we have moved forward as a country, thanks to obama. our president. not trump.
I was very surprised that Levi's jeans were only $15. Also, I was unaware that most of the songs that I had heard was from the 80s, but I am glad to have found out so I can start to explore more from the 1980s.
I agree. I thought that it was interesting how prices have changed since the 80s and how there are things from the 80s that we didn't even know when they were made.
Through these activities, I realized that there was a lot of social and political turmoil in the 1980s. People were rapidly changing their attitudes about gender roles, peer pressure, and same-sex marriage. Parents were becoming concerned about their children playing too many video games. The public was constantly in fear of contracting AIDS. The Cold War was coming to a close, the Soviet Union was falling, and the Tiananmen Square massacre was occurring. A lot was going on back then.
I thought I didn't know a lot about the 80s but watching the video in class made me remember more than I thought I knew. What I find fascinating is that it was sort of an age that started a lot of what we have know. For example, video games were created then and have evolved to such a variety today. Same goes for technology since Apple is now so big in our current society. Another thing I'd like to comment on is the never ending fashion and music trends the 80's set. Although, 80s fashion and rock aren't so widely practiced now, you see/hear them once in awhile--especially with fashion since a lot of the times we bring back old trends.
I agree. It's amazing how many similarities there are between their time and ours. I never knew the 80s marked the beginning of all these technologies, games, and fashion styles.
I feel the lecture is very interesting, and I learned a lot about cultures and society in the 80s from the lecture, even though I didn't really learn anything new about political events of the 80s because I was already familiar with them. First, I learned how arcade game originated and reached its peak in the early 80s and then dropped, and I also learned a lot about the musics and fashion of the 80s, which are not so common right now. Second, the issue of homosexuality and AIDS epidemics are also very interesting to me, and it is very interesting to track how the social acceptance of homosexuality grew over time and how AIDS was used in the early 80s as an evidence against homosexuality. Overall, the lecture is very fun and I learned things that I don't know before, and some issues really make me feel interested.
Haoxiang, I also found this lecture very interseting. Even though there were no spoken words, other than the music ofcourse, it was still really cool to see images of how life was back then and it made me mentally compare it to life today.
I was also very interested at the dramatic change in approval of homosexuality. The dramatic change in the perspective of distinct gender roles was also surprising to me. Although I was familiar with many of the political events going on in the 1980s, I was unaware that the Falklands War played a role in the rise of Margaret Thatcher's approval ratings.
Before the video started I thought that I knew absolutely nothing about the 80s, but it turns out that I did know some things about the 80s it was just that I associated them with the wrong decade like the giant hair and the shoulder pads. Something that I didn't know before the video was about the breakout of AIDS in the 80s. and other accidents like the plane going down.
I also didn't have much clue about what the 1980s. All I knew was the weird hairstyle and the fashion. It is fascinating to see how much we have a developed and changed since then.
I wasn't surprised at how much I recognized from the 80's because of how much it's integrated into modern day pop culture. Whether it's remixing Marvin Gaye's "(Sexual) Healing" to bringing back fashion trends (fanny packs) it's evident to become familiar with the 80's. Also technology, health care, and government structures that originated from the 80's have been developed and are being used in today's society. What I learned is that the 80's were the time where gender roles started getting destroyed. The drop in how many people believed that men should work while woman stayed home was pretty big and soon after people pushed for an equal effort from both partners. Although it's a bit scary how not long ago this just started happening, I feel like we have come a long way to break the glass ceiling.
I agree Misaki. It is quite scary how little time has passed since the 80s and how far we have come. This only makes us question if we could do that in 30/40 years what will be happening in the next 30/40 years.
I knew some of these events like the eruption of Mt. St. Helens, the Challenger Space Shuttle explosion, the Chernobyl radioactive accident, but I did not have a good sense of where they were on the timeline. In addition, there were a few events, such as the Soviet shooting of the Korean plane and Black Monday, of which I had no knowledge. It was quite interesting to look back and compare the image of of the people on the Wall and the models of popular hairstyles. It was quite shocking to me that so many songs and movies are still well-known.
I agree! While there are many events from the 1980s that are well known, there are also many historically important events that I did not know of before reading about the 1980s. I wonder how knowledge of the 1980s will shift in the future as events from that period are incorporated into what students learn in history classes.
Before the video, my knowledge of the 80s was quite limited. I knew about the big hairstyles and the leg warmers however I did not know much about the events that occurred throughout the time period. It was shocking to see how many attacks occurred at the time and how much has changed since. It was funny to see how intrigued the people were from the "new cellphone" and how it seems like such a hassle to have right now. All the technology has changed so much since then and it was quite funny to see what people considered normal back then ranging from the technology to the clothes. It is amazing to see how much has changed within only 30-40 years.
I agree! I was impressed to see just how much technology has grown and changed since then, given the obvious differences between devices of the 80's and of modern devices. I was also surprised that there were so many political issues that were going on at the time.
I know right?! I hadn't realized there were so many undeclared wars going on and so much fighting. I was always under the impression that these were around the 2000s and not the 80s. I was pretty surprised about how much our technology has evolved, from the touchscreens to the use of computers everywhere.
Previously I was already familiar with some of the historical events of the 80's, such as the eruption of Mt. St Helens or the Tiananmen Square protests, but I found the fashion part fascinating because I wasn't sure which were trends from the 80's or from another decade. It was also interesting to recognize the new technology and how it has changed over the years.
I agree! I didn't realize that there were so many fashion trends that started in the 80s. I also agreed that seeing the changes in technology was interesting. It's pretty weird seeing how a lot of the new technology from the 80s is technology we rarely or never use now.
I agree! I too was shocked to see how many of the technological advanced were essentially advancements on their predecessors in the 80's. I don't think we could've have been at this point if it weren't for the accomplishments of the 80's!
I agree, it's really fascinating to see how quickly has changed over the years. We've gone from boxes of Television sets to flat screen and small computers just in the palm of our hands.
I was familiar with a lot of the events like the volcano eruption and films like Back to the Future and Terminator (two of my favorite movies) but this made me think about how long ago the 80s actually were. I also didn't think I would know anything about American culture in the 80s, but it turned out that I knew more than I expected. I didn't know that the Korean airliner shot down had to do with the Cold War. Overall, I didn't realize how many things I love originated in the 80s, as in films, events, and the development of software and video games. I also didn't know that this is when traditional gender roles started to die out,and I'm happy I live in a time when they continue to die out.
I had the same idea that I actually knew nothing about the 80's, but watching the video made me realize that I knew more than I expected. I also didn't know that many things that I knew about originated from the 80's.
I thought that I didn't know much about the 80's culture, but watching the video, I actually knew a lot more than I thought. I knew a lot of the movies that were released in the 80's, and knew about things such as the Cold War. I was a bit surprised by the prices of things in the 80's, as I thought they would be very cheap. However, they turned out to be very expensive, and some things even more expensive than their prices today. I had thought that inflation had risen a lot from then to now, but even accounting for inflation, the prices are still pretty high. I also thought that they had some interesting slangs and different perspectives of what was fashionable. For the most part, I knew about a lot of the events that happened in the 80's, which really surprised me.
Me too! I didn't know much about the 80's culture and that the prices were outrageous back then. It is cool to see how businesses are always trying to decrease the price of their products and in relation to the prices back then, I would say that they did pretty well!
A lot of American events in the 80s do tie in heavily with the Cold War, and we did have a unit on the Cold War back in American History. I agree with the statement that the prices for electronics were very high, after adjusting for inflation.
Great blog post Elton! I was also surprised by some of the movies I had seen that were from the 80's. I remember watching E.T. and the flying bike scene from when I was younger and thought it was a recent movie, but it turns out it was made all the way back in 1982!
I knew some things about the 80's because my mom would always tell me things back when she was my age or older. Also my brother tells me things that are almost similar to the 80's since he is a true 90's kid. I knew the technology, the fashion, and most of the movies. I just never knew about the events that happened during that time. I always thought that the events either happened earlier, or I never knew about the events at all.
I was surprised about the movies that were popular in 80. I heard most of them before, but I didn't know they were all created during 1980s. I realized that 1980 was the age of evolution of culture. Also, I thought I know a lot of events that happened in 1980. However, there were a lot of events and issues occurred in 1980 that I never heard about. I hope I can learn more about 1980 now.
I knew some things about the 80's such as their fashion and music since I like to listen to music from different decades to see what it would sound like. What I thought was really interesting was the fact that during the 80's was the evolution from it to today, seeing the different fashion styles, technologies, music change from what it was to what it is now is really astonishing to me.
I agree that the drastic change between what technologies were available to them in the 1980's compared to the technologies that are available to us today.
I think other than the music and the choice of fashion, I didn't think I knew much about the 90s. don't think I realized how so many events (political, social, etc) or changes occurred in the 80s. I knew about events such as the tiananmen square massacre, the falling of the berlin wall, and the aids epidemic, but I didn't know that they all happened in the 80s. Also, from this video, I realized that there was a technology boom in the 80s. I thought it was pretty interesting how many things from the 80s such as technology and the opinions regarding homophobia have changed so much while other aspects of the 80s such as the music and fashion can still be seen today.
I totally agree with you especially regarding social norms. If we compare modern society to society back then, there's a huge difference in the LGBTQ community and acceptance of that community. Even in just the past 10 years, social norms have evolved to be much more flexible and accepting.
While I was familiar with the infamous leg warmers and crazy hair of the 80's, I wasn't aware of a lot of other events that occurred during this era. Watching the video, I was surprised to see that technology such as the internet and personal computers were invented during this period (honestly I was expecting the 90's for some reason). It was interesting to learn about historical events that have significant impact on modern day, such as the USSR pulling out of war which catalysts the birth of Al Qaeda.
I agree, I was also surprised about the technology back then. I feel that it is very surprising that technology would develop this fast, especially now that the cellphones are much smaller. Also, the political/world events also surprised me, as they are rather recent. The catalysts of Al Qaeda was very interesting, as It leads to some events today.
Being able to explore how the 1980's have influenced the modern-day culture has been surprising because I didn't know much about that time period. I learned that films, such as "Indian Jones" and "Die Hard" are from the 1980's and they continue to be popular today. As for technology, the first Apple computer was created in the 1980's and I think that is amazing to see how they first started and how far they have come in the technology industry. The first cell phone was created at that time as well, and now Apple has enhanced the cell phone and computer experience in a unique way. Lastly, the fashion was interesting to see because long hair was common for everyone along with neon clothing and the fashion trends have definitely changed since then.
I too thought it was very interesting seeing how the technology started out at first during that time zone and now how far it's gone. It's even more amazing to me to see that it was totally normal and extremely useful for them, to see that they were perfectly satisfied with that. Compared to this time, we're not satisfied till we get the best of the best we know we can get :3 Bahahaha. I also was intrigued by the fashion trends not personally, but just how that culture affected the social relationships, benefits, and trends as well :3 <3 It was really cool seeing the genuine people then hahahaha!!
I was surprised to learn about the extent of the famine in Africa, and the sheer amount of people affected. Over 400,000 innocent civilians died as a result of both the drought and human rights abuses taking place in the region. However, I was proud of the response the international community showed. By hosting relief concerts to raise money for Africa, we were able to raise around 250 million dollars in these efforts. I feel this is a prime example of tragedy bringing people closer together and enabling them to work together. An example by which several movements, in the face of adversity, have been inspired. Also, I learned about the economic changes and extreme inflation that took place in the ten year period. For example, the house prices rose from 70k on average to over 120k by the end of the decade. While that doesn't even come close to today's prices, it was definitely an extreme spike for the time period.
I was also surprised by both the famine and aid in Africa. The history courses in our school don't mention it, but it is still an important part of our history and shows how despite the cold war at the time, people could still unite and work together and help eachother
Watching the video, I realized that I recognized some of the fashion that events that occurred during the 80s. Some of the fashion has made a comeback in the modern day, which is interesting to see that most often fashion does make a comeback. I feel that I recognized a lot of 80s culture because my brother is always saying that he wished he was born during the 80s and watching old movies gave me insight to what it was like back then. I also watch "That 70s Show" and the characters in the show transition from the 70s to the 80s, so it's interesting to see how in such a short time technology has advanced very quickly.
