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LIFE USED TO BE DIFFERENT: Alex Bobrova, 10c

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How Was It In The Eighties?

Now on the Internet, such a trend as nostalgia is gaining popularity. In the USA, internet users are re-experiencing the sunny 80s, which is facilitated by relevant games, music and movies. Many people recall those times with a smile, as many lived their best years in the 80s. Young people, like me, want to find out more about what they themselves didn`t catch, but what they constantly heard about from adults who spoke of the 80s, some with a shudder, some with a laugher. So what were the eighties like and how do they differ from nowadays?

For an example, on which I will be reviewing the 80s, I will take the Soviet Union as it was possible to dig out the most information only about it. The 1980s was a decade that included the years from 1980 to 1989. It was marked by the end of the Cold War and the beginning of the collapse of the socialist camp (which ended in the early 1990s). Among the key events of this age are the war in Afghanistan, the restructuring of the Soviet Union, the Chernobyl disaster, "velvet revolutions" in Eastern Europe. In the cultural field the 1980s were marked by the predominance of mass culture and the enormous influence of television on society. The eighties became a special period in the life of Soviet Ukraine. After all, this was the last decade of the existence of the Soviet Union. This period was marked by the introduction and spread of elements of Western freedom.

Let`s start with science and technology. In the beginning of 80`s first monochrome photographic film was created, that made photography more simple than it used to be. Unfortunately, people didn’t use to make as many photos as we are used to making now, as the process was too time-consuming. Film development used to take too much time and required skill. My dad even has a saying about it: «don't be born happy but be born a photographer». That means that the profession of photographer used to be very prestigious. It was a very confusing fact for me that people in 80s didn`t use to know what AIDS was. Only in 1981 the first 5 cases of a "rare form of pneumonia" (as they called AIDS then) were registered in the USA. In 1983 Motorola had released the world's first commercial portable cell phone, from that time people started to get used to it. Interesting fact, my Smartphone is also Motorola and works perfectly. However, people didn`t use to surf the net until 1989, when world-wide web was created, but they still would surf it only through computer. Speaking about computer people first came across computer virus in 1986. They weren`t used to it and were very scared, although I can say that computer viruses still terrify us. In 80s people actively continued to explore space, because everyone used to believe that human race must learn everything even outside of the planet to continue remaining the most developed species of all.

Now we can finally speak about culture. I know you were waiting for that part, don`t you? The eighties can rightfully be considered the beginning of the information era, as during that period people started to get used to working with computers. Nowadays we can`t imagine life without them. Computers had greatly influenced our culture, way of life and habits and also computers played great role in forming 80s culture. Can you imagine, that teenagers didn`t use to have as many games as we have today. Such Pocket Games as Nintendo Game & Watch appeared in 1980. Well, when everyone's favorite game and the one we all used to play once in our life, Tetris, appeared in 1984.

In literature and in artistic culture in general everything was based around the idea of repentance. The culture of the eighties is characterized by a tendency to give a new concept of man and the world, where the universal humanity is more significant than socio-historical aspects. That’s why the main idea used to be the spread of political correctness. This task is vital nowadays. This manifested itself in music, films, books and even clothing.

Music had its best time in 80s in my opinion (maybe because I am I a great fan of 80s music, who knows). People used to listen to the genres new wave and synth pop. In 1981 MTV channel started to broadcast music clips, it also used to show Queen, Elton John, and Michael Jackson Clips. It was heyday of the era of rock and heavy metal, the emergence of the main directions of metal music, such as thrash metal, power metal, black metal, and death metal. Industrial rock was also popular, which is also one of my favorites. It was hard for me to get used to it once, for the first time I found it strange and even weird, but then I understood that I enjoying it. The beginning of the 80s was marked by the heyday of Russian rock for Soviet Union. New rock groups “Alice”, “DDT”, “Kino” used to be very popular. True, in the middle of the decade, mass persecution of participants in the rock movement began. Band members, as well as their fans, used to be harassed and even arrested. Imagine, yourself being arrested for your music tastes, gross. Fortunately, the authorities weren`t used to stopping the ongoing processes, as they were already actively developing around the world.

In 80s youth subcultures began to develop. The first, and perhaps the most harmless, is the metalworkers. The participants of the movement united around Metal-style music, which preaches independence, self-confidence, a cult of a strong personality. Another bright youth subculture of the 80s is punks. They protest against society and politics. They differ in shocking and very motley style. Lyuber is another movement that arose in Lyubertsy and spread to the capital and the rest of the country. Representatives of this movement were engaged in bodybuilding, boxing, and other fighting sports. They wore characteristic clothes: leather jackets, white shirts with black narrow ties and wide checkered pants. Luber used to be distinguished by aggression towards all other informal movements.

The most memorable in 80 is the style of clothing. The style of the 80s was formed under the influence of the cult of a beautiful and healthy body, subcultures, as well as the fashion industry and on-screen images. The determining factor in the choice of clothing was the brand name. Key Features of 80s Style: bright colors, Ray-Ban glasses, shoulder pads, bat sleeves and flashlights, miniskirts, body, leggings, pumps, sneakers, martens, perm, pile, highlighting, bright shadows, eyeliner, blush, lipstick with mother of pearl. The main characteristic of the direction used to be excessiveness.

In cinematography new genres such as science fiction and mystic appeared. Also it was the first time when special effects were used.

All in all I can surely say that eighties fashion is back now. And that`s amazing, as that time period has given a lot of things we can`t get used to living without now. My mom was the same age as me now in 80s and also liked industrial rock. She used to wear bright oversized clothes and loved wearing jackets with shoulder pads. My Dad used to wear popular haircut for the 80s, he liked putting on leather jackets and jeans called bananas.