1990s: cynical or optimistic?

[Warren Dew]

(06-09-2020, 04:23 AM)Blazkovitz Wrote: How do you view the decade? I have seen it characterised in both ways.

Cynical side:
-popularity of dark subcultures: goths, punks, metalhead
-high crime rates all over the Western world
-sinister movies like the Matrix

Optimistic side:
-the "smiley face" trend
-upbeat pop music like the Spice Girls

It seems the cynicism was more prevalent in the early to mid 90s, and the optimism in late 90s. It might represent a transition from Xer to Xennial culture.

I'd characterize your trends as follows:

- freedom to explore one's own preferences and fantasies:  goths, punks, Spice Girls, movies like The Matrix
- declining crime rates throughout the US
- I don't remember a smiley face trend other than the ironic one left over from the late 1980s Watchmen graphic novel

There was nothing on the surface negative about the 90s after the initial recession, in my opinion.  If anything, there was excessive optimism, which in some cases laid the seeds for future problems, such as with the repeal of critical elements of Glass-Steagall and the CRA amendments that set the stage for the housing bubble and bust.