I agree how some of the fashion trends back in the 80's made a comeback in the modern days. There are some places where I will see people wear something unusual and they can pull if off really well. My brother almost had the same opinion as your brother. When he was a kid, he would watch all the old classics and play all the games that were popular in the 80's. He would still reference back to a few of those shows to me when we are bored. But he never said he wanted to be a 80's kid.
I knew some things about the 80s because my parents would tell me stories about them growing up in that time. But what they didn't tell me was there was a lot of turmoil on gender roles and peer pressure along with same sex marriages. It also makes me think how socially we have come so far now that we have accepted different gender roles and same sex marriages.
Yeah, there was a lot of stereotyping happening at the time, and I'm glad that we've come a long way in accepting what everybody can do. While I'm glad that tragedies such as the Challenger are remembered, I feel the societal problems are kept a little from the limelight.
So many people have gone through hell for standing up for themselves, lots of them have been rioting against the government for not accepting who they are as people. Look at today, everything has changed so much and people yeah, they're still stereotyping it but more and more people out there are very comfortable with themselves.
I didn't know that the first space shuttle launched was the Columbia. I always thought that the first space shuttle was launched back in 1969, with the lunar landing. Turns out that the Columbia was the first in a new line of shuttles called orbiters. Orbiters were reusable space shuttles can could go into space and come back as a glider. I did know quite a bit of 80s music, as I am a fan.
I was surprised at how different the 80’s is from now, even though it was somewhat recent. Also, I was very surprised at how recent Tiananmen square and Berlin wall was. To me, it seemed like a very different world than it was today. The 80’s had different technology as well as different fashion and music. The fashion was very different, as they had leg warmers and the big hairs. I also realized that technology was developing very fast, since in the 1980’s, the cellphones looked like a cordless home phone, but bigger. This video allowed me to see what life was like in the 80’s, and it seemed very different from what we have today. Also, most of the prices for technology were very cheap compared to the prices today. Out of all of these events from the video, I was mostly surprised with the politics and world events during that time.
I was surprised at how recent these events were as well. I think we all find ourselves detached from these historical events when we learn about them from a textbook. I believe that this feeling is caused by the enormous changes in culture, like what you mentioned (fashion, technology etc).
It was pretty intriguing and cool seeing how the style, fashion, socializing, trends, and culture was just different between how it was years ago into the 80's and how it is now; the new, milennial times 2017. There are definately some differences that were known as trendy, hip, and stylish not just in what you would wear but also in how you would act, talk, and socialize. That was a key thing to me because I just found it genuinely intriguing how they would still socialize and interact with one another in how they each acted and talked in their personalities :3 <3 I realize that even in such different times from then to modern times as now-- people are still genuine and value relationships, socializing, having fun, talking, hanging out, etc. as genuine people with beloved, lovable personalities, hearts, dreams, passions, values, and goals. People are not any worse or any better during the 80's but just as the same now in 2017 in these terms. Every person is genuine in their hearts, personalities, dreams, values, passions, and goals.
The fashion and style of the eighties is pretty cool and the differences between that time and modern time are drastic, but such culture is apparent in our culture right now. It is definitely apparent that relationships between people of the two eras are similar and that even throughout the years separating the two time periods, people do have similar passions.
While I recognized many of these events, I did not recognized that they occurred in the 80's. Things that I've experienced feel like it just happened yesterday, but ones that happened before my frame of reference feel like its happened ages ago. It almost feels like the 1980s was a breakthrough year, as many of the movie and inventions were revolutionary in their field, and inspired many to come after.
I agree, lots of different areas were revolutionized during this decade, like music and video games, both of which have taken all new forms from the time prior to the era.
I was completely in the same boat as you watching this video. I recognized many of the events, but did not realize they occurred in the 80's. So many things that occurred in the 80's such as technological advances have impacted us today, and to think about that as around 35 years ago is crazy! It doesn't seem that long ago when the technology, films, and music were made, so it was very interesting and shocking to see that they were in fact made that long ago.
I did not know that the Cold War was still ongoing up into the 1980's. This might be because of how I've never payed any attention in History class, but the fact that the revolts in China (Tiananmen Square, etc.) were in the 80's surprised me. To me, I've always thought of any kinds of conflicts as much earlier than they really were because it is hard for me to believe that these things happened so close to my time. A lot of the fashion styles were interesting to me. I didn't know there were so many different styles of fashion that came out during the 80's; I knew that big hair and punk fashion were popular at some point starting in the 1900s, but I never thought it was as late as the 80's.
I agree! It was surprising to hear that there were numerous political conflicts in the 1980s. Although I knew what Tiananmen Square protest was, I did not specifically know that it occurred in the 1980s. Also, the fashion was really different from today which is really cool as well. I think the poofy hair and other fashion styles of 1980s are pretty interesting.
Before this video, all I knew about the 80's were the basic stereotypes, such as hippies, drug PSA's, and bizarre slang. It's interesting to see that these common stereotypes such as big hair and colorful fashion were true for the time. I'm surprised to see how much the 80's influenced us, such as the slang, which I had once thought was outlandish from our own, is actually retained through phrases like "dude" and "chill." I was surprised with how basic technology looked like in the 80's, considering that it was only 4 decades ago, yet modern phones and computers have taken a whole new look from the prior bricks and blocks from before. So much of our modern culture has its roots in the 80's, yet the aesthetic feels so different from our own.
The eighties, or rather the different periods of the late 1900's, is not a topic that I am familiar with. I was exposed to the general knowledge of the eighties such as the music that was played,fashion sense, and major events that occurred. Something I found interesting that was unknown of was that it was home to the golden age of video games. Video games now are still popular and seeing the change in that era become apparent in modern life is interesting. Not only do we see video games that are well known today from the eighties, but also movies such as Back to the Future and Indiana Jones. Though there are drastic changes from the technologies from the different eras, it is obvious that our modern technology stems from the technology in the eighties. Along with technology, some of the slang still used today were used in the eighties as well, giving me a shock at how despite the years apart and obvious differences, with further knowledge, the two time periods have their similarities.
I totally agree, there are still many things from the 80s that are still seen today. The creations were the basis for our more complicated inventions and developments.
I knew about most of the major events of the 1980's, like the Cold War, the protests, and the major fashion trends; however, I didn't know many things about their lifestyle. I didn't know that AID's was a huge concern and that people tried to argue against gays with AIDS.It is amazing to see how far society has come in terms of acceptance and knowledge. Otherwise, it was really interesting to see the prices of some things because they were so much higher and so much more valuable than they are considered now.
I had an idea of what fashion was like in 80s because of the many picturing I have seen of people in the 80s. But I was unaware of a lot of the news that had happened during that time as well. I was aware of the events that happened at Tienanmen Square, but I had no idea it was related to all the events that happened in the 80s. Also, the AIDS epidemic was really surprising to because I knew about the disease, but I had no clue there was outbreak before. I had been pretty familiar with most of the movies shown in the video, but the music was mostly unknown to me. The culture during that time was completely different from what we have today. Technology was not a big part of their lives, while that is completely opposite today.
I definitely agree. I wrote something similar in my own post as well. The culture back then was extremely different in comparison to what exists today, especially showcased through our modern technology and awareness about health welfare, such as addressing homosexuality.
Hello MR. Nair! I enjoyed reading your post and relating it to mine. Did you know that Magic Johnson got AIDS in the early 90s just at the tail end of this breakout?
It is shocking how the 1980s was only about twenty to thirty years ago. All these events that I thought were part of history (Cold War, Tiananmen Square, etc) weren't actually as far off into the past as I thought. If you think about it in terms of the entire history of the world it is actually fairly recent. It kind of made me realize that I am more connected to history that I thought I was during history classes. Also it is amazing how much technology has progressed in only a few decades. The phones were giant blocks, computers were blocks too, and videogames consisted of pixelated graphics and joysticks. Now we have iPhones, thin and light computers and televisions (I've seen flexible TVs on commercials), and virtual reality.
Hi Kasey! I totally agree. I was also hit with a sense of realization when I saw that personal computers were only invented 30 years ago. I definitely understand your point about being more connected to history that you thought.
Having had taken APUSH last year, I thought that I had a good idea of the events that took place during this time. However, I was surprised by the many things happening on a global scale, such as Mt. Saint Helen's erupting, the famine in Ethiopia, and the several political conflicts. I've listened to some 80's music because my mom is a huge fan, however I was once again surprised by 80's fashion, such as voluminous hair and preppy clothing, which all ultimately reflect greatly on the culture existing at that time. It is very fascinating to see how society and people have evolved and changed within a 30 or so year timespan.
Same girl! I was surprised by the same things that you were surprised by. I actually like the 80s music more than the current music we listen to on the radio. It's more classy and less inappropriate. Make a Spotify playlist for throw back songs! B)
I took APUSH last year too and the event of Mt. Saint Helen's and the famine in Ethiopia also surprised me. It was surprising that these events were missed because of all the other political events that happened.
After watching the Youtube video, I was most surprised by the fashion and technology. It is shocking how much technology has progressed so quickly. I cannot imagine my life without the internet or cell phone. It is also surprising that Apple launched their first computer in the 80s. Seeing what TVs looked like in the 80s also surprised me, since I have a TV that looks like that sitting in my garage. The fashion trends were also surprising. The hairstyles, especially the family portraits with the big hair shocked me.
Yeah it really is crazy how fashion changes so drastically in a short time period. My parents have shown me their yearbooks and you can really see the "big hair" trend. I can't imagine everyone dressing like that to school in this day and age.
When the slide show went through the different movies, I didn't realize that so many good famous movies were made in the 1980's. I knew about most of the world and political events because of history class, but I knew almost nothing about the fashion of the time. I learned a lot about the 1980's fashion.
I learned new historical events such as World Wide Hunger reaching its peak, HIV/AIDS received public worry, and many wars occurring. I thought the end of the Cold War in 1960s was the last war of the 20th century, but political distress was rising in the '80s too. I guess conflict has always been ongoing throughout history. I used to think that it was just something about the 21st century. The gay movement has also been ongoing since the 1980s. A lot of current events are related to events that happened decades ago and that surprised me. The fashion was cool. I understand that fashion is always changing, so I compared 1980s fashion to our modern fashion. Oh how times change!
I totally agree with you Raymond! It is really interesting how many movements today started in the 80s and is still going on today. The fashion has also totally changed from the 80s. I cannot imagine going to school in a punk outfit and big hair.
One thing that was new to me was how much of the slang and language I use today originated from the 80's. I didn't know words like awesome or totally came from that time period.
After watching the footage I was surprised by the difference in culture back then. Many of the events happening in the 80s were involved with trying release tensions between countries and evolving the technology at the time. It was also interesting to see the fashion at that time with big hair and preppy clothes. The language used was also very different from present day.
In the 80s, classic movies were made such as Footloose, Greasers, Gremlins, etc, for people to be entertained and being escaped from reality. Video arcade games were especially popular because people wanted to spend every last quarter in their pockets. They wanted to be entertained ranging from fighting to dancing games. They wanted to have fun. From big hair to shoulder pads, people back then had a different sense of fashion. Women, especially, make themselves have this androgynous look where they can wear that could make them look very masculine, feminine or even both. Gender roles were very strict back then because of how most people were so liberated. Women working in the kitchen, taking care of the family, how stereotypical it sounds today. Men back then always outside working in the military, heavy lifting and going into war. So much has changed throughout the years.
I agree that the whole society has changed from the 80s to our current time. With new technologies back then, everyone wants to have fun just like today. I also think that life today is not as hard as the 80s.
