As humans, we tend to romanticize certain points in our past, especially our childhood. For people who grew up in the 1990s, it may be hard to accept that some of the things they cherished the most as children suck in retrospect.  When I think back to the type of music that most exemplifies the ‘90s, I think of grunge, rap and R&B. Nirvana, Soundgarden, 2Pac, the Notorious B.I.G., R. Kelly and Boyz II Men are all the best examples of these genres.In the early ‘90s, MTV capitalized on these underground cultures and marketed them as the new fashion. The world’s top models started to walk down the runway in long sleeve flannel shirts with cut-up blue jeans.       Even though MTV marketed the styles of rappers and Seattle headbangers non-stop, at least the music was good, right? Oh, except for the countless bands that tried to capitalize on the grunge movement and made the horrible sub-genre, “post-grunge.” Bands like Matchbox 20 and Creed copied the style and sound of Pearl Jam and Nirvana and released terrible imitations of their songs.At the time, all that stuff didn’t matter to me. All I cared about was that the latest Backstreet Boys album sounded good.Movies from the 1990s were characterized by being big and epic. “Titanic,” “Braveheart” and “Saving Private Ryan” were all blockbuster Oscar winners. Children’s films like “Home Alone,” “Toy Story” and “The Nightmare Before Christmas” have stood the test of time. Violent gangster flicks like “Pulp Fiction” and “Reservoir Dogs” turned the art of storytelling on its head.  With all of these now-classic films, how could there have been bad movies from the ‘90s? Most people tend to forget “Godzilla,” “Biodome,” “Encino Man” (pretty much any Pauly Shore movie), and possibly the worst movie of the ‘90s, “Batman & Robin.”It was the decade of the movie sequel. “Home Alone 3,” “Alien 3” and the many sequels of “House Party” milked the success of popular films from the past and created absurd continuations of those stories.  When these movies didn’t cut it for me, I turned to my cherished television programs.During the 1990s, television was at its comedic best. “Saturday Night Live” had Chris Farley and Mike Myers, “Seinfeld” was     America’s  favorite sitcom and “Kenan and Kel” entertained us all with their hilarious misadventures.Television was also at its creative worst. MTV’s “The Real World” launched the start of “reality” television, the sole reason for the present lack of quality television programs. Trashy talk shows like “The Jerry Springer Show” and “Ricki Lake” gave stupid people a reason to watch two transvestites fight on national television. For every “Seinfeld,” there were sappy teen drama shows like “7th Heaven” and “Dawson’s Creek.”  People reading this column might think I’m focusing too much on the negatives and not enough on the positives. I loved the ‘90s just as much as the next person. What’s not to like about it? The 1990s had Pogs, the Nintendo 64 and the show “Smart Guy” on Disney.  It’s not that I’m trying to shatter people’s images of this decade —I’m just tired of this obsession that people have with glorifying the past. Elderly people do this all the time. “I remember the good old days when hot dogs cost a nickel!” They also forget to tell you about the Vietnam War and the struggle for civil rights.I guess as we get older, we have more of a tendency to reflect on the culture of a past generation, rather than acknowledging the great things around us.Who knows? Maybe in 10 years, I’ll be reminiscing about the movie “My Best Friend’s Girl.”As humans, we tend to romanticize certain points in our past, especially our childhood. For people who grew up in the 1990s, it may be hard to accept that some of the things they cherished the most as children suck in retrospect.  When I think back to the type of music that most exemplifies the ‘90s, I think of grunge, rap and R&B. Nirvana, Soundgarden, 2Pac, the Notorious B.I.G., R. Kelly and Boyz II Men are all the best examples of these genres.In the early ‘90s, MTV capitalized on these underground cultures and marketed them as the new fashion. The world’s top models started to walk down the runway in long sleeve flannel shirts with cut-up blue jeans.       Even though MTV marketed the styles of rappers and Seattle headbangers non-stop, at least the music was good, right? Oh, except for the countless bands that tried to capitalize on the grunge movement and made the horrible sub-genre, “post-grunge.” Bands like Matchbox 20 and Creed copied the style and sound of Pearl Jam and Nirvana and released terrible imitations of their songs.At the time, all that stuff didn’t matter to me. All I cared about was that the latest Backstreet Boys album sounded good.Movies from the 1990s were characterized by being big and epic. “Titanic,” “Braveheart” and “Saving Private Ryan” were all blockbuster Oscar winners. Children’s films like “Home Alone,” “Toy Story” and “The Nightmare Before Christmas” have stood the test of time. Violent gangster flicks like “Pulp Fiction” and “Reservoir Dogs” turned the art of storytelling on its head.  With all of these now-classic films, how could there have been bad movies from the ‘90s? Most people tend to forget “Godzilla,” “Biodome,” “Encino Man” (pretty much any Pauly Shore movie), and possibly the worst movie of the ‘90s, “Batman & Robin.”It was the decade of the movie sequel. “Home Alone 3,” “Alien 3” and the many sequels of “House Party” milked the success of popular films from the past and created absurd continuations of those stories.  When these movies didn’t cut it for me, I turned to my cherished television programs.During the 1990s, television was at its comedic best. “Saturday Night Live” had Chris Farley and Mike Myers, “Seinfeld” was     America’s  favorite sitcom and “Kenan and Kel” entertained us all with their hilarious misadventures.Television was also at its creative worst. MTV’s “The Real World” launched the start of “reality” television, the sole reason for the present lack of quality television programs.
Trashy talk shows like “The Jerry Springer Show” and “Ricki Lake” gave stupid people a reason to watch two transvestites fight on national television. For every “Seinfeld,” there were sappy teen drama shows like “7th Heaven” and “Dawson’s Creek.”  People reading this column might think I’m focusing too much on the negatives and not enough on the positives. I loved the ‘90s just as much as the next person. What’s not to like about it? The 1990s had Pogs, the Nintendo 64 and the show “Smart Guy” on Disney.  It’s not that I’m trying to shatter people’s images of this decade —I’m just tired of this obsession that people have with glorifying the past. Elderly people do this all the time. “I remember the good old days when hot dogs cost a nickel!” They also forget to tell you about the Vietnam War and the struggle for civil rights.I guess as we get older, we have more of a tendency to reflect on the culture of a past generation, rather than acknowledging the great things around us.Who knows? Maybe in 10 years, I’ll be reminiscing about the movie “My Best Friend’s Girl.”.”—- Contact Blake LeJeune at [email protected]