1990s: cynical or optimistic?

[Eric the Green]

(06-10-2020, 02:01 AM)gabrielle Wrote: I think the 90s were outwardly an optimistic time, especially in the early years, but ultimately cynicism won the day. 

In the early 90s, the Soviet Union had fallen and the Cold War was over, with the US triumphant.  Apartheid had ended in South Africa.  A new era of freedom and democracy seemed to be dawning.  Technology was advancing rapidly and becoming more accessible, with the creation of the world wide web, and the future seemed limitless.

But this was also the era, following the repeal of the Fairness Doctrine, in which Fox News first aired.  The era of the tabloid TV circus--Geraldo, Jerry Springer and, later, reality TV.  The era of police brutality and riots in LA, when minority children were called "super-predators" and the Crime Bill was introduced leading to accelerated mass incarceration.  The era that introduced harsher, more intolerant immigration law.  The deregulation of banking that would lead to the financial crisis of 2008. The rise of powerful international organized crime which would in later decades threaten democracies. 

Such was the world when Gen X came of age.  I don't see goth, punk, grunge and metal as cynical.  Punk was angry and goth was romantically gloomy, but being angry or depressed is not the same thing as being cynical.  In fact, I think many people who are angry or depressed, especially the young, are actually idealists who are unhappy with the way the world is, but perhaps can't articulate it, or feel powerless to do anything about it.  Punk was often highly political, as was rap in the 90s.

What many Americans forget today, being too literal as they are, is that the tone and sound of a piece of sound culture says as much as the words. Whatever the message may be, and however relevant, all these genres are very cynical. Such sound does not elevate immediate consciousness, it assaults the senses. Exceptions may apply. It certainly reflected the "cynicism won the day" situation as you described the era. Harshness in law and other media; harshness in sound. It's all of a piece.