I found it interesting that although I knew much of what occurred in the 80's, I thought that they occurred more recently than that. I listen to a lot of 80's music so I was able to recognize the songs, and I even recognized many of the films, although I did not realize the films had come out such a long time ago. I knew that the tearing down of the Berlin Wall occurred in the 80's, but I thought that Bush's phrase "Read my lips: no new taxes" was a lot more recent than the 80's. I felt connected to history by all of the trends I recognized, but at the same time it was as if I was disconnected from history because all these events occurred longer ago than I had realized. It was very interesting to see how much history has impacted our lives today, and how much we know and don't know from the past.
Before watching the video, I know a little bit about the 80's society. I was surprised when I watch the video, because of the many picturing I have seen of the inventions and the people which don't exist today. I never know about the lifestyle and the tragic events, and these shock me. The 80s culture was completely different than the current culture, for the past has only a little bit of technology, but today, technology advanced more, so today there's Apple devices which were not made in the 80s. What I didn't know about that time was the magazine articles in the 80s.
I have seen and heard many movies and songs from the 80s, so the movies, songs, and fasion were no surprise to me. However, I was not aware of many of the historical events durin this time. For example, much of the USSR events of shooting down planes, etc. I had no prior knowledge of. The name Margaret Thatcher sounded familiar to me but I couldn't put a pin it and I was able to learn who she is. I also knew that AIDS had broke out, but I didn't know the stereotypes and origins surrounding it. I could see that this was time period where technology was really starting to take off as common things today were invented back then such as Apple, color TV, and cell phones.
I also think it's super crazy that all these devices we're connected to today were basic in the 80's. It's pretty surprising to think of how much society changed.
I have also heard of many of the movies from the 80s. They are simply classics. I find it interesting how back then, technology was just getting started and was really unknown to a lot of people, while now it's the complete opposite.
In general I had little knowledge of the type of fashion that was apparent during the 80s. Although I had some idea of the type of clothing worn by people through movies I had watched, I didn't know how crazy and weird they actually were. The hairstyles that people had back then especially surprised me. I never knew men would also grown out their hair in almost the same fashion as women at the time. In addition to this,the event that took place in Tiananmen Square shocked me the most. The fact that a lot of people died in the hands of police because they were protesting surprised me as well.
I also find the brutality the police showed to the people surprising. I also noticed that all the fashion and hairstyles from the 80s have completely gone out of trend in out community today.
Watching this film made me realize how much technology has changed after seeing the Apple computer, the camcorders that were high-tech for its time period, and the CDs. The surprising was how all this change occurred in a short amount of time. I also thought it was interesting how much society has changed with regards to gender roles and stereotypes. I always thought that gender stereotypes are prominent during our current time period, but I never realized how much worse stereotypes were in the past. Though I did know a bit about the music of the period and the fashion, it's still surprising how different the lifestyle was during that period.
I definitely thought the same thing. Although I knew that the 80s were quite different from today, these films helped me to really realize the true difference and put it into perspective.
It's amazing how we've gone from clunky computers to lightweight laptops in such a short period of time! The rate of growth in the technology sector is truly incredible. I was also very surprised by the survey data about gender roles as I didn't expect the percentages to be so high.
I knew that technology had started developing in the 80's, but for some reason I had associated it more with the 90's. It was interesting to see that the video had focused on it more that I thought it would have. I noticed that when it comes to things like movies or shows like St. Elmo's Fire and the Simpsons, I feel like they're old because they came out in the 80's. In contrast, when they discuss more social issues like the AIDS epidemic and its intense discrimination against gay people feels shockingly recent, like not that long ago people were left for dead because their disease wasn't understood or researched. Also, looking at all of these timelines makes me realize how the 80's was nearly forty years ago, yet we still continue to analyze how it affects us today. Looking at events like Tiananmen Square and the AIDS epidemic, as well as the way articles are written about them makes me wonder how people will regard all of the issues and events that are currently happening.
I also associated technology with the 90's as well! I always thought that the 80's was still a time where hardly any technology existed. Many of the things that I thought came out in the 90's surprisingly came out earlier than that time.
Before reading and watching videos about the 80's, I have never particularly focused on what that decade was all about. I knew that disco, crazy hair, and crazy fashion existed, however, I did not know about all the social and political conflicts that existed. While I knew that gender roles have existed for decades (and still exist to this day), I did not know that so many people supported gender roles. ~49% of people in the 80's believed that a man's role in the family was to provide money and income, and a woman's role was to look after the family. As of 2012, only ~12% still support that belief. The high difference in percentage was what shocked me; I did not expect that many people to support such a belief. Aside from gender roles, I thought it was really cool how many of the arcade games that we know and enjoy today were created in the 80's.
I was also unaware of the surprisingly large population who supported gender roles in the 1980s. Maybe it's because Britain didn't fight a major war since World War II, as wartime economies rely on women. Americans fought the Vietnam War in the 60s which allowed feminism to make substantial progress domestically. This may explain why the British population held onto gender roles for a longer time than the American population.
I had always thought of the 80´s with an American perspective. It was described to me as a time of really dumb fashion trends and people trying too hard at being cool. I never really realised how much was going on in the world during the 80´s. Things like, the AIDS epidemic, the political unrest in Britain and even the Falklands war were unknown to me until today. My parents only used to listen to a bunch of 90´s trends so 80´s music was unknown to me during the majority of my childhood.
Yes I didn't know the AIDS epidemic, the unrest in Britain and the war all happened in the 80's either! It is interesting to learn how much more chaotic the world was back then than it is now.
I have seen a lot of pictures and memes about the 80s and I wasn't really a big fan of the 80s, it wasn't my style honestly what a shocker! I didn't know there was that much of a growth in technology, especially with how limited they were back then the technology they had were really impressive. I really liked how nowadays we still have the same games that they had back then. And people still like to play them!
The 1980s saw a dramatic rise in conservative thought as seen in the rise of the New Right in Reagan's America. This conservatism was mainly a response to the economic failures that occured in the 1970s as a result of the OPEC oil embargo. I had no idea that media in the 1980s was so relevant today. For instance, I had no idea Star Wars became popular as early as the 1980s. Moreover, I understood the biological effects of AIDs but never realized the association it had with the rise in homophobia. The fashion in the 1980s seemed odd to me. Having the big hair would be really uncomfortable, and the shoulder pads seemed unnecessary.
As a fellow millennial living in a time when Conservative politics isn't as popular as it once was, I find it surprising that just a few decades ago, it was so popular. I now understand the meaning of Trump's presidential campaign slogan: "Make America Great Again", the same slogan that Reagan had used for his presidential campaign - it is a promise to a return to the glory days of conservatism under Reagan.
For me I already knew about a lot of the historical events during the 80's, but not so much about the pop culture then. It was a bit shocking to me how many different styles of clothing developed then, and also the amount of iconic movies made then. Also I didn't know some of the "smaller" details like the USSR shooting down civilian planes, the AIDS epidemic, and Technology breakthroughs
It’s quite surprising how drastically different our generation is from the 1980s. The technological advances really changed everything, from the games, PCs and cameras that were available to the advance in medicine through the further study of HIV and AIDs. The social differences are also drastic. People are becoming far more liberal and accepting of same-sex relations, and the hair and clothing styles are also very different between the two time periods. Furthermore, there have been movements against gender stereotypes of the 1980s, such as the traditional “mothers must stay at home” and “guys have to be strong and can’t show emotions.” Also, we were just learning about the Tiananmen Square Massacre in Chinese class, so it was surprising to me that it was so recent because Tiananmen has such a long history and significance to it. (I thought it was in the 1970s or earlier.)
I was surprised by how much the technological developments of the 1980s foreshadowed the technology-filled world we have today. The introduction of personal computers with graphical user interfaces, for example, paved the path to having computers and smartphones with more complex interfaces throughout our lives. In addition, the 1980s included the development of the first video games, which have grown rapidly since into a massive industry of their own. The culture of the 1980s helped bring up these new ideas, which developed into products that are integral to our daily life today.
It was a little weird to see all the big, clunky technology they had (ie. the massive computers, the brick-sized cell phones) and know that those models were essentially the only ones available at the time, and at crazy high prices. But I suppose that those devices, like you said, paved the way to more convenient technology.
After watching the video I found the fashion of the 80's really interesting. Women's fashion has changed drastically from the 80's to the present while menswear (blazers, button-downs, khakis) stayed mostly the same. In the 80's bright and colorful clothing with accessories such as large earrings were popular with women. The defining fashion statement of the decade were shoulder pads, which became known as power dressing. I found that the fad developed in the midst of a second wave of feminism; as more and more women began to hold leadership positions that were previously reserved to men, more women began wearing shoulder pads, which gave them the impression of status. The fad may have been symbolic of how gender roles were changing.
It was really interesting to see how women's fashion changed a lot more than that of men. Wearing shoulder pads was a defining statement that women were becoming more independent and holding those leadership positions. Now that gender roles are less drastically differing from each other, I find it interesting that shoulder pads went out of style. It makes me curious if wearing shoulder pads was really a fashion statement or more of a way to support feminism, and now that the gender roles have changed, shoulder pads aren't needed to illustrate a woman's status.
It surprised and amused me how different the United States is from the 80's because of all the differences that were present then. There were completely different fashion fads and trends back then, including large protruding hair and punk clothes, both of which are not common in present day. In addition, shoulder pads and large earrings were also prevalent. Although Apple, as a brand, has ceased to lose its relevancy, the level of its technology has greatly improved with time with much better graphics and CPU units.
I agree! However, Apple's technology should not be valued by the specs (better graphics and CPUs), because all they really do is optimize relatively older technology and make it user friendly.
It was fascinating to learn about the distinct trends and perceptions present during the 80s. When looking at the survey data on gender roles, I did not expect the percentage of those who believe women should remain at home and care for the family to be so high; I found it surprising as the 80s were only a mere 40 years ago. I always associated the 80s with Michael Jackson and disco, so it was interesting to learn about the emergence of other forms of music like hip-hop and alternative rock. It was also really cool to see how much technology has progressed since then, and it makes me wonder what our world will look like 40 years from now.
I learned that the use of homophobic slurs extends all the way back to the 1980s and were used by all age groups. I've only heard them used among immature kids and teens in present time, so I was initially surprised when I read this. The declining popularity of homophobic slurs shows how far the LGBTQ movement has progressed since, as uttering them nowadays is no longer socially acceptable.
I knew close to nothing about the 80s apart from the popular movies I have seen from that time period. I was honestly surprised to see how much society has advanced since then both socially and technologically. What I found most interesting was how different the language was back then. The slang in the 80s sounds like the most ridiculous thing to me and if anyone were to say anything like that today, it would be very strange. Also in the 80s, cell phones were unheard of and I honestly cannot imagine how people could survive everyday without that method of communication. The 80s did seem like a fun time period to live in and the culture back then was very interesting.
Haha, I could not even imagine using that slang in our modern lives. But imagine people in the 2030s who would laugh at our slang. I also had not noticed how much cell phones costed in the 80s, it was literally a brick for $500.
The 80's, I noticed, marked the beginning of television culture and were characterized by a media boom. Cable networks became a norm and were prevalent in every household, and many beloved movies and children's TV characters were invented. I always knew that 80s movies were beyond classic. They were revolutionary. I had not realized, however, that the 80s also introduced TV channels such as MTV and programs such as the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. While television and movies have come a long way since then, it is nice to laugh at early animation and pop culture and marvel at cinematic history.
I was surprised when I found out that the tv channels like MTV began in the 80s as well. It's pretty cool that different generations enjoy watching the same things. I wonder if newer generations would consider trends during our current time period to be old.
I didn't realize how much of an influence the 80s had on our lives until now. It is impressive that even today, songs from the 80s are popular hits. Considering entertainment, I was pleasantly surprised that a lot of award winning movies were released during this time period. I think seeing powerful women on television influenced the 80s fashion trends as it allowed people to express themselves, which is something we unfortunately try to avoid today to fit in with the social norms. I feel that feminism increased during this time and helped close the gender gap as women wanted to contribute to the household income. Overall I was shocked to notice the increase and advancement of technology, fashion, and entertainment in over 30 years.
