If there’s anything we Millenial Gen Y Digital Generation Midwich Cuckoo Facebook Generation Children of the Corn Gen Z Trophy Kids love to talk about, it’s the 90s. A short time ago, they were remembered as a time of great tribulation, when the Cold War ended and, without a clear enemy to pit themselves against, Americans were forced to reevaluate the values they were suddenly spreading around the world and employing to build a financial house of cards while a brief alternative movement subsided into a mass of whitewashed, standardized culture and entertainment that seemed to care about nothing but endless, unchallenging reflexivity. A time when the country was running over the gorge with its eyes shut so it couldn’t look down. A time when, just maybe, some part of the world’s soul slipped away into the void. But not now! We 18-22 year olds have nothing but love for the decade that ended 15 years ago. And if there’s anything we love more, it’s second-long clips of popular shows or movies. So here we go:
1. When you're a baby.
2. When you're a child younger than seven.
3. When you're scared by loud sounds, as a result of being a baby or a small child.
4. When you’re confused because you cannot yet fluently speak the English language.
5. When you’re feeling small compared to fully grown adults or 10-year-olds.
6. When you’re wishing for the day you will be a functioning human being who can consume media, contribute to culture, and form lasting memories. In other words, wishing for the 90s to end.
17. When you screw up counting because, again, you are a baby or small child.
A lot of people criticize listicles like this for being reductive and unoriginal. “This feels like pop cultural masturbation” they say. “This has the comedic sophistication of a dog barking at a mailman it sees on TV,” they say. Hopefully we can all agree that these criticisms are dead wrong. Lists accompanied by gifs of popular movies and TV shows are the premier form of both journalism and criticism practiced today. If nothing else, they are excellent at generating buzz and can even feed a healthy conversation.
