The Nostalgia of a Nation

Most people have heard of the comedy “That ‘70’s Show” and have even watched a few episodes. On a topical layer the series is very funny and entertaining, but looking deeper- how have television shows such as these demonstrated America’s nostalgia for the past?
This is an era inspired sitcom.

That '70s Show is an American television sitcom that centered on the lives of a group of teenagers living in the fictional suburban town of Point Place, Wisconsin, from May 1976 to 12:00 a.m., January 1, 1980.” (Wiki)First, a look into the name of the series “That ‘70’s Show.” The show was meant to be a depiction of the era by showing what fads were in, what was happening politically and socially as well as developments in technology. The show originally aired on FOX on August 23rd 1998 and is syndicated all over the globe today.

Retro media is popular. People love learning about our past, and the past of other nations. World War II movies for example are hugely popular, but this doesn’t necessarily mean that we learn from our past. As is common practice we look to look to the past with nostalgia, for example when we look back at WWII we think of a time under which the United States of America was a super power, influential in all aspect of its being. New York, Los Angeles were the places to be. People look back at a “simpler” time, a time in which grass was greener and everything was better. The media has been great of commodifying this and exploiting it. When we look at That 70’s Show in the 90’s we think “wow, they had it so much easier back then.” In That 70’ Show we see a lot of self indulgence by the main characters. “Decadence is a difficult word to use since it has become little more than a term of abuse applied by critics to anything they do not yet understand or which seems to differ from their moral concepts,” as stated by Ernest Hemmingway. We can see that this concept is very true; when it comes to “decadence” and “The Rules of Attraction” we can see why we would see the actions and indulgences of Sean, Paul and Lauren as decadent. However, when juxtaposing the popular TV show, “That 70’s Show,” their lazy sophomoric actions aren’t labeled as “decadent,” although they essentially partake in most of the activities Sean, Paul and Lauren do. The characters in The Rules of Attraction are a perfect example of what the German philosopher Heidegger argues, simply put, that we as a society- as human beings- have stopped thinking in a collective consciousness and rather have become ego-centric, self-centered individuals who see everything and everyone as a means to an end, a tool to further their personal gains. Sean, for example, is a drug dealer, most notably in the movie Rupert is extremely upset, high on cocaine and really wants the money that Sean owes him. In a move to save his own skin, Sean tells Rupert that he can get Rupert’s money quickly, via his “rich” friends. This is a clear example by which we can see that Sean is using his connections- his friends- to save himself and try to pay Rupert off. At the same time we see that in “That 70’s Show” while the characters do use each other, it is to a much lesser degree, the manner in which they use each other becomes rather mediocre and at times even justifiable. . In one instance Hyde, a major character in the show, takes the blame for Jackie after she is caught of possession of Marijuana, in this episode of That 70’s Show Hyde is trying to convince Jackie that he does not love her, she insists that he does and is only acting that way because he is a “man.” As the show goes on Jackie buys some pot that she intends to give to Hyde. Hyde is coming out of a bar when he meets with Jackie who shows him the baggie and offers to him as a sign of her “love” for him. However, what she fails to realize is that there is a police officer lurking in the shadows, the police office in the shadows perpetuates the sentiments that cops only wanna bust you, he takes hold of the baggie and sees that it contains pot. He proceeds to arrest Jackie for possession of a controlled substance, Hyde interjects by saying that it’s his pot, he says: “ That’s my pot, look at me I’m the criminal not her.” At this point the officer releases her and takes Hyde instead of Jackie, what Hyde did was to sacrifice himself not to gain anything from Jackie but because she is his friend and she cannot afford to go to jail. Rather than allowing Jackie to take the fall and be punished he lies and states that it is his pot; he gets taken away and gets no compensation for his actions other than jail. Here, Heidegger’s philosophy of people being a means to an end is exemplified.

Decadence especially in the ’80 is in par with the mindset of the time- a time when the country was experiencing deregulation on all levels and while the “free-love” hippie movements were giving birth to a “bastard era” under which people began experimenting with anything and everything. This also happens to be the “Reagan Years” a time of massive governmental deregulations and great autonomy and self determination, these Reagan years still cause nostalgia in many people today as they yearn for “Reagan-nomics.” Under the guise of “free-love” and “spiritual- liberation” this generation indulged themselves with the belief that it was justified. The characters in The Rules of Attraction are simply bodily incarnations of all the un-relentless decadence of this time. Just like those of the past who felt that they were justified in their quest for “free-love,” the characters of The Rules of Attraction felt that they were right in spending their parents’ money and experimenting in all ways possible. Part of this can contributed to the lack of responsibility of an entire decade.