I was amazed to see the fashion trends that were popular in the 80s. They were very colorful and loud fashion statements. I personally thought the big hair was obnoxious and should never make a comeback in my lifetime. I was surprised that I recognized music and movies from the 80's. Some of the things in the 80s are still popular today and many of things I have heard from references in tv shows and movies. I was shocked on how fat the phones were and I wonder how they carry their phones around.
I also hope that big hair never comes back into style! I was also fascinated at how only some fashion trends lasted till now while a majority have not. It makes me wonder what factors determine the lifetime of a trend. In 30 years from now, will our current trends be obsolete?
I agree with the hair being a bit strange, but i also thought that some of the casual styles are still around today and have not changed too much. And some great movies are truly older than i thought.
I was really surprised by the fashion change from the 80s to now. People didn't understand the term subtle back then. The terms teens used back then were also pretty wack.
I was already aware of some of the key people that were mentioned, but I never realized that they were all part of the same era of the 1980s. For example, I had heard of Margaret Thatcher, and I knew she was known as “the Iron Lady.” However, I didn’t know that she played her key role during the 1980s. I also found it ironic that even though gender roles at the time were very divided between the workforce and the home (which didn’t really surprise me considering some of the issues women still face today), Margaret Thatcher was still able to be in a place of power, specifically the prime minister of a world power.
I was actually pretty surprised by how extreme the gender roles and stereotypes against genders were, but I'm glad that in modern day it has improved a lot.
I had never really thought about the social effects of the AIDS epidemic in the eighties: the paranoia, the homophobia. It was interesting (though depressing) to learn about the public's attitudes towards the disease and towards homosexuality, because their beliefs were so drastically different from popular beliefs today. And before all this research, I had always assumed that people in the eighties were fairly open-minded, so it was shocking to see statistics that said things like, "48% of people in 1987 supported traditional domestic gender roles." It put things in perspective--I'm really glad our modern society has progressed as much as it has.
I was very surprised by the intense hair and colors that people wore in the 80s. It seems like getting hair to be that voluminous and big would take a large amount of time and would also be cumbersome as well. I was also surprised to hear about the Falklands War, as it is not a war that is commonly talked about in most history classes, and I found it interesting to learn more about what took place between the British and the Argentines. From the youtube video we watched in class, I recognized several movies that I did not know were created in the 80s, such as E.T.
Haha yeah, I was pretty surprised by the hair trends of the time, as well as the fashion trends in general. I can only imagine how much time that would take and how damaging it would be in the long run. I had never heard of the Falkland War either, but it's probably because it didn't make any major changes on society.
Something that I was surprised by was the fact that so many things that I had thought were from an earlier/later time period actually originated in the 1980s. For example, I always thought that the song "Eye of the Tiger" was from the 1970s or earlier, or that movies like The Breakfast Club and Die Hard were from the 90s or 2000s. It made me realize that so many things from the 80s have kept their place in our culture as classics, that sometimes we do not even remember their actual origins. Even fashion trends like high wasted jeans and have made their way back into style today. Although a majority of things have changed from that time period, I think that it's pretty cool how some things can last that long through time.
What I noticed on how the video was made, there was little to no ethnic diversity when it came to the fashion section.In all the photos of groups of young individuals with the 80's fashion it was only white people. It seems to me like racism was still affecting the media of the 80's. Also, I never thought of what the 1980's was like in other countries, not just the United States. I didn't realize all these crazy events happening in other parts if the world during the same time when MC Hammer pants were a thing.
Although I'm familiar with the culture of the 80s with the music, movies, hair and shoulder pads, I wasn't aware of many of the world events happening at that time. I love watching 16 candles and flash dance, and my mom always shows me photos of her crazy outfits. The world events are quite fascinating because they still affect society today.
Although it hasn't been my first time interacting with 80's culture, I was surprised at how many commonalities the 80's had with modern day. It may seem childish, but I used to see the 80's as a time period from "a million years ago". But looking again, there are so many things from the 80's that are extremely relevant today, which make modern life in many ways, very similar to modern life. AIDS, video games, the decline of the USSR, for example are all things that are strongly affecting the modern day.
Researching about the 1980s in depth helped me to learn more about the decade’s culture and society. Before watching the videos and reading the articles, I was only aware of silly things like the poofy hair and slangs of the 1980s. Therefore, it was truly surprising when I took a peek at the culture of the 1980s like music and movies. To be specific, I was amazed by the U2’s music and the enumerated movies from the video. Moreover, it is really interesting that the society changed quite significantly from the 1980s. For example, I did not know that LGBTQ community and women were treated unequally and badly even in the 1980s. Overall, it was interesting to see how much change occurred in only about 30 years or so.
I was surprised about airplane from the korean airline was crashed by the soviets and killed all passengers and crew. Also, the fashion sense with big hairs.
One thing I learned after watching the video was that the first personal computer, by IBM, was released in the 1980s. I thought personal computers were a much newer phenomenon, coming out of the 1990s or 2000s. Although the first computers for household use were released in the 80s, the computer as we know it today, with a graphics interface and not just a command line interface, would be popularized by Apple later in the 1990s. As for the fashion, I think its perfectly normal for people in the 80s to have a different sense of fashion compared to people today because they lived in a very different society. Just like people in different parts of the world today dress and act differently, so do people from different times.
Right! I always thought computers came out in the 2000s as well, but turns out they began early in the 80s, although they were definitely older prototypes unlike our fancy touch screen laptops and high quality audio installed in our computers now.
One thing that was amazing is Games and music I thought cameout in the late 90's actually came out in the early 80's. and if you compare both those things to today video games are now in virtual reality and music is mostly electronic. The amount of change and development in video game and music is truly amazing considering things like video games just started a few decades ago.
It was interesting how the fashion in 80s was very bold. Having shoulder pads and big hair makes women look confident. These days women are self conscious about their looks and always follow the trend.
Even though the 80s were typically described with absurd fashion and hair, today, these trends are actually being brought back. (In fact, 2017 is being called the 80s redux on the fashion runway.) It is really the one period of fashion that stands out as being rebellious to the timeless and elegant fashion women were used to wearing.
I did not know there was a "golden age" of arcade games. It was interesting looking back on the history of video/arcade games and I love observing how gaming evolves. It's funny to see how many of these arcade games are still popular and how long ago some of these were actually invented. It's also mind boggling to see how far we've come with gaming and makes me curious about how it will look in the future.
Something that surprised me was how historical events that I associated with much longer ago was still around in the 1980s, while inventions and movies that I thought were produced much more recently were actually produced nearly 40 years ago. For example, I thought Tianamen Square and Berlin Wall events happened much earlier and further forward in time, and I didn't realize USSR was still around in the 80s. I thought the space program ended much earlier in time, but it was indeed still running in the 1980s, with Columbia and Challenger taking off. And at the same time, I didn't realize Batman, Terminator, or the Simpsons were created in the 1980s. I always thought they were much more recently, like 1990.
ReplyDeleteMe too! When viewing the video as well as the reading, some things that I correlated with the 1990s and the 2000s were actually from the 80s. I agree that the creation of Terminator as well as the Simpsons surprised me.
Deletesame here! i did not know the movie rain man was created in the 80s. its such a good movie. the fashion trends ended in the 90s and its sad because the 80s fashion was cool.
DeleteMe too! I thought that the computer wasn't introduced until close to the 20th century. The fall of the USSR and other important world events we learned about in history are a lot more recent than I thought they were.
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ReplyDeleteI was surprised at how much the world changed from the 80s to now. For example, in fashion, people had gigantic hair and punk/rock clothes, which is very ugly in comparison from now. The first personal computer with graphics was made by Apple, and now it has been improved and built upon so much with modern cutting edge technology.
ReplyDeleteI agree about the hair! What were people thinking back then??
DeleteIt's always amazing to see what technology looks like from a different era. Can you believe the internet used to come in floppy disks shipped to your mail?
DeleteI was surprised by the homophobia that was present in the 1980s. I knew that there was homophobia back in the 1980s, but never expected it to be that much. Even during the AIDS crisis people associated it with gays and it was known as "gay cancer". It's surprising to see how time changes things as 70% of all people now accept same-sex marriage.
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised only 70% of people now accept it. I would think the number would be much higher by now with it being a reoccurring topic today.
DeleteI completely agree! Time has changed a lot of connotations regarding same-sex relationships.
DeleteI agree. People feared the gay community and anyone with HIV AIDS because they were so afraid of becoming infected dying. It can also resemble the fear of what happened in Charlottesville recently.
DeleteI agree. It is interesting how knowledge and things like science can be used to argue about social controversies. I like to see that we now know the correct answers and we can clearly see the changes in our society.
DeleteI agree too Avaneesh! The homophobia was surprising for me as well.
DeleteAvaneesh, I completely agree. The opinions on same sex relationships and homophobia have greatly changed over time and surprised me as well.
DeleteIt's interesting to see how fashion has changed. A lot of 90's fashions are making a comeback, so maybe some 80's one will too.
ReplyDeleteAfter doing the 80s assignments, a combination of historical events as well as trends surprised me. I knew what Tianneman Square was and what the event entailed, but I didn't connect it with the 80s at all. Additionally, like my realization of Tianneman Square, I didn't put the 80s together with Margret Thatcher or the Aids Epidemic either. As for trends, I was surprised to learn that shoulder pads were a big deal in the 80s. Furthermore, I was surprised to learn about the stereotypes of the 80s as well as the actions taken to combat them.
ReplyDeleteI think you made a really good point about making international historical connections and comparisons, something that occurs a lot. For example, for me, reading about Margaret Thatcher, she was in the middle of the Cold War, playing a sort of neutral role between the USA and the USSR. At the same time, she started to turn against the developing notion of what would become the EU!
DeleteI have always been familiar with 80's music and fashion because my mom would force me to listen to 80's music in the car as a child and I would watch a lot of my parents favorite movies. However in terms of the worldwide events such as the aids epidemic and the war between Argentina and Britain, I was not very educated. It was also interesting to see how much phobia of homosexual people there was. In fact it led to the word "gay" being used as a derogatory term to non-homosexual things.
ReplyDeleteI also was a little familiar with 80s music, as well as not knowing about the war between Argentina and Britain. I also didn't know why the word "gay" was thrown around as an insult towards things or people that had nothing to do with homosexuality, and I learned that it's because of extreme widespread homophobia in the 80s.
DeleteI completely agree, I never knew about so much of the events at that time. It's crazy to learn about all the struggles we aren't really aware of. Especially because now we are much more accepting in terms of homosexuality, but back then there were such wide spread, hurtful stereotypes.
DeleteIt was interesting to learn about the stereotypes in the 80's and see that some still exist today.
ReplyDeleteI agree, but it is more interesting to see that they have become less prominent. Usually, the progression of society comes with the amplification of cultural elements, such as technology, but popular stereotypes of the 80's have rapidly diminished over the course of the 21st century.
DeleteWhat I learned about the 80's is that it was, to say the least, an eventful decade. Much political friction resulted in great historical moments (the Cold War ended, the Berlin Wall fell, etc.), and the only thing that pop culture shared in its sheer diversity was a desire to be different, featuring big hair, flashy color combinations, and cult classics that everyone could relate to. Technology and commercialism boomed, and several sports figures that eventually became legends and icons dominated their sports (Jordan, Montana, Tyson, etc.). Looking back today, it is interesting to see how some elements of the 80's have been expanded upon, such as technology, while others, such as the discrimination of homosexuality, have taken a complete turn.
ReplyDeleteI agree, and I think the phrase "eventful decade" really summarizes the 80s really well. It is true that just like the 60s 20 years before, the 80s was also characterized by issues both between the Western Bloc and Soviet Bloc and inside the society of the both blocs, and it is also very interesting to see elements of 80s is expanded upon.
