Does anyone else genuinely miss the 2000s?

[Dom Cruise]

I miss the 2000s for a plethora of reasons-- The mid-late 2000s specifically. I hold a lot of nostalgia for my young adult years. Fun times.

While I believe a lot pop culture things sucked in the 2000s, that decade really shaped my personality and my interests/tastes. Basically, my taste in movies and music really came into its own during this time, and I have really fond memories of discovering all of that stuff.

While part of the reason why I miss the 2000s definitely stems from it being a huge part of my early adulthood, I will also say that the culture was a lot better as well. Politically, of course, this decade started a trajectory that we all will probably forever suffer the aftermath of ... But culturally, I'd say that we were in an overall good place.

Social media, smart phones, and popularizing nerd culture has fucking ruined everything.

2005-2007 is peak nostalgia for me, I felt like things already kinda sucked by 2009 given the recession and whatnot but I was in hindsight being a little too harsh.

I think the thing about the 2000s is that mainstream culture was already pretty dumb, but it was at least easier to ignore and not as actively hostile as today and the counter-cultures, stuff like nerd culture and video games, were on fire that decade, that's what I really miss, it's hard to take the decline that sort of stuff has suffered.

When I think of the 2000s I think of the phrase "be it ever so humble, there's no place like home", for all of it's faults it was simply a time in American culture in which I felt a lot more comfortable, stuff simply made more sense back then, as opposed to the lunacy of the present day.

 

[Pointless Pedant]

I have never felt more my age than when reading this thread...fuck I'm old. That being said I do miss the freedom I had in the 00's and the fact my skinnier, man-whorier, self pulled quite a bit of ass when I was working retail. The internet was better, P2P file sharing had me burning dozens of mix CDs for road trips, fat and hairy women were an extreme niche outlier in porn, and Gamefaqs didn't completely suck ass. I miss being able to have banter with friends that went "shut your fag mouth fagballs before I jam my fag foot in your faghole" and we all laugh about it, without anyone in the room frothing at the mouth about bigotry or some shit.

Could just be my being on the cusp of middle age talking, but I would honestly do 1996 to 2006 completely over again if I had the opportunity and the current knowledge and mindset I have now.

There must be some kind of class/social circle related thing going on here, because, while I'm not at all easily offended, if someone spoke to me like that, then or now, I'd just assume he was really childish and needed to grow up and get laid. It reminds me of the obnoxious kids in online video games, who were literal 13 year olds. I wouldn't think he was some kind of Nazi, though, which proves your point.

I thought the show The Inbetweeners was hilarious, but those characters were schoolboys. If an adult speaks like that, it's just childish and rude.

 

[StarkRavingMad]

2005-2007 is peak nostalgia for me, I felt like things already kinda sucked by 2009 given the recession and whatnot but I was in hindsight being a little too harsh.

I think the thing about the 2000s is that mainstream culture was already pretty dumb, but it was at least easier to ignore and not as actively hostile as today and the counter-cultures, stuff like nerd culture and video games, were on fire that decade, that's what I really miss, it's hard to take the decline that sort of stuff has suffered.

When I think of the 2000s I think of the phrase "be it ever so humble, there's no place like home", for all of it's faults it was simply a time in American culture in which I felt a lot more comfortable, stuff simply made more sense back then, as opposed to the lunacy of the present day.

My personal life started to absolutely go down the shitter in 2009 (due to multiple tragedies in my family), and it didn't let up for several years after that.

Not that my life is a constant sob story or anything; I've had some good years and great moments since ... And while 2020 is one of the biggest shitshows ever, I think I've definitely been one of the more fortunate ones. It's just that the mid-late 2000s was truly the last time where things felt "calm" for me, if you know what I mean. People seemed far more laid back and less self-important.

Despite being in our early 20's in the late 2000s, I feel like my friends have regressed into mental and emotional children in recent years. I really do feel like my social circle had its shit together moreso at age 21 than at age 30-something. It's been quite the thing to witness. They've become so unbearable to a point where I can count the friends I still talk to with probably less than 3 fingers. Amazing.

 

[AnOminous]

I agree. It is as dumb as dragging out Lenin or Stalin's corpse when we are talking about BLM or Antifa

I would drag out Stalin's corpse to fuck it though. Did you know he was a manlet? He was literally 5 feet 5 inches.