The lack of responsibility in The Rules of Attraction becomes apparent when the students talk about abortion as if it is just another method for birth control. The students here do not fully or even begin to understand the consequences of their actions. The amount of sex that these students have, and with the number of people they have intercourse with is alarming because many of the students did not think about STD’s or getting pregnant. In “That ‘70’s Show,” the characters smoke weed and drink beer. They do not worry about tomorrow and think more about the here and now. This devil-may-care attitude is further exemplified when Kelso gets a girls pregnant after having sex with her in a bathroom. We clearly see that there is a lack of maturity and that he in no way is ready for a child and while this shock of becoming a father serves to try and get him to “grow up” it doesn’t do much. This is a direct commentary on what is going o no only in the 70’s but also the 90’s and even now. The lack of maturity and forethought when engaging in sex. This particular even is two-fold however, the reason being is that when Celso finds out he is going to be a father he makes a conscience decision to get a job and be there for his baby, the birth of his baby happens close to the conclusion of the series when they are in the late 70’s this is showing a turn in the country’s mindset under which we are taking a little more control of our future and as a collective conscience progressing both in terms of politics and technology and as a nations as a whole. Judith Butler talks about feminist and queer theory; part of her theory entails “a potentially important element in how the male/female distinction gets played out in any specific society.” (Barker 239) Many cultures attach the difference between men and women to various cultural expectations. In The Rules of Attraction, women are portrayed as objects of desire. In “That ‘70’s Show” the women although they do not always portray themselves as objects of desire, they do however illustrate that they do enjoy sex which is radical for the time. The women of The Rules of Attraction, as well as those from “That ‘70’s Show” are portrayed as radical because their enjoyment of sex and their pursuit of it is no secret. Moreover, the book Women Under Polygamy states that in the past, the punishment for women having more than one partner and committing adultery is death; whereas, men did not receive any punishment. It is radical to see how things have changed over the time span of less than a year.

As mentioned earlier the politics of the era had a significant impact on everyone’s lives. For the duration of the series would carry socio-political undertones also necessitated a chain of social events which could influence the characters, Thus, 1976 was chosen, which allowed episodes set within a short time frame to address: streaking, the Equal Rights Amendment, the 1973 Oil Crisis, the presidencies of Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford, all of which were culturally influential events that occurred in the earlier years of the 1970s. The shift to 1977 during the last half of the first season also allowed the inclusion of a Star Wars episode (20), as its premier airing roughly coincided with the box office debut of The Phantom Menace. Furthermore, a great example during of the break with the traditions is when Eric decides to join the Peace corps. His father had joined the military and fought in Korea, Eric however had not joined the military nor did he go to college, while Donna did. Donna going to college is expressing women’s right and the coming age for equality and the radical feminist movements of the time. While Donna didn’t go out and burn her bra in protest she is educating herself and become independent of both her father and Eric showing that woman are on the road to “liberation”. Eric going to Africa for the Peace Corps shows a lighter side of humanity, more specifically Americans. In the 90’s when American’s and NATO were seen as savage war hungry entities Eric shows the alternative to route, while still making difference. In the 90’s we had gone through the gulf-war and experienced the atrocities of Serbian and Montenegro, Eric choosing a peaceful route to change is showing America’s growing dissent with its role as the international police force and yearning for the time of remote isolationism.

In all we see That 70’s Show as our looking back to a time in which we were allowed to experiment and try new things due to all the deregulations and “free love” that was going on around the United States at the time. In That 70’s Show we see that they are decadent to a certain extent but are never truly indulge themselves that way that the characters in The Rules of Attraction did. As Oliver Wendell Holmes once said, “the great thing in this world is not so much where you stand, as in what direction you are moving.” We see that in the early 70’s we are moving in a direction of self destruction under which the country was experiencing mass demonstrations and chaos, the attitude of our country at this time can be seen embodied in Summer Palace under which the Chinese students reach the breaking point due to the rules and regulations imposed by their government. Here in the United States in the time of the Rules of Attractions we see that these kids have no regulations or rules and as thus indulge in drugs, sex and alcohol while abusing everything and everyone around them. In That 70’s Show we see that the attitudes shared by not of complete decadence but rather of indifference to the events going on around them, in other words they are just careless, however unlike the characters in The Rules of Attraction they mature and grow up reflecting the coming of age of a nation and of individuals, in The Rules of Attractions they only perpetuate the mindless self-indulgence.



Work cited:

That 70’s Show, “That 70’s Show” ( 12 Dec. 2009)



TV.com, “That 70’s Show,” (5 Dec. 2009) < http://www.tv.com/that-70sshow/show/246/summary.html> ( 15 Dec. 2009)



Barker, Chris. Cultural Studies: Theory and Practice. Los Angeles: Sage Publications, 2008.

Gallichan, Walter M. "Women under polygamy." Google Books, 1915.Web. 13 Oct. 2009.



