The 1940s

The 90's were all about getting away from the 80's, and what we considered cliche from that time. The music went grungier and less produced (or at least it was pitched as such), Hawaiian shirts came in and left, the Macarana came and left, black culture proved more interesting than white and in total it felt like we were taking culture from everywhere to distance ourselves from the 80's.

The 00's were all about re-establishing our nostalgia for the 80's. Shows like Scrubs had a common fall back trope of loving the kitch culture of the 80's, movies like Suddenly 30 and Music and Lyrics came out as hits because they tapped into the nostalgia of the 80's. We saw it as this silly, naive time and saw how silly we all were and then loved our past selves much like we would an innocent puppy (With the occasional laughing at ourselves, like the unintentional slapstick aspects of puppies). I would argue even people born in the 90's gained some joy looking at the archaic 8-bit graphics of yesteryear.

SO! Why all this talk? I'm not here to study social tendencies, as much more qualified people are want to do, I am here to make wild statements about our future, as Sci Fi is want to do!

My predicition for the stylings of the 2010's is: 1940's and 50's.

From the media I've observed in many fields, I have found that the 1940s vibe has entered popular culture, that it will be the core undertones of the 10's (or at least the beginning thereof).

Already there are more than a few examples coming about in media:

The themeatic setting of computer games such as Bio-shock and Fallout 3
The new movies like Indiana Jones which use it setting wise
Inclusion of old songs to give films an "authentic" touch. Their use in Watchmen and Severance are notable.
A rise in popularity for 'pin-up' models rather than the anorexic thin type



The why's of it both elude and facinate me. One argument could be it is a turn away from the futuristic aspect of life that we're currently in. At one time people could have been excused for thinking that technology would save us all before things like the GFC and Global Warming put a downer on that. A wish to go back to a simpler time could be the explanation.

There's also the mirror situtation - the 1940s being a period of recovery after a massive market collapse as well as being deep in a military psyche due to the wars of the day. There is often a tone of sadness in songs from this time, revealing a reflective nature as the people of the day come to grips with what they lost in the war, the war ahead of them and the impending threat of technology (i.e. the nuclear bomb).

It may well be that our timing is right for such sentimentality - sadness behind us (with 9/11 for us and Pearl Harbour for them), doom in front of us (Nazi threats and Terrorism and the GFC) and fear for the future (USSR with nukes for the 1940s and for us... well... if you weren't scared enough)

From all of that, it is not a stretch that people of today would find comfort, solace or even just a rapport with the people of 1940's-50's, and my prediction is that rapport will continue to influence us in our film, TV, music and interactive material.