There must be some kind of class/social circle related thing going on here, because, while I'm not at all easily offended, if someone spoke to me like that, then or now, I'd just assume he was really childish and needed to grow up and get laid. It reminds me of the obnoxious kids in online video games, who were literal 13 year olds.

This is probably completely irrelevant, but is one of the funniest thing about SJWs. I seriously get the impression that most of these people were just called a faggot by some 13 year old and instead of just realizing "wow I just got insulted by a child" they developed permanent scars over the whole thing. Any time I see anyone reeeeee about Gamergate I think wow, you once got called a fag by some child. And you're still mad.

 

[Pointless Pedant]

I would drag out Stalin's corpse to fuck it though. Did you know he was a manlet? He was literally 5 feet 5 inches.

This is probably completely irrelevant, but is one of the funniest thing about SJWs. I seriously get the impression that most of these people were just called a faggot by some 13 year old and instead of just realizing "wow I just got insulted by a child" they developed permanent scars over the whole thing. Any time I see anyone reeeeee about Gamergate I think wow, you once got called a fag by some child. And you're still mad.

I think so. The fact they think gamers are morally equivalent to the Wehrmacht suggests that they don't really understand that edgy kids aren't actually a real problem anyone has to worry about.

What's sad about sites like this is that you get people openly wishing the Axis had won WW2 who can actually spell, and therefore probably aren't 13 year olds shouting faggot.

 

[Longjack Attack]

Call me crazy but i miss the cell phones of the 2000s (and even carrying on to the early 2010s). Even when flip phones were still present around that time, i remember seeing touchscreen/keyboard hybrid phones making their way in conjuncture with the rise of the first smartphones. Those keyboards were so convenient for greasy hands. Too bad they cancelled those designs back in 2012

 

[The Last Stand]

Call me crazy but i miss the cell phones of the 2000s (and even carrying on to the early 2010s). Even when flip phones were still present around that time, i remember seeing touchscreen/keyboard hybrid phones making their way in conjuncture with the rise of the first smartphones. Those keyboards were so convenient for greasy hands. Too bad they cancelled those designs back in 2012

I remember those Blackberry phones were all the rage for productivity and business.

A cell phone with a keyboard. Technology and people were unique and diverse in the 00s. Now everything is damn near identical to one another. See cartoons with that CalArts bubble style or iPhones with smartphones.

 

[Arthur Morgan]

Yes and no, I graduated high school in 06 and have a lot of nostalgia for the nu metal, emo and goth rock shit I used to listen too. I really miss forums how they used to be, there were a bunch of communities I was a part of that have long since disappeared and I do wish they were still around. I don't miss college, I still hang out with friends from there but if I woke up just after graduating high school I'd probably skip it since my degree ended up being useless. I miss the webcomics that I used to read. And yeah, as has been said, I miss how unique and varied cell phones were.

But I don't miss the slow internet, or the fact that I had no money.

 

[Longjack Attack]

I remember those Blackberry phones were all the rage for productivity and business.

A cell phone with a keyboard. Technology and people were unique and diverse in the 00s. Now everything is damn near identical to one another. See cartoons with that CalArts bubble style or iPhones with smartphones.

Blackberry phones were good in their day too, but those models weren't all that good in the infant stages of show and movie streaming. If you wanted a phone to do that you either had to get an LG, Motorola, or Apple phone. The one that i liked the most were the Motorola Droids that came out around 2008. Android phones were and still are very good for compatibility.

 

[Elaine Benes]

As someone who was a teenager in the mid-late 2000s, I often find myself nostalgic for the earliest days of social media, particularly the time right before the collective MySpace to Facebook transition.

Social media at the time seemed like a unifying factor among groups of friends that was completely untainted by outside events. It seems almost boomerish by today's standards, but it was a time where people would be courteous not only out of respect for others, but for themselves.

There was a general understanding that one should always present the best version of themselves online, and I often search Facebook posts from 2006 to relive that in a way. People seemed genuinely happier because they were selectively sharing important aspects and events in their lives, as opposed to documenting every waking minute of every day.

 

[ditto]

There was a general understanding that one should always present the best version of themselves online, and I often search Facebook posts from 2006 to relive that in a way. People seemed genuinely happier because they were selectively sharing important aspects and events in their lives, as opposed to documenting every waking minute of every day.

Modern social media is like a permanant 2 minutes hate. It's made me feel further apart from people as a result.

I miss being able to check my email just twice a day instead of the assumption that we're always available online, always.

