British and American Culture History of Youth Culture

British and American Culture History of Youth Culture Part 4

The 1990 s The presentation will look at both Britain and America during the decade of the 1990 s, what by many is regarded as the birth of the ‘electronic age’. We will look at how the 2 countries emerged as forerunners of this new media driven age, as the world became smaller through globalisation and mass communication, such as the World Wide Web.

1990 s America The decade began with the first Gulf War in 1990. The USA appointed itself the ‘world police’, and along with the UK went to war. This continued in the Balkans in the mid to late 90 s. With the break-up of the Soviet Union in 1991, the USA went looking for a new enemy. Towards the end of the 90 s, there was a big rise in school shootings, the worst being the Columbine massacre in 1999. The economy was good, seeing the explosion of investment in ‘dot-com’ companies and the subsequent market crash.

1990 s Britain The UK in the 90 s was repackaged and exported to the world as ‘Cool Britannia’. A time when British culture was at the cutting-edge of cool. Technology became a part of everyday life, many homes had a computer, mobile-phones were beginning to appear on the streets, and a British computer scientist created the World Wide Web, which was released for free to the whole world in 1993. In 1997 Princess Diana was killed in a car crash in Paris and Tony Blair came to power.

The Birth of the World Wide Web British engineer, computer scientist and at that time employee of CERN, Sir Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web in 1990. On 6 th August 1991, he posted a summary of the World Wide Web project on the alt. hypertext newsgroup, and so the Web went public. The 1 st ever Web server. And what many say is the 1 st ever photo uploaded to the Web in 1992.

Video Games - Console Revolution Gaming console technology for the home exploded in the 90 s, which saw the beginning of the end for the arcade. With 3 D graphics and 32/64 bit machines, using CDs instead of cartridges. Home video consoles became the must have item among young people. And Japan dominated the market, with the Sony Playstation (1994), the Nintendo 64 (1996) and the Sega Saturn (1994).

Music – Grunge In the USA emerged a subgenre of alternative rock mostly from the city of Seattle that would conquer the world, known as ‘grunge’. Bands such as Nirvana and Pearl Jam broke Nirvana – into the mainstream, Nevermind released and across the world. in 1991. By 1994, with the death of Kurt Cobain grunge was coming to an end. But its legacy still is heard. Pearl Jam – Ten released in 1991.

Music – Brit Pop Britpop came out of the UK in the 90 s as a subgenre of indie rock. It was a reaction against the invasion of Grunge from the USA. It went mainstream, and formed a big part Blur – Parklife of the cultural wave released in April that became known as 1994. Cool Britannia. By the end of the 90 s, it was all over. With only bands like Blur and Oasis finding long-term success. Oasis – Definitely Maybe released in August 1994.

Rise of Independent Cinema The 1990 s saw the rise and success of independent films not only through the film festivals but more importantly at the box office. Many of them no longer just showing at the art-house cinemas but also at the new multiplex cinemas. Just some of the independent cinema that had success in the 1990 s… Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990)… Reservoir Dogs (1992)… Malcolm X (1992)… The Shawshank Redemption (1994)… Pulp Fiction (1994)… Clerks (1994)… Se 7 en (1995)… Fargo (1996)… Trainspotting (1996)… Good Will Hunting (1997)… American History X (1998)… The Big Lebowski (1998)… Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998)… Pi (1998)… The Blair Witch Project (1999)… Human Traffic (1999)… Plus many more, that brought on going mainstream success to many actors and directors popular today…

Movies – Human Traffic (1999) is a movie about the dance club scene of 90 s UK. Set during the 1991 ‘summer of love’. The movie focuses on a typical weekend of many British young people. The movie references the underground Rave Scene of the 80 s/90 s, which was based around various genres of British electronic dance music, and the use of the drug Ecstasy (MDMA). By the 90 s, the scene had moved from illegal locations to the nightclubs of British cities. This very British subculture has had a lasting impact on culture across the world. Influencing everything from music and fashion to the interior design of coffee shops.

Fashion ? Or Anti-Fashion? Dressing down, became dressing up! Grunge went mainstream and hit the catwalks. People began to reject fashion fads. This resulted in the Tshirt, jeans and hoodie culture of ‘no fashion’, or anything goes styles we still see today. Bright neon splashed the high streets, copied from the underground Rave scene. The Britpop and Cool Britannia scenes reinvented the Mod, with the Union Jack flag becoming a logo of choice for many. Hip Hop fashion spread across the world, all big and baggy with baseball caps and gold. The 90 s also saw the rise of the ‘chav’ in the UK.

90 s Youth Fashion

Anti-Globalisation The anti-globalisation movement came to prominence in the 1990 s. In a period when the capitalist economic system was booming and employment was high many people were angry with the idea of inequality and poverty in third-world countries. They were against the exploitation of people for profit, and that while the rich got richer the poor got poorer, despite the 90 s being a period of economic boom. This movement would continue into