The Futon Critic, “That 70’s Show Says Goodbye to an Era,” ( 17 Jan. 2006) “ ( 13 Dec. 2009)

Sex and the City Analysis

The topic that I chose from Barker's Chapter 12, "Cultural Space and Urban Place,” to shed light on a clip from Sex and the City was the idea of “Place.” “Place,” as defined by the text, is a “socially constructed site or location in space marked by identification or emotional investment. Bounded manifestations of the production of the environment.” A lot of what occurs in this clip takes place in New York (one of the mot identifiable cities on Earth) and contains a lot of emotional investment. Carrie, the main character, creates a lot of metaphors about the city as well as defends it when her ex-boyfriend, Big, comes back from Napa to visit. She says, “Bet you can’t get steaks like this in your little Napa village like this, now, can ya?” Even though it was said jokingly, you can tell that Carrie is truly a fan of her city and spends a lot of time thinking about it. Carries also says, “If New York’s signature fruit is the apple, then its signature sound is the ambulance siren. It seems like all day everyday people are getting hurt, and the whole city has to hear about it.” This quote is one of her analogies and shows how New York is a community as well as a “socially constructed site.” The giant skyscrapers which define New York is a huge social scene. People go there to be seen and talked about. The flashy clothing that the women on the program wear are evidence of that. Also, at the beginning of the episode when Big takes Carrie out to dinner, Carrie wears something that one would see on the red carpet. The restaurant looks expensive and it reflects the lifestyle of most of the characters seen on the show. This is a perfect example of a “place” in the Barker book. There is so much meaning to the city of New York and Carrie explains it well whenever she writes about the city.

Response Paper

“Decadence is a difficult word to use since it has become little more than a term of abuse applied by critics to anything they do not yet understand or which seems to differ from their moral concepts,” as stated by Ernest Hemmingway. We can see that this concept is very true; when it comes to “decadence” and The Rules of Attraction we can see why we would see the actions and indulgences of Sean, Paul and Lauren as decadent. However, when juxtaposing the popular TV show, “That 70’s Show,” their lazy sophomoric actions aren’t labeled as “decadent,” although they essentially partake in most of the activities Sean, Paul and Lauren do. The characters in The Rules of Attraction are a perfect example of what the German philosopher Heidegger argues, simply put, that we as a society- as human beings- have stopped thinking in a collective consciousness and rather have become ego-centric, self-centered individuals who see everything and everyone as a means to an end, a tool to further their personal gains. Sean, for example, is a drug dealer, most notably in the movie Rupert is extremely upset, high on cocaine and really wants the money that Sean owes him. In a move to save his own skin, Sean tells Rupert that he can get Rupert’s money quickly, via his “rich” friends. This is a clear example by which we can see that Sean is using his connections- his friends- to save himself and try to pay Rupert off. At the same time we see that in “That 70’s Show” while the characters do use each other, it is to a much lesser degree. In one instance Hyde, a major character in the show, takes the blame for Jackie after she is caught of possession of Marijuana. After Jackie asks Hyde to do this, to no personal gain, he agrees to take the blame for the drugs and is taken away to prison. Rather than allowing Jackie to take the fall and be punished he lies and states that it is his pot; he gets taken away and gets no compensation for his actions other than jail. Here, Heidegger’s philosophy of people being a means to an end is exemplified.

Decadence especially in the ’80 is in par with the mindset of the time- a time when the country was experiencing deregulation on all levels and while the “free-love” hippie movements were giving birth to a “bastard era” under which people began experimenting with anything and everything. Under the guise of “free-love” and “spiritual- liberation” this generation indulged themselves with the belief that it was justified. The characters in The Rules of Attraction are simply bodily incarnations of all the un-relentless decadence of this time. Just like those of the past who felt that they were justified in their quest for “free-love,” the characters of The Rules of Attraction felt that they were right in spending their parents’ money and experimenting in all ways possible. Part of this can contributed to the lack of responsibility of the decade.

The lack of responsibility in The Rules of Attraction becomes apparent when the students talk about abortion as if it is just another method for birth control. The students here do not fully or even at all understand the consequences of their actions. The amount of sex that these students have, and with the number of people they have intercourse with is alarming because many of the students did not think about STD’s or getting pregnant. In “That ‘70’s Show,” the characters smoke weed and drink beer. They do not worry about tomorrow and think more about the here and now. Judith Butler talks about feminist and queer theory, part of her theory entails “a potentially important element in how the male/female distinction gets played out in any specific society.” (Barker 239) Many cultures attach the difference between men and women to various cultural expectations. In The Rules of Attraction, women are portrayed as objects of desire. In “That ‘70’s Show” the women although they do not always portray themselves as objects of desire, they do however illustrate that they do enjoy sex which is radical for the time. The women of The Rules of Attraction, as well as those from “That ‘70’s Show” are portrayed as radical because their enjoyment of sex and their pursuit of it is no secret. Moreover, the book Women Under Polygamy states that in the past, the punishment for women having more than one partner and committing adultery is death; whereas, men did not receive any punishment. It is radical to see how things have changed over the time span of less than a year.


