While out for a run this weekend, my friend asked me to recommend some 90's movies. Growing up in a conservative household, she missed out on some of the classics. As we ran, I rattled (panted) off some titles:
Say Anything, Singles, Pulp Fiction, but it was only when I got home that I found what I consider to be the ultimate 90's movie in my collection. Of course! How could I have forgotten it? A love letter to the slacker generation featuring a killer soundtrack, a fresh-faced Winona Ryder, an eerie foreshadowing of reality TV and a cameo by 90's rock scion, Dave Pirner!
I proudly delivered
Reality Bites to my friend the next day and now I wait anxiously for her feedback. Her husband's opinion was promptly posted on Facebook, "Hm. After watching Reality Bites, I've never been quite so glad to have lived my high school, college and early post-college days in the '00s...nor had I relaized quite how glamorous that time was (at least compared to the '90s)..."
Facebook friends quickly pounced in defense of the 90's. For friends my age, the 90's hold a special place in our hearts.
We remember the 80's, but we were still young enough for our parents to call the shots. No, you can't stay up to watch
LA Law. You march right back into that Sam Goody and return George Michael's filthy
Faith cassette. Sorry, you're not using your brother's extra ticket for the U2 concert. (Incidentally, Springsteen showed up at that concert and I remain bitter to this day.)
When the 90's arrived, we were old enough to hang out at the mall, to get dropped off at the movies. I suppose those of us who didn't grow up in the city might have even driven ourselves places... We decided where and how our allowance was spent and for that reason, we take ownership of the '90s. Overalls and flannel shirts might have been fashion missteps, but they were steps I took on my own.
I don't regret my music choices in the 90's. The first CD I ever bought,
10,000 Maniacs Unplugged, remains one of my all-time favorites. Last week, I might have gotten a little caught up when I found that one of Eddie Vedder's ukulele songs was the free download at Starbucks. I might have even sung
Better Man to the unfortunate college student who was sitting with me.
Oh, the 90's. You brought us
Friends. Titanic. Seinfeld. 90210 (the first one).
Nirvana. The renaissance of Disney animation. The internet. You spiced up our lives.
We weren't glamorous, we were grungy. We didn't have hope, we had Courtney Love. But give me the choice today and I will still choose a disenfranchised Ethan Hawke over a shiny Russell Crowe. Hmm...it's too bad they don't make
Celebrity Death Match anymore.