DeleteI have to agree that the 80's had many great historical moments. I never realized that all these events happened in the 80s, it amazes me.
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ReplyDeleteI was not familiar with the war between the UK and Argentina over the Falkland Islands. It is interesting to see that before this war Margaret Thatcher was really unpopular but after UK had won, Margaret Thatcher quickly rose in popularity. It is very interesting to see how one event can have a huge impact and change a person's life completely.
ReplyDeleteYeah I agree! It's kind of cool how Margaret Thatcher was a very influential and impactful figure, just like her role model, Winston Churchill.
DeleteI also think it is interesting to see how war can be influential to the world. It was huge shock to me that there was a war between the UK and Argentina.
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ReplyDeleteI thought I didn't know anything from the 80s, but the video jogged my memory a bit. I knew about the Tiananmen Square and the tank man that disappeared, but I didn't know that was when the AIDS epidemic occurred, nor was it arcade game era. I never really bothered to find out when pac-man was first released, but now I know. Gender roles and stereotypes weren't even on my mind until the question popped up, and that people's views on these changed quite a bit over time.
ReplyDeleteI also think it is really interesting to see the differences in the way people currently see gender roles and stereotypes compared to back then. It's hard to believe that so much as changed between now and then, with it being so peaceful right now compared to all the devastation with Tiananmen Square and the ongoing Cold War in the 80's.
DeleteMe too, I was also surprised at how much I already knew about the 80's however, there was also a lot of stuff that I knew about but didn't know when it happened
Deletethe 80s was the golden time for my mom, so many of the styles and music that was hip i'm familiar with thanks to her. I personally thought the big hair was cool and should make a comeback. the 80s stereotypes and the phobia towards gay people is truly disgusting and I'm happy I was not there to see it because it makes me furious. the only reason i was familiar with the huge aids crisis that broke out was because of family guy. i was not really educated in the ugly the 80s had to deal with. im very happy we have moved forward as a country, thanks to obama. our president. not trump.
ReplyDeleteI was very surprised that Levi's jeans were only $15. Also, I was unaware that most of the songs that I had heard was from the 80s, but I am glad to have found out so I can start to explore more from the 1980s.
ReplyDeleteI agree. I thought that it was interesting how prices have changed since the 80s and how there are things from the 80s that we didn't even know when they were made.
DeleteI agree. I think that the amount of inflation is mind boggling, I think that in another 40 years inflation will increase significantly.
DeleteThrough these activities, I realized that there was a lot of social and political turmoil in the 1980s. People were rapidly changing their attitudes about gender roles, peer pressure, and same-sex marriage. Parents were becoming concerned about their children playing too many video games. The public was constantly in fear of contracting AIDS. The Cold War was coming to a close, the Soviet Union was falling, and the Tiananmen Square massacre was occurring. A lot was going on back then.
ReplyDeleteThere was a lot going on, but it's good to see that people were more progressive because acceptance across society had to start at some point in time.
DeleteI thought I didn't know a lot about the 80s but watching the video in class made me remember more than I thought I knew. What I find fascinating is that it was sort of an age that started a lot of what we have know. For example, video games were created then and have evolved to such a variety today. Same goes for technology since Apple is now so big in our current society. Another thing I'd like to comment on is the never ending fashion and music trends the 80's set. Although, 80s fashion and rock aren't so widely practiced now, you see/hear them once in awhile--especially with fashion since a lot of the times we bring back old trends.
ReplyDeleteI agree. It's amazing how many similarities there are between their time and ours. I never knew the 80s marked the beginning of all these technologies, games, and fashion styles.
DeleteI feel the lecture is very interesting, and I learned a lot about cultures and society in the 80s from the lecture, even though I didn't really learn anything new about political events of the 80s because I was already familiar with them. First, I learned how arcade game originated and reached its peak in the early 80s and then dropped, and I also learned a lot about the musics and fashion of the 80s, which are not so common right now. Second, the issue of homosexuality and AIDS epidemics are also very interesting to me, and it is very interesting to track how the social acceptance of homosexuality grew over time and how AIDS was used in the early 80s as an evidence against homosexuality. Overall, the lecture is very fun and I learned things that I don't know before, and some issues really make me feel interested.
ReplyDeleteI agree, the arcades and fashion sense were a lot different back then and it is really fascinating to see the different views on homosexuality change.
DeleteHaoxiang, I also found this lecture very interseting. Even though there were no spoken words, other than the music ofcourse, it was still really cool to see images of how life was back then and it made me mentally compare it to life today.
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DeleteI was also very interested at the dramatic change in approval of homosexuality. The dramatic change in the perspective of distinct gender roles was also surprising to me. Although I was familiar with many of the political events going on in the 1980s, I was unaware that the Falklands War played a role in the rise of Margaret Thatcher's approval ratings.
DeleteBefore the video started I thought that I knew absolutely nothing about the 80s, but it turns out that I did know some things about the 80s it was just that I associated them with the wrong decade like the giant hair and the shoulder pads. Something that I didn't know before the video was about the breakout of AIDS in the 80s. and other accidents like the plane going down.
ReplyDeleteI also didn't have much clue about what the 1980s. All I knew was the weird hairstyle and the fashion. It is fascinating to see how much we have a developed and changed since then.
DeleteI wasn't surprised at how much I recognized from the 80's because of how much it's integrated into modern day pop culture. Whether it's remixing Marvin Gaye's "(Sexual) Healing" to bringing back fashion trends (fanny packs) it's evident to become familiar with the 80's. Also technology, health care, and government structures that originated from the 80's have been developed and are being used in today's society. What I learned is that the 80's were the time where gender roles started getting destroyed. The drop in how many people believed that men should work while woman stayed home was pretty big and soon after people pushed for an equal effort from both partners. Although it's a bit scary how not long ago this just started happening, I feel like we have come a long way to break the glass ceiling.
ReplyDeleteI agree Misaki. It is quite scary how little time has passed since the 80s and how far we have come. This only makes us question if we could do that in 30/40 years what will be happening in the next 30/40 years.
DeleteI knew some of these events like the eruption of Mt. St. Helens, the Challenger Space Shuttle explosion, the Chernobyl radioactive accident, but I did not have a good sense of where they were on the timeline. In addition, there were a few events, such as the Soviet shooting of the Korean plane and Black Monday, of which I had no knowledge. It was quite interesting to look back and compare the image of of the people on the Wall and the models of popular hairstyles. It was quite shocking to me that so many songs and movies are still well-known.
ReplyDeleteI agree! While there are many events from the 1980s that are well known, there are also many historically important events that I did not know of before reading about the 1980s. I wonder how knowledge of the 1980s will shift in the future as events from that period are incorporated into what students learn in history classes.
DeleteBefore the video, my knowledge of the 80s was quite limited. I knew about the big hairstyles and the leg warmers however I did not know much about the events that occurred throughout the time period. It was shocking to see how many attacks occurred at the time and how much has changed since. It was funny to see how intrigued the people were from the "new cellphone" and how it seems like such a hassle to have right now. All the technology has changed so much since then and it was quite funny to see what people considered normal back then ranging from the technology to the clothes. It is amazing to see how much has changed within only 30-40 years.
ReplyDeleteI agree! I was impressed to see just how much technology has grown and changed since then, given the obvious differences between devices of the 80's and of modern devices. I was also surprised that there were so many political issues that were going on at the time.
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DeleteI know right?! I hadn't realized there were so many undeclared wars going on and so much fighting. I was always under the impression that these were around the 2000s and not the 80s. I was pretty surprised about how much our technology has evolved, from the touchscreens to the use of computers everywhere.
DeletePreviously I was already familiar with some of the historical events of the 80's, such as the eruption of Mt. St Helens or the Tiananmen Square protests, but I found the fashion part fascinating because I wasn't sure which were trends from the 80's or from another decade. It was also interesting to recognize the new technology and how it has changed over the years.
ReplyDeleteI agree! I didn't realize that there were so many fashion trends that started in the 80s. I also agreed that seeing the changes in technology was interesting. It's pretty weird seeing how a lot of the new technology from the 80s is technology we rarely or never use now.
DeleteI agree! I too was shocked to see how many of the technological advanced were essentially advancements on their predecessors in the 80's. I don't think we could've have been at this point if it weren't for the accomplishments of the 80's!
DeleteI agree, it's really fascinating to see how quickly has changed over the years. We've gone from boxes of Television sets to flat screen and small computers just in the palm of our hands.
DeleteI was familiar with a lot of the events like the volcano eruption and films like Back to the Future and Terminator (two of my favorite movies) but this made me think about how long ago the 80s actually were. I also didn't think I would know anything about American culture in the 80s, but it turned out that I knew more than I expected. I didn't know that the Korean airliner shot down had to do with the Cold War. Overall, I didn't realize how many things I love originated in the 80s, as in films, events, and the development of software and video games. I also didn't know that this is when traditional gender roles started to die out,and I'm happy I live in a time when they continue to die out.
ReplyDeleteI had the same idea that I actually knew nothing about the 80's, but watching the video made me realize that I knew more than I expected. I also didn't know that many things that I knew about originated from the 80's.
DeleteI thought that I didn't know much about the 80's culture, but watching the video, I actually knew a lot more than I thought. I knew a lot of the movies that were released in the 80's, and knew about things such as the Cold War. I was a bit surprised by the prices of things in the 80's, as I thought they would be very cheap. However, they turned out to be very expensive, and some things even more expensive than their prices today. I had thought that inflation had risen a lot from then to now, but even accounting for inflation, the prices are still pretty high. I also thought that they had some interesting slangs and different perspectives of what was fashionable. For the most part, I knew about a lot of the events that happened in the 80's, which really surprised me.
ReplyDeleteMe too! I didn't know much about the 80's culture and that the prices were outrageous back then. It is cool to see how businesses are always trying to decrease the price of their products and in relation to the prices back then, I would say that they did pretty well!
DeleteA lot of American events in the 80s do tie in heavily with the Cold War, and we did have a unit on the Cold War back in American History. I agree with the statement that the prices for electronics were very high, after adjusting for inflation.
DeleteGreat blog post Elton! I was also surprised by some of the movies I had seen that were from the 80's. I remember watching E.T. and the flying bike scene from when I was younger and thought it was a recent movie, but it turns out it was made all the way back in 1982!
DeleteI knew some things about the 80's because my mom would always tell me things back when she was my age or older. Also my brother tells me things that are almost similar to the 80's since he is a true 90's kid. I knew the technology, the fashion, and most of the movies. I just never knew about the events that happened during that time. I always thought that the events either happened earlier, or I never knew about the events at all.
ReplyDeleteI was surprised about the movies that were popular in 80. I heard most of them before, but I didn't know they were all created during 1980s. I realized that 1980 was the age of evolution of culture. Also, I thought I know a lot of events that happened in 1980. However, there were a lot of events and issues occurred in 1980 that I never heard about. I hope I can learn more about 1980 now.
ReplyDeleteI knew some things about the 80's such as their fashion and music since I like to listen to music from different decades to see what it would sound like. What I thought was really interesting was the fact that during the 80's was the evolution from it to today, seeing the different fashion styles, technologies, music change from what it was to what it is now is really astonishing to me.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the drastic change between what technologies were available to them in the 1980's compared to the technologies that are available to us today.
DeleteI think other than the music and the choice of fashion, I didn't think I knew much about the 90s. don't think I realized how so many events (political, social, etc) or changes occurred in the 80s. I knew about events such as the tiananmen square massacre, the falling of the berlin wall, and the aids epidemic, but I didn't know that they all happened in the 80s. Also, from this video, I realized that there was a technology boom in the 80s. I thought it was pretty interesting how many things from the 80s such as technology and the opinions regarding homophobia have changed so much while other aspects of the 80s such as the music and fashion can still be seen today.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you especially regarding social norms. If we compare modern society to society back then, there's a huge difference in the LGBTQ community and acceptance of that community. Even in just the past 10 years, social norms have evolved to be much more flexible and accepting.