Works Cited
Barker, Chris. Cultural Studies: Theory and Practice. Los Angeles: Sage Publications, 2008.
Gallichan, Walter M. "Women under polygamy." Google Books, 1915.Web. 13 Oct. 2009. .

Ethnography

Ethnography

I feel this may be a bit overdone but for my ethnography I decided to go to the Starbucks in Porter Ranch at about 9 o’clock in the evening. As I sat in the front of the store with my Venti green tea, I notice that despite being somewhat late in the evening there were a fairly large number of people here. The evening was warm and was made even warmer by all the people smoking less than 10 feet away from me. The scent of tobacco filled the air; yet, no one seemed to notice it, or for that matter care. What struck me as strange was the fact that this family- and I say family because they all seemed comfortable the way a family does when having a conversation at dinner- of about 6 or 7 were all smoking. The youngest person in that group seemed to be in their mid 30’s; he wore a nice long sleeve shirt with black jeans. The other men in that group all wore similar things, they seemed to be dressed in business suits, yet they wore them in a casual way, in a sort of more relaxed manner. The 2 women sitting at the table had short hair that did not go pass their check bones and wore colorful silk-like blouses. As they sat around this small table, it was pretty easy to distinguish the dominate couple. They sat close to one another and even in their older age had a youthful air about them, shown in the way they sat next to each other- he had his right arm would around her waist and with his left arm he gestured and held his cigarette. The wife, inconspicuously playing with her husband’s hand and the ring he had on, appeared rather bored with the conversation and found more interest in playing with his hand. The family was not speaking English, so I could not tell why she had a lack of interest; however, the rest of the family seemed to be enjoying themselves greatly. They would get excitedly loud and even stand up at times and say something to better emphasize their point. It seemed like a family reunion; they had been here since before I arrived and no one else around seemed to mind the excessive smoking and noise.

As a direct contrast to the large, loud family there were “computer loners,” these were much younger individuals and appeared to be “busy at work.” What exactly they were doing, I honestly cannot say. I did not want people to think I was observing them, but as I glanced at one of the “computer loners” screens it looked like he person was on YouTube. The thing that stood out about the computer loners was the fact that there were about 3 outside and 2 inside the store; and yet, none of them were together. Another thing that set them apart was their age. Out of all the computer loners no one seemed a day older than 24 and 3 out of 5 had Macbook’s. This group- unlike the family- was quiet, reclusive, young and alone. It seemed as if the older generation placed more value in face to face interaction while the much younger generation preferred to be connected to the internet doing whatever it is they do. From this small observation, it was obvious that the older generation valued that personal touch while the younger generation lacked intra-personal relationships- a typical stereotype, right?

Finally, we have the elderly couple. They came about 35 minutes after I had arrived but ever since they pulled up, something about them caught my attention. As they exited the car and walked up to the curb, he gave her a hand to stabilize herself while going up the curb. After they picked up their orders, she opened the door for him as he walked out with their drinks in hand. They sat to my left, oblivious to everyone else around them. He had white hair that he had just styled while she had short salt and pepper hair. I have to admit that out of everyone present that night they were the most peaceful ones. There was something special about them; they came off as more calm and relaxed and in no real hurry to finish anything. What intrigued me about them was the fact that they said so little but their silence was loaded with meaning. It was almost like a mutual understanding. They said very little but it seemed like that was all that needed to be said. They were here not to be seen in public nor have a long winded conversation but rather on a night out enjoying each other’s company. He sat facing her, though not always looking straight at her, with one hand around his drink and the other relaxed nearby. She sat across from him looking in the distance and occasionally at him. There was an instance in which she reached out and held his hand, they locked eyes for a brief period of time, but out of it came the most fulfilling look. The kind of look one gets when having a long, deep and enlightened conversation; all that was achieved through a single touch.
I left that evening rather happy about what I had seen. The younger generation had come off as colder and much more dependent on technology to make as well as maintain a connection. This group also managed to remain rather isolated from everyone else. The older generation was much more family orientated, they valued that intra-personal relationship of seeing, touching, smelling and spending time with their loved ones. And finally the elderly couple whom didn’t needs word to describe the lifelong feelings they have shared for each other. They valued each other’s companionship more than they would have others. As far as the evening goes, there wasn’t much of what you would call the “radical romantic.”

When compared to more extreme cases such as Cat on a Hot Tin Roof we see that the idea of the “radical romance” is a lot more prevalent when it comes to these cases; the people that I observed where mild mannered and civilized; whereas, the characters portrayed in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof are over dramatized fictional characters, they are caricatures of extreme romantic relationships.