A lot of y'all have made some very good points.
Some of my points may have already been addressed in one form or another as well, but I was alive & well in the mid 80's (10 to be exact), so I kind of know that a person of the 80's would be 'shocked at', despite being a wee lad.
- The disappearance of Saturday Morning Cartoons. It was a staple in the 60's thru the 90's. Now... it's all but gone (gotta go to Nick & Cartoon Network to see any).
- The major advancement in technology on video games. From bleeps-n-bloops to hyper-realistic graphics.
- How just about EVERYBODY not only has a phone, but essentially a mini-computer in their pocket. Go into a crowded place and most are using that thing as a distraction/time waster.
- Digital cameras. Technology was improving, but the loss of 35mm film?
- 30 years later into the 2000's, and nobody has any advancement in automobile travel. Cars look a little more futuristic, but they still do the same thing.
- The legalization of recreational marijuana in a couple states, and almost full acceptance of medical marijuana in almost all states.
- The price of gasoline. Although this is kind of a sticky situation... a few years ago, it was over $4.00 a gallon. Now it's hovering around the high 2's. They would have been floored by how much it'd cost to fill a gallon.
- Cigarettes. They've all but disappeared from the spotlight. Severe restrictions, and some states have so much tax on them, it cost an arm & a leg to own a pack.
- Style: clothes, accessories & hair. Each decade seems to bring a different style, and some are more dramatic than the rest. They'd be pretty shocked to see today's styles vs. their years.
- Environment: Although we've had new buildings go up in the past 30 years... it's more shocking that pretty much everything still looks the same. More preservationists are saving more & more older buildings.
- Music & film industry. A lot of people might actually be surprised that some people who were performing in the 80's are still performing today. Schwarzenegger (Terminator), Stallone (Rocky), U2 (boy, October, & War), Lynyrd Skynard (even though lead singer died), Charlie Sheen (Platoon), and many others still performing hard today.
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airwalks
9 years ago
I think they would be surprised to see how advanced the look of television sets have gotten.(flat screens), the way newer houses look both inside and out. Navigation systems in cars, gay marriage almost legal nationwide ( could be in 2015), the death of Michael Jackson, the original world trade center towers gone from the New York skyline. What's interesting is that if you pause the movie while Marty is looking at the Newspaper in 2015, it says Queen Diana. I think they would be shocked that princess Diana was killed.
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vicky_lc2001-1
9 years ago
Today's fashion is reminiscent and strongly influenced by the 80s. I don't think that would shock them at all.
Global Warming, it's a personal decision innit? - Nigel Tufnel
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pioneergrrrl (2390)
7 years ago
80's fashion was about big hair, the blue eye shadow, shoulder pads, neon and pastels. We definitely do not dress like we are in the 80's.
One reason people look younger is the restrictions on smoking. Since even certain places don't allow their employers to smoke on site outdoors anymore (got rid of that too) and some stores such as CVS stopped selling them, people have incentive to quit. Yes they are still legal but it's hard to find them. Also some states are raising the purchasing age to 21. meaning if it's harder to get--you might thing twice etc about buying them.
The other reason is people know more about food and nutrition than we previously did. For instance Kraft reformulated it's Mac and Cheese to take out non-natural colors, which had been a part of the original recipe. Yes it made it more of a pale orange---but overall still edible.
I think also they would be shocked that 1) people with AIDS/HIV don't immediately die but are living longer. 2) There is now a drug called prep ' which can prevent HIV in people who are at very high risk. This was unheard of when people died within a couple of days in the early 1980's.
They would be shocked that people of the same sex get married.
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Qwertius
9 years ago
Reply to captamerica5
Good points. Some of them clearly show your american roots.
Environment. As an European living in between (and often in) 500 year old buildings the lack of environment change doesn't supprise me at all.
Music and Film. I don't think this would suprise them much as I think in the eighties you also had plenty of artist from the forties-fifties still performing. (Sinatra and his generation etc)
Petroleum . Didn;t you also have the oil crisis in the seventies? So they were used to price increases and given the situation in the world (cold war) I think they would except a new crisis.
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