DeleteWhile I was familiar with the infamous leg warmers and crazy hair of the 80's, I wasn't aware of a lot of other events that occurred during this era. Watching the video, I was surprised to see that technology such as the internet and personal computers were invented during this period (honestly I was expecting the 90's for some reason). It was interesting to learn about historical events that have significant impact on modern day, such as the USSR pulling out of war which catalysts the birth of Al Qaeda.
ReplyDeleteI agree, I was also surprised about the technology back then. I feel that it is very surprising that technology would develop this fast, especially now that the cellphones are much smaller. Also, the political/world events also surprised me, as they are rather recent. The catalysts of Al Qaeda was very interesting, as It leads to some events today.
DeleteBeing able to explore how the 1980's have influenced the modern-day culture has been surprising because I didn't know much about that time period. I learned that films, such as "Indian Jones" and "Die Hard" are from the 1980's and they continue to be popular today. As for technology, the first Apple computer was created in the 1980's and I think that is amazing to see how they first started and how far they have come in the technology industry. The first cell phone was created at that time as well, and now Apple has enhanced the cell phone and computer experience in a unique way. Lastly, the fashion was interesting to see because long hair was common for everyone along with neon clothing and the fashion trends have definitely changed since then.
ReplyDeleteI too thought it was very interesting seeing how the technology started out at first during that time zone and now how far it's gone. It's even more amazing to me to see that it was totally normal and extremely useful for them, to see that they were perfectly satisfied with that. Compared to this time, we're not satisfied till we get the best of the best we know we can get :3 Bahahaha. I also was intrigued by the fashion trends not personally, but just how that culture affected the social relationships, benefits, and trends as well :3 <3 It was really cool seeing the genuine people then hahahaha!!
DeleteI was surprised to learn about the extent of the famine in Africa, and the sheer amount of people affected. Over 400,000 innocent civilians died as a result of both the drought and human rights abuses taking place in the region. However, I was proud of the response the international community showed. By hosting relief concerts to raise money for Africa, we were able to raise around 250 million dollars in these efforts. I feel this is a prime example of tragedy bringing people closer together and enabling them to work together. An example by which several movements, in the face of adversity, have been inspired. Also, I learned about the economic changes and extreme inflation that took place in the ten year period. For example, the house prices rose from 70k on average to over 120k by the end of the decade. While that doesn't even come close to today's prices, it was definitely an extreme spike for the time period.
ReplyDeleteI was also surprised by both the famine and aid in Africa. The history courses in our school don't mention it, but it is still an important part of our history and shows how despite the cold war at the time, people could still unite and work together and help eachother
DeleteI agree! It was impressive to see that the world came together to help the innocent civilians in Africa during a time of drought.
DeleteWatching the video, I realized that I recognized some of the fashion that events that occurred during the 80s. Some of the fashion has made a comeback in the modern day, which is interesting to see that most often fashion does make a comeback. I feel that I recognized a lot of 80s culture because my brother is always saying that he wished he was born during the 80s and watching old movies gave me insight to what it was like back then. I also watch "That 70s Show" and the characters in the show transition from the 70s to the 80s, so it's interesting to see how in such a short time technology has advanced very quickly.
ReplyDeleteI agree how some of the fashion trends back in the 80's made a comeback in the modern days. There are some places where I will see people wear something unusual and they can pull if off really well. My brother almost had the same opinion as your brother. When he was a kid, he would watch all the old classics and play all the games that were popular in the 80's. He would still reference back to a few of those shows to me when we are bored. But he never said he wanted to be a 80's kid.
DeleteI knew some things about the 80s because my parents would tell me stories about them growing up in that time. But what they didn't tell me was there was a lot of turmoil on gender roles and peer pressure along with same sex marriages. It also makes me think how socially we have come so far now that we have accepted different gender roles and same sex marriages.
ReplyDeleteYeah, there was a lot of stereotyping happening at the time, and I'm glad that we've come a long way in accepting what everybody can do. While I'm glad that tragedies such as the Challenger are remembered, I feel the societal problems are kept a little from the limelight.
DeleteSo many people have gone through hell for standing up for themselves, lots of them have been rioting against the government for not accepting who they are as people. Look at today, everything has changed so much and people yeah, they're still stereotyping it but more and more people out there are very comfortable with themselves.
DeleteI didn't know that the first space shuttle launched was the Columbia. I always thought that the first space shuttle was launched back in 1969, with the lunar landing. Turns out that the Columbia was the first in a new line of shuttles called orbiters. Orbiters were reusable space shuttles can could go into space and come back as a glider. I did know quite a bit of 80s music, as I am a fan.
ReplyDeleteI was surprised at how different the 80’s is from now, even though it was somewhat recent. Also, I was very surprised at how recent Tiananmen square and Berlin wall was. To me, it seemed like a very different world than it was today. The 80’s had different technology as well as different fashion and music. The fashion was very different, as they had leg warmers and the big hairs. I also realized that technology was developing very fast, since in the 1980’s, the cellphones looked like a cordless home phone, but bigger. This video allowed me to see what life was like in the 80’s, and it seemed very different from what we have today. Also, most of the prices for technology were very cheap compared to the prices today. Out of all of these events from the video, I was mostly surprised with the politics and world events during that time.
ReplyDeleteI was surprised at how recent these events were as well. I think we all find ourselves detached from these historical events when we learn about them from a textbook. I believe that this feeling is caused by the enormous changes in culture, like what you mentioned (fashion, technology etc).
DeleteIt was pretty intriguing and cool seeing how the style, fashion, socializing, trends, and culture was just different between how it was years ago into the 80's and how it is now; the new, milennial times 2017. There are definately some differences that were known as trendy, hip, and stylish not just in what you would wear but also in how you would act, talk, and socialize. That was a key thing to me because I just found it genuinely intriguing how they would still socialize and interact with one another in how they each acted and talked in their personalities :3 <3 I realize that even in such different times from then to modern times as now-- people are still genuine and value relationships, socializing, having fun, talking, hanging out, etc. as genuine people with beloved, lovable personalities, hearts, dreams, passions, values, and goals. People are not any worse or any better during the 80's but just as the same now in 2017 in these terms. Every person is genuine in their hearts, personalities, dreams, values, passions, and goals.
ReplyDeleteThe fashion and style of the eighties is pretty cool and the differences between that time and modern time are drastic, but such culture is apparent in our culture right now. It is definitely apparent that relationships between people of the two eras are similar and that even throughout the years separating the two time periods, people do have similar passions.
DeleteWhile I recognized many of these events, I did not recognized that they occurred in the 80's. Things that I've experienced feel like it just happened yesterday, but ones that happened before my frame of reference feel like its happened ages ago. It almost feels like the 1980s was a breakthrough year, as many of the movie and inventions were revolutionary in their field, and inspired many to come after.
ReplyDeleteI agree, lots of different areas were revolutionized during this decade, like music and video games, both of which have taken all new forms from the time prior to the era.
DeleteI was completely in the same boat as you watching this video. I recognized many of the events, but did not realize they occurred in the 80's. So many things that occurred in the 80's such as technological advances have impacted us today, and to think about that as around 35 years ago is crazy! It doesn't seem that long ago when the technology, films, and music were made, so it was very interesting and shocking to see that they were in fact made that long ago.
DeleteI did not know that the Cold War was still ongoing up into the 1980's. This might be because of how I've never payed any attention in History class, but the fact that the revolts in China (Tiananmen Square, etc.) were in the 80's surprised me. To me, I've always thought of any kinds of conflicts as much earlier than they really were because it is hard for me to believe that these things happened so close to my time. A lot of the fashion styles were interesting to me. I didn't know there were so many different styles of fashion that came out during the 80's; I knew that big hair and punk fashion were popular at some point starting in the 1900s, but I never thought it was as late as the 80's.
ReplyDeleteI agree! It was surprising to hear that there were numerous political conflicts in the 1980s. Although I knew what Tiananmen Square protest was, I did not specifically know that it occurred in the 1980s. Also, the fashion was really different from today which is really cool as well. I think the poofy hair and other fashion styles of 1980s are pretty interesting.
DeleteBefore this video, all I knew about the 80's were the basic stereotypes, such as hippies, drug PSA's, and bizarre slang. It's interesting to see that these common stereotypes such as big hair and colorful fashion were true for the time. I'm surprised to see how much the 80's influenced us, such as the slang, which I had once thought was outlandish from our own, is actually retained through phrases like "dude" and "chill." I was surprised with how basic technology looked like in the 80's, considering that it was only 4 decades ago, yet modern phones and computers have taken a whole new look from the prior bricks and blocks from before. So much of our modern culture has its roots in the 80's, yet the aesthetic feels so different from our own.
ReplyDeleteThe eighties, or rather the different periods of the late 1900's, is not a topic that I am familiar with. I was exposed to the general knowledge of the eighties such as the music that was played,fashion sense, and major events that occurred. Something I found interesting that was unknown of was that it was home to the golden age of video games. Video games now are still popular and seeing the change in that era become apparent in modern life is interesting. Not only do we see video games that are well known today from the eighties, but also movies such as Back to the Future and Indiana Jones. Though there are drastic changes from the technologies from the different eras, it is obvious that our modern technology stems from the technology in the eighties. Along with technology, some of the slang still used today were used in the eighties as well, giving me a shock at how despite the years apart and obvious differences, with further knowledge, the two time periods have their similarities.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree, there are still many things from the 80s that are still seen today. The creations were the basis for our more complicated inventions and developments.
DeleteI knew about most of the major events of the 1980's, like the Cold War, the protests, and the major fashion trends; however, I didn't know many things about their lifestyle. I didn't know that AID's was a huge concern and that people tried to argue against gays with AIDS.It is amazing to see how far society has come in terms of acceptance and knowledge. Otherwise, it was really interesting to see the prices of some things because they were so much higher and so much more valuable than they are considered now.
ReplyDeleteI had an idea of what fashion was like in 80s because of the many picturing I have seen of people in the 80s. But I was unaware of a lot of the news that had happened during that time as well. I was aware of the events that happened at Tienanmen Square, but I had no idea it was related to all the events that happened in the 80s. Also, the AIDS epidemic was really surprising to because I knew about the disease, but I had no clue there was outbreak before. I had been pretty familiar with most of the movies shown in the video, but the music was mostly unknown to me. The culture during that time was completely different from what we have today. Technology was not a big part of their lives, while that is completely opposite today.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree. I wrote something similar in my own post as well. The culture back then was extremely different in comparison to what exists today, especially showcased through our modern technology and awareness about health welfare, such as addressing homosexuality.
DeleteHello MR. Nair! I enjoyed reading your post and relating it to mine. Did you know that Magic Johnson got AIDS in the early 90s just at the tail end of this breakout?
DeleteI too did not know to what degree the significance of the events that took place in the 80s were.
DeleteIt is shocking how the 1980s was only about twenty to thirty years ago. All these events that I thought were part of history (Cold War, Tiananmen Square, etc) weren't actually as far off into the past as I thought. If you think about it in terms of the entire history of the world it is actually fairly recent. It kind of made me realize that I am more connected to history that I thought I was during history classes. Also it is amazing how much technology has progressed in only a few decades. The phones were giant blocks, computers were blocks too, and videogames consisted of pixelated graphics and joysticks. Now we have iPhones, thin and light computers and televisions (I've seen flexible TVs on commercials), and virtual reality.
ReplyDeleteHi Kasey! I totally agree. I was also hit with a sense of realization when I saw that personal computers were only invented 30 years ago. I definitely understand your point about being more connected to history that you thought.
DeleteHaving had taken APUSH last year, I thought that I had a good idea of the events that took place during this time. However, I was surprised by the many things happening on a global scale, such as Mt. Saint Helen's erupting, the famine in Ethiopia, and the several political conflicts. I've listened to some 80's music because my mom is a huge fan, however I was once again surprised by 80's fashion, such as voluminous hair and preppy clothing, which all ultimately reflect greatly on the culture existing at that time. It is very fascinating to see how society and people have evolved and changed within a 30 or so year timespan.