 

[Syaoran Li]

Spider-Man and Batman had successful film franchises in the 2000s. The superhero boom was already starting back then. To go back to when it really wasn't popular, you're probably looking back to the 1990s, though Batman 1989 was pretty huge.

The 2000's wave of superhero movies is kind of distinct from the 2010's capeshit boom that became the dominant trend in blockbusters with the MCU.

The first two X-Men movies, the Dark Knight Trilogy, and the Sam Raimi Spider-Man movies were all pretty popular while most of the other superhero and comic book movies of the 2000's were either mediocre (The Punisher, Sin City), just plain awful (Daredevil, Hulk, Superman Returns, Catwoman, The Spirit), were major flops but were decent (League of Extraordinary Gentlemen) or at best wound up as sleeper hits thanks to the internet (300, V For Vendetta)

Keep in mind that before 2000, the rule of thumb was that superhero movies sucked. Tim Burton's Batman movie and the first two Superman movies from the 70's were considered the rare major exceptions to the rule.

When Blade came out in the late 90's, the studios went above and beyond to not mention it was based on the old Tomb of Dracula comics from the 1970's. Instead they presented it like a Gothic-Punk vampire flick with no real ties to the rest of Marvel.

X-Men came out in 2000 came out and did pretty good and warranted a sequel and Spiderman came out in 2002 and did even better and was even more popular, then it was off to the races. X-2 and Spiderman 2 were extremely popular and beloved, but pretty well everything else except the Nolan Batman movies was mediocre and followed this dumb formula where you spend half the movie before the hero or villain actually get their powers. You had Catwoman, Hulk, Daredevil, Fantastic Four, Ghostrider, Electra, etc. all of them falling somewhere between mediocre and terrible.

The big difference is in 2000s they were viewed as dumb popcorn movies that people didn't take seriously, and it'd be a night out with your buddies or family and then it was done and now people act like Marvel Universe movies are on par with fucking Citizen Kane.

Pretty much this. The first major "superhero boom" in the 2000's that emerged in the wake of the first two X-Men movies and the Sam Raimi Spider-Man trilogy was seen as one fad out of many and there was a lot more diversity in summer blockbusters in the 2000's and mid-budget movies still existed as well.

The one bad Hollywood trend of the 2010's that was just as big of a deal in the 2000's were the endless and incessant remakes, although they were usually not intended as politicized reboots and just wanted to cash in on the name.

Dawn of the Dead 2004 and Ghostbusters 2016 were both god-awful and disgraces to the original movies but Dawn '04 didn't actively insult their audience, which is why it was a financial success and is seen as one of those "Love It or Hate It" remakes while Ghostbusters 2016 was a colossal flop that even the hardcore SJW's quit trying to defend it once The Last Jedi came out.

You would be surprised. Going back to my experience with the animation community, typically Family Guy had a huge influence on them, yet they will rip it a part as mindless garbage that they used to like. PC types may hate South Park now as it is the “unintellectual and hateful drivel” of today, but just like Family Guy, it likely had more of an impact than these people want to admit. Same goes for other shows like SpongeBob typically. I guess it is a form of maturing.

It does not help that South Park attacked PC culture while it has historically been left wing in 2015. They likely just lost the audience as their fans grew worse than expected. But I cannot know for sure, I will admit. Just something about South Park’s cultural significance strikes me as an enabler.

A lot of the "CalArts" Tumblr artists and animation crowd take a lot of influence from Family Guy, South Park, and anime despite the fact they generally profess a hatred for all of those things and deem them as "problematic"

South Park was never left wing. They mercilessly mocked Al Gore in the early series.

Also if you seriously think the BLM riots this year were because of cartoons, I really don't know what to say. The left going crazy is caused by the behaviour of the news media and politicians, not fan communities.

South Park always was a "chaotic neutral" wild card that would mock anyone and everyone, be they on the left, right, or center. Trey Parker and Matt Stone were both registered members of the Libertarian Party back in the early 2000's but IIRC, they've even mocked the lolberts too.

 

[rockruff]

i miss some of the snacks. man, in particular there was this gogurt that shocked your tongue. good shit

 

[Dom Cruise]

Modern social media is like a permanant 2 minutes hate. It's made me feel further apart from people as a result.

I miss being able to check my email just twice a day instead of the assumption that we're always available online, always.