ReplyDeleteSame girl! I was surprised by the same things that you were surprised by. I actually like the 80s music more than the current music we listen to on the radio. It's more classy and less inappropriate. Make a Spotify playlist for throw back songs! B)
DeleteI took APUSH last year too and the event of Mt. Saint Helen's and the famine in Ethiopia also surprised me. It was surprising that these events were missed because of all the other political events that happened.
DeleteAfter watching the Youtube video, I was most surprised by the fashion and technology. It is shocking how much technology has progressed so quickly. I cannot imagine my life without the internet or cell phone. It is also surprising that Apple launched their first computer in the 80s. Seeing what TVs looked like in the 80s also surprised me, since I have a TV that looks like that sitting in my garage. The fashion trends were also surprising. The hairstyles, especially the family portraits with the big hair shocked me.
ReplyDeleteYeah it really is crazy how fashion changes so drastically in a short time period. My parents have shown me their yearbooks and you can really see the "big hair" trend. I can't imagine everyone dressing like that to school in this day and age.
DeleteI wouldn't be able to imagine life without my cell phone too. The big camcorders and cellphones would also be a hassle to carry around.
DeleteWhen the slide show went through the different movies, I didn't realize that so many good famous movies were made in the 1980's. I knew about most of the world and political events because of history class, but I knew almost nothing about the fashion of the time. I learned a lot about the 1980's fashion.
ReplyDeleteI learned new historical events such as World Wide Hunger reaching its peak, HIV/AIDS received public worry, and many wars occurring. I thought the end of the Cold War in 1960s was the last war of the 20th century, but political distress was rising in the '80s too. I guess conflict has always been ongoing throughout history. I used to think that it was just something about the 21st century. The gay movement has also been ongoing since the 1980s. A lot of current events are related to events that happened decades ago and that surprised me. The fashion was cool. I understand that fashion is always changing, so I compared 1980s fashion to our modern fashion. Oh how times change!
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you Raymond! It is really interesting how many movements today started in the 80s and is still going on today. The fashion has also totally changed from the 80s. I cannot imagine going to school in a punk outfit and big hair.
DeleteOne thing that was new to me was how much of the slang and language I use today originated from the 80's. I didn't know words like awesome or totally came from that time period.
ReplyDeleteMe too! I never really have though about the origins of slang words and when they became popular.
DeleteAfter watching the footage I was surprised by the difference in culture back then. Many of the events happening in the 80s were involved with trying release tensions between countries and evolving the technology at the time. It was also interesting to see the fashion at that time with big hair and preppy clothes. The language used was also very different from present day.
ReplyDeleteHi Celina! You brought up an interesting point with the language. I agree with the big hair. Imagine if people had that hairdo today!
DeleteI loved how now we look at that fashion as weird but it was totally normal back in the day.
DeleteIn the 80s, classic movies were made such as Footloose, Greasers, Gremlins, etc, for people to be entertained and being escaped from reality. Video arcade games were especially popular because people wanted to spend every last quarter in their pockets. They wanted to be entertained ranging from fighting to dancing games. They wanted to have fun. From big hair to shoulder pads, people back then had a different sense of fashion. Women, especially, make themselves have this androgynous look where they can wear that could make them look very masculine, feminine or even both. Gender roles were very strict back then because of how most people were so liberated. Women working in the kitchen, taking care of the family, how stereotypical it sounds today. Men back then always outside working in the military, heavy lifting and going into war. So much has changed throughout the years.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the whole society has changed from the 80s to our current time. With new technologies back then, everyone wants to have fun just like today. I also think that life today is not as hard as the 80s.
DeleteI found it interesting that although I knew much of what occurred in the 80's, I thought that they occurred more recently than that. I listen to a lot of 80's music so I was able to recognize the songs, and I even recognized many of the films, although I did not realize the films had come out such a long time ago. I knew that the tearing down of the Berlin Wall occurred in the 80's, but I thought that Bush's phrase "Read my lips: no new taxes" was a lot more recent than the 80's. I felt connected to history by all of the trends I recognized, but at the same time it was as if I was disconnected from history because all these events occurred longer ago than I had realized. It was very interesting to see how much history has impacted our lives today, and how much we know and don't know from the past.
ReplyDeleteBefore watching the video, I know a little bit about the 80's society. I was surprised when I watch the video, because of the many picturing I have seen of the inventions and the people which don't exist today. I never know about the lifestyle and the tragic events, and these shock me. The 80s culture was completely different than the current culture, for the past has only a little bit of technology, but today, technology advanced more, so today there's Apple devices which were not made in the 80s. What I didn't know about that time was the magazine articles in the 80s.
ReplyDeleteI have seen and heard many movies and songs from the 80s, so the movies, songs, and fasion were no surprise to me. However, I was not aware of many of the historical events durin this time. For example, much of the USSR events of shooting down planes, etc. I had no prior knowledge of. The name Margaret Thatcher sounded familiar to me but I couldn't put a pin it and I was able to learn who she is. I also knew that AIDS had broke out, but I didn't know the stereotypes and origins surrounding it. I could see that this was time period where technology was really starting to take off as common things today were invented back then such as Apple, color TV, and cell phones.
ReplyDeleteI also think it's super crazy that all these devices we're connected to today were basic in the 80's. It's pretty surprising to think of how much society changed.
DeleteI have also heard of many of the movies from the 80s. They are simply classics. I find it interesting how back then, technology was just getting started and was really unknown to a lot of people, while now it's the complete opposite.
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ReplyDeleteIn general I had little knowledge of the type of fashion that was apparent during the 80s. Although I had some idea of the type of clothing worn by people through movies I had watched, I didn't know how crazy and weird they actually were. The hairstyles that people had back then especially surprised me. I never knew men would also grown out their hair in almost the same fashion as women at the time. In addition to this,the event that took place in Tiananmen Square shocked me the most. The fact that a lot of people died in the hands of police because they were protesting surprised me as well.
ReplyDeleteYou are absolutely right! Men today would generally not wear that hairstyle. It is also revolting that the Chinese gov't would open fire on civilians.
DeleteIt was quite shocking for me to see how much political unrest there was in the world during the 80´s.
DeleteI like how there wasn't that stereotype that long hair was not only for women but men too.
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DeleteI also find the brutality the police showed to the people surprising. I also noticed that all the fashion and hairstyles from the 80s have completely gone out of trend in out community today.
DeleteWatching this film made me realize how much technology has changed after seeing the Apple computer, the camcorders that were high-tech for its time period, and the CDs. The surprising was how all this change occurred in a short amount of time. I also thought it was interesting how much society has changed with regards to gender roles and stereotypes. I always thought that gender stereotypes are prominent during our current time period, but I never realized how much worse stereotypes were in the past. Though I did know a bit about the music of the period and the fashion, it's still surprising how different the lifestyle was during that period.
ReplyDeleteI definitely thought the same thing. Although I knew that the 80s were quite different from today, these films helped me to really realize the true difference and put it into perspective.
DeleteIt's amazing how we've gone from clunky computers to lightweight laptops in such a short period of time! The rate of growth in the technology sector is truly incredible. I was also very surprised by the survey data about gender roles as I didn't expect the percentages to be so high.
DeleteI knew that technology had started developing in the 80's, but for some reason I had associated it more with the 90's. It was interesting to see that the video had focused on it more that I thought it would have. I noticed that when it comes to things like movies or shows like St. Elmo's Fire and the Simpsons, I feel like they're old because they came out in the 80's. In contrast, when they discuss more social issues like the AIDS epidemic and its intense discrimination against gay people feels shockingly recent, like not that long ago people were left for dead because their disease wasn't understood or researched. Also, looking at all of these timelines makes me realize how the 80's was nearly forty years ago, yet we still continue to analyze how it affects us today. Looking at events like Tiananmen Square and the AIDS epidemic, as well as the way articles are written about them makes me wonder how people will regard all of the issues and events that are currently happening.
ReplyDeleteI also associated technology with the 90's as well! I always thought that the 80's was still a time where hardly any technology existed. Many of the things that I thought came out in the 90's surprisingly came out earlier than that time.
DeleteBefore reading and watching videos about the 80's, I have never particularly focused on what that decade was all about. I knew that disco, crazy hair, and crazy fashion existed, however, I did not know about all the social and political conflicts that existed. While I knew that gender roles have existed for decades (and still exist to this day), I did not know that so many people supported gender roles. ~49% of people in the 80's believed that a man's role in the family was to provide money and income, and a woman's role was to look after the family. As of 2012, only ~12% still support that belief. The high difference in percentage was what shocked me; I did not expect that many people to support such a belief. Aside from gender roles, I thought it was really cool how many of the arcade games that we know and enjoy today were created in the 80's.
ReplyDeleteI was also unaware of the surprisingly large population who supported gender roles in the 1980s. Maybe it's because Britain didn't fight a major war since World War II, as wartime economies rely on women. Americans fought the Vietnam War in the 60s which allowed feminism to make substantial progress domestically. This may explain why the British population held onto gender roles for a longer time than the American population.
DeleteI had always thought of the 80´s with an American perspective. It was described to me as a time of really dumb fashion trends and people trying too hard at being cool. I never really realised how much was going on in the world during the 80´s. Things like, the AIDS epidemic, the political unrest in Britain and even the Falklands war were unknown to me until today. My parents only used to listen to a bunch of 90´s trends so 80´s music was unknown to me during the majority of my childhood.
ReplyDeleteYes I didn't know the AIDS epidemic, the unrest in Britain and the war all happened in the 80's either! It is interesting to learn how much more chaotic the world was back then than it is now.
DeleteI have seen a lot of pictures and memes about the 80s and I wasn't really a big fan of the 80s, it wasn't my style honestly what a shocker! I didn't know there was that much of a growth in technology, especially with how limited they were back then the technology they had were really impressive. I really liked how nowadays we still have the same games that they had back then. And people still like to play them!
ReplyDeleteIt is super amazing to think that something so large can be condensed into the size of our palms and can do so much more!
DeleteThe 1980s saw a dramatic rise in conservative thought as seen in the rise of the New Right in Reagan's America. This conservatism was mainly a response to the economic failures that occured in the 1970s as a result of the OPEC oil embargo.
ReplyDeleteI had no idea that media in the 1980s was so relevant today. For instance, I had no idea Star Wars became popular as early as the 1980s. Moreover, I understood the biological effects of AIDs but never realized the association it had with the rise in homophobia. The fashion in the 1980s seemed odd to me. Having the big hair would be really uncomfortable, and the shoulder pads seemed unnecessary.
As a fellow millennial living in a time when Conservative politics isn't as popular as it once was, I find it surprising that just a few decades ago, it was so popular. I now understand the meaning of Trump's presidential campaign slogan: "Make America Great Again", the same slogan that Reagan had used for his presidential campaign - it is a promise to a return to the glory days of conservatism under Reagan.
DeleteChristopher Kim
DeleteFor me I already knew about a lot of the historical events during the 80's, but not so much about the pop culture then. It was a bit shocking to me how many different styles of clothing developed then, and also the amount of iconic movies made then. Also I didn't know some of the "smaller" details like the USSR shooting down civilian planes, the AIDS epidemic, and Technology breakthroughs
ReplyDeleteIt’s quite surprising how drastically different our generation is from the 1980s. The technological advances really changed everything, from the games, PCs and cameras that were available to the advance in medicine through the further study of HIV and AIDs. The social differences are also drastic. People are becoming far more liberal and accepting of same-sex relations, and the hair and clothing styles are also very different between the two time periods. Furthermore, there have been movements against gender stereotypes of the 1980s, such as the traditional “mothers must stay at home” and “guys have to be strong and can’t show emotions.” Also, we were just learning about the Tiananmen Square Massacre in Chinese class, so it was surprising to me that it was so recent because Tiananmen has such a long history and significance to it. (I thought it was in the 1970s or earlier.)