It's quite disturbing just how toxic social media has become, remember when posting on Twitter meant innocuous shit and goofy jokes? Conan O'Brian back in 2009 even had a segment making fun of how pointless Tweets used to be.

The first two X-Men movies, the Dark Knight Trilogy, and the Sam Raimi Spider-Man movies were all pretty popular while most of the other superhero and comic book movies of the 2000's were either mediocre (The Punisher, Sin City),

Dawn of the Dead 2004 and Ghostbusters 2016 were both god-awful and disgraces to the original movies but Dawn '04 didn't actively insult their audience, which is why it was a financial success and is seen as one of those "Love It or Hate It" remakes while Ghostbusters 2016 was a colossal flop that even the hardcore SJW's quit trying to defend it once The Last Jedi came out.

I liked Sin City and Dawn of The Dead 2004 to be honest.

 

[Empty]

would drag out Stalin's corpse to fuck it though. Did you know he was a manlet? He was literally 5 feet 5 inches.

174 cm is not 5 feet 5 inches, dude.

It's quite disturbing just how toxic social media has become, remember when posting on Twitter meant innocuous shit and goofy jokes?

Yeah, it was the time when even Smosh mocked Twitter for being a shitty website. Times really tend to change.

 

[Dom Cruise]

174 cm is not 5 feet 5 inches, dude.


Yeah, it was the time when even Smosh mocked Twitter for being a shitty website. Times really tend to change.

It's really insane to realize how much of a negative effect Twitter has had on everything, I mean who saw that coming? Who could have even imagined that for Twitter of all things?

It makes you realize how absolutely impossible it is to actually predict the future and that's pretty scary when you think about it, for all we know in another ten years we'll be fighting off invaders from Dimension X or something, there's just no telling.

 

[Empty]

It's really insane to realize how much of a negative effect Twitter has had on everything, I mean who saw that coming? Who could have even imagined that for Twitter of all things?

What has happened with the Internet for the last years has been inevitable. This became clear to me personally when the Internet access became massively available for literally everyone in the late 2000s. This was followed by a massive PR campaign of Twitter and many other social networks, which until the early 2010s were used by a relatively moderate number of people. For the corrupt oligarchs who own Twitter and Facebook, there was nothing left to completely brainwash people and make them unhealthy obsessed with politics.

 

[Syaoran Li]

It's quite disturbing just how toxic social media has become, remember when posting on Twitter meant innocuous shit and goofy jokes? Conan O'Brian back in 2009 even had a segment making fun of how pointless Tweets used to be.


I liked Sin City and Dawn of The Dead 2004 to be honest.

Understandable. Sin City's decent and while I don't like Dawn of the Dead 2004, I can see why other people do like it. I honestly think it'd be a lot less "love it or hate it" and more fully acclaimed if they had a different title.

Dawn of the Dead 1978 was a masterpiece and a remake would have big shoes to fill. The 1990 remake of Night mainly worked because it was Savini and Romero working closely together and with an actual budget and the benefit of experience

 

[AnOminous]

Understandable. Sin City's decent and while I don't like Dawn of the Dead 2004, I can see why other people do like it. I honestly think it'd be a lot less "love it or hate it" and more fully acclaimed if they had a different title.

I liked it but it looks better if you consider it a second rate 28 Days Later instead of a fourth rate Dawn of the Dead. I thought it was paced reasonably well, and much of the action was good. It had some of Zack Snyder's more annoying habits like "let's just shake the camera to make it look scary" and other MTV-type music video techniques, but held together reasonably well. It also had one of the best opening credits scenes in a zombie movie.

 

[Dom Cruise]

Understandable. Sin City's decent and while I don't like Dawn of the Dead 2004, I can see why other people do like it. I honestly think it'd be a lot less "love it or hate it" and more fully acclaimed if they had a different title.

Dawn of the Dead 1978 was a masterpiece and a remake would have big shoes to fill. The 1990 remake of Night mainly worked because it was Savini and Romero working closely together and with an actual budget and the benefit of experience

What made the Dawn of The Dead remake work is the fact that literally all they did was take the basic premise of "people hide in a shopping mall from zombies" and do an entirely different take on it, it's closer to 1980s The Thing and The Fly than to the typical bad remakes of the 2000s.

That makes it easier to judge it as it's own thing, no it's not as good as the original, but it's not bad either.

It also had one of the best opening credits scenes in a zombie movie.

That sequence is amazing.