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ReplyDelete^^ posted an incomplete response by mistake, ignore
DeleteI was surprised by how much the technological developments of the 1980s foreshadowed the technology-filled world we have today. The introduction of personal computers with graphical user interfaces, for example, paved the path to having computers and smartphones with more complex interfaces throughout our lives. In addition, the 1980s included the development of the first video games, which have grown rapidly since into a massive industry of their own. The culture of the 1980s helped bring up these new ideas, which developed into products that are integral to our daily life today.
ReplyDeleteIt was a little weird to see all the big, clunky technology they had (ie. the massive computers, the brick-sized cell phones) and know that those models were essentially the only ones available at the time, and at crazy high prices. But I suppose that those devices, like you said, paved the way to more convenient technology.
DeleteAfter watching the video I found the fashion of the 80's really interesting. Women's fashion has changed drastically from the 80's to the present while menswear (blazers, button-downs, khakis) stayed mostly the same. In the 80's bright and colorful clothing with accessories such as large earrings were popular with women. The defining fashion statement of the decade were shoulder pads, which became known as power dressing. I found that the fad developed in the midst of a second wave of feminism; as more and more women began to hold leadership positions that were previously reserved to men, more women began wearing shoulder pads, which gave them the impression of status. The fad may have been symbolic of how gender roles were changing.
ReplyDeleteIt was really interesting to see how women's fashion changed a lot more than that of men. Wearing shoulder pads was a defining statement that women were becoming more independent and holding those leadership positions. Now that gender roles are less drastically differing from each other, I find it interesting that shoulder pads went out of style. It makes me curious if wearing shoulder pads was really a fashion statement or more of a way to support feminism, and now that the gender roles have changed, shoulder pads aren't needed to illustrate a woman's status.
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ReplyDeleteIt surprised and amused me how different the United States is from the 80's because of all the differences that were present then. There were completely different fashion fads and trends back then, including large protruding hair and punk clothes, both of which are not common in present day. In addition, shoulder pads and large earrings were also prevalent. Although Apple, as a brand, has ceased to lose its relevancy, the level of its technology has greatly improved with time with much better graphics and CPU units.
ReplyDeleteI agree! However, Apple's technology should not be valued by the specs (better graphics and CPUs), because all they really do is optimize relatively older technology and make it user friendly.
DeleteIt was fascinating to learn about the distinct trends and perceptions present during the 80s. When looking at the survey data on gender roles, I did not expect the percentage of those who believe women should remain at home and care for the family to be so high; I found it surprising as the 80s were only a mere 40 years ago. I always associated the 80s with Michael Jackson and disco, so it was interesting to learn about the emergence of other forms of music like hip-hop and alternative rock. It was also really cool to see how much technology has progressed since then, and it makes me wonder what our world will look like 40 years from now.
ReplyDeleteI learned that the use of homophobic slurs extends all the way back to the 1980s and were used by all age groups. I've only heard them used among immature kids and teens in present time, so I was initially surprised when I read this. The declining popularity of homophobic slurs shows how far the LGBTQ movement has progressed since, as uttering them nowadays is no longer socially acceptable.
ReplyDeleteI knew close to nothing about the 80s apart from the popular movies I have seen from that time period. I was honestly surprised to see how much society has advanced since then both socially and technologically. What I found most interesting was how different the language was back then. The slang in the 80s sounds like the most ridiculous thing to me and if anyone were to say anything like that today, it would be very strange. Also in the 80s, cell phones were unheard of and I honestly cannot imagine how people could survive everyday without that method of communication. The 80s did seem like a fun time period to live in and the culture back then was very interesting.
ReplyDeleteHaha, I could not even imagine using that slang in our modern lives. But imagine people in the 2030s who would laugh at our slang. I also had not noticed how much cell phones costed in the 80s, it was literally a brick for $500.
DeleteThe 80's, I noticed, marked the beginning of television culture and were characterized by a media boom. Cable networks became a norm and were prevalent in every household, and many beloved movies and children's TV characters were invented. I always knew that 80s movies were beyond classic. They were revolutionary. I had not realized, however, that the 80s also introduced TV channels such as MTV and programs such as the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. While television and movies have come a long way since then, it is nice to laugh at early animation and pop culture and marvel at cinematic history.
ReplyDeleteI was surprised when I found out that the tv channels like MTV began in the 80s as well. It's pretty cool that different generations enjoy watching the same things. I wonder if newer generations would consider trends during our current time period to be old.
DeleteI didn't realize how much of an influence the 80s had on our lives until now. It is impressive that even today, songs from the 80s are popular hits. Considering entertainment, I was pleasantly surprised that a lot of award winning movies were released during this time period. I think seeing powerful women on television influenced the 80s fashion trends as it allowed people to express themselves, which is something we unfortunately try to avoid today to fit in with the social norms. I feel that feminism increased during this time and helped close the gender gap as women wanted to contribute to the household income. Overall I was shocked to notice the increase and advancement of technology, fashion, and entertainment in over 30 years.
ReplyDeleteI was amazed to see the fashion trends that were popular in the 80s. They were very colorful and loud fashion statements. I personally thought the big hair was obnoxious and should never make a comeback in my lifetime. I was surprised that I recognized music and movies from the 80's. Some of the things in the 80s are still popular today and many of things I have heard from references in tv shows and movies. I was shocked on how fat the phones were and I wonder how they carry their phones around.
ReplyDeleteI also hope that big hair never comes back into style! I was also fascinated at how only some fashion trends lasted till now while a majority have not. It makes me wonder what factors determine the lifetime of a trend. In 30 years from now, will our current trends be obsolete?
DeleteI agree with the hair being a bit strange, but i also thought that some of the casual styles are still around today and have not changed too much. And some great movies are truly older than i thought.
DeleteI was really surprised by the fashion change from the 80s to now. People didn't understand the term subtle back then. The terms teens used back then were also pretty wack.
ReplyDeleteI agree. The slang terms used in the 80's are so different compared to the slang words we use nowadays.
DeleteI was already aware of some of the key people that were mentioned, but I never realized that they were all part of the same era of the 1980s. For example, I had heard of Margaret Thatcher, and I knew she was known as “the Iron Lady.” However, I didn’t know that she played her key role during the 1980s. I also found it ironic that even though gender roles at the time were very divided between the workforce and the home (which didn’t really surprise me considering some of the issues women still face today), Margaret Thatcher was still able to be in a place of power, specifically the prime minister of a world power.
ReplyDeleteI was actually pretty surprised by how extreme the gender roles and stereotypes against genders were, but I'm glad that in modern day it has improved a lot.
DeleteI had never really thought about the social effects of the AIDS epidemic in the eighties: the paranoia, the homophobia. It was interesting (though depressing) to learn about the public's attitudes towards the disease and towards homosexuality, because their beliefs were so drastically different from popular beliefs today. And before all this research, I had always assumed that people in the eighties were fairly open-minded, so it was shocking to see statistics that said things like, "48% of people in 1987 supported traditional domestic gender roles." It put things in perspective--I'm really glad our modern society has progressed as much as it has.
ReplyDeleteI was very surprised by the intense hair and colors that people wore in the 80s. It seems like getting hair to be that voluminous and big would take a large amount of time and would also be cumbersome as well. I was also surprised to hear about the Falklands War, as it is not a war that is commonly talked about in most history classes, and I found it interesting to learn more about what took place between the British and the Argentines. From the youtube video we watched in class, I recognized several movies that I did not know were created in the 80s, such as E.T.
ReplyDeleteHaha yeah, I was pretty surprised by the hair trends of the time, as well as the fashion trends in general. I can only imagine how much time that would take and how damaging it would be in the long run. I had never heard of the Falkland War either, but it's probably because it didn't make any major changes on society.
DeleteSomething that I was surprised by was the fact that so many things that I had thought were from an earlier/later time period actually originated in the 1980s. For example, I always thought that the song "Eye of the Tiger" was from the 1970s or earlier, or that movies like The Breakfast Club and Die Hard were from the 90s or 2000s. It made me realize that so many things from the 80s have kept their place in our culture as classics, that sometimes we do not even remember their actual origins. Even fashion trends like high wasted jeans and have made their way back into style today. Although a majority of things have changed from that time period, I think that it's pretty cool how some things can last that long through time.
ReplyDeleteWhat I noticed on how the video was made, there was little to no ethnic diversity when it came to the fashion section.In all the photos of groups of young individuals with the 80's fashion it was only white people. It seems to me like racism was still affecting the media of the 80's. Also, I never thought of what the 1980's was like in other countries, not just the United States. I didn't realize all these crazy events happening in other parts if the world during the same time when MC Hammer pants were a thing.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I'm familiar with the culture of the 80s with the music, movies, hair and shoulder pads, I wasn't aware of many of the world events happening at that time. I love watching 16 candles and flash dance, and my mom always shows me photos of her crazy outfits. The world events are quite fascinating because they still affect society today.
ReplyDelete16 Candles is iconic??? I agree, it was really interesting to see how the world events then connect to the world events now.
Delete16 Candles is a great movie
DeleteAlthough it hasn't been my first time interacting with 80's culture, I was surprised at how many commonalities the 80's had with modern day. It may seem childish, but I used to see the 80's as a time period from "a million years ago". But looking again, there are so many things from the 80's that are extremely relevant today, which make modern life in many ways, very similar to modern life. AIDS, video games, the decline of the USSR, for example are all things that are strongly affecting the modern day.
ReplyDeleteChristopher Kim
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ReplyDeleteResearching about the 1980s in depth helped me to learn more about the decade’s culture and society. Before watching the videos and reading the articles, I was only aware of silly things like the poofy hair and slangs of the 1980s. Therefore, it was truly surprising when I took a peek at the culture of the 1980s like music and movies. To be specific, I was amazed by the U2’s music and the enumerated movies from the video. Moreover, it is really interesting that the society changed quite significantly from the 1980s. For example, I did not know that LGBTQ community and women were treated unequally and badly even in the 1980s. Overall, it was interesting to see how much change occurred in only about 30 years or so.
ReplyDeleteI was surprised about airplane from the korean airline was crashed by the soviets and killed all passengers and crew. Also, the fashion sense with big hairs.
ReplyDeleteOne thing I learned after watching the video was that the first personal computer, by IBM, was released in the 1980s. I thought personal computers were a much newer phenomenon, coming out of the 1990s or 2000s. Although the first computers for household use were released in the 80s, the computer as we know it today, with a graphics interface and not just a command line interface, would be popularized by Apple later in the 1990s. As for the fashion, I think its perfectly normal for people in the 80s to have a different sense of fashion compared to people today because they lived in a very different society. Just like people in different parts of the world today dress and act differently, so do people from different times.
ReplyDeleteRight! I always thought computers came out in the 2000s as well, but turns out they began early in the 80s, although they were definitely older prototypes unlike our fancy touch screen laptops and high quality audio installed in our computers now.
DeleteOne thing that was amazing is Games and music I thought cameout in the late 90's actually came out in the early 80's. and if you compare both those things to today video games are now in virtual reality and music is mostly electronic. The amount of change and development in video game and music is truly amazing considering things like video games just started a few decades ago.
ReplyDeleteI agree, I was surprised I even knew some of the games on the list. I never knew it came out that early.
DeleteIt was interesting how the fashion in 80s was very bold. Having shoulder pads and big hair makes women look confident. These days women are self conscious about their looks and always follow the trend.
ReplyDeleteEven though the 80s were typically described with absurd fashion and hair, today, these trends are actually being brought back. (In fact, 2017 is being called the 80s redux on the fashion runway.) It is really the one period of fashion that stands out as being rebellious to the timeless and elegant fashion women were used to wearing.
ReplyDeleteI did not know there was a "golden age" of arcade games. It was interesting looking back on the history of video/arcade games and I love observing how gaming evolves. It's funny to see how many of these arcade games are still popular and how long ago some of these were actually invented. It's also mind boggling to see how far we've come with gaming and makes me curious about how it will look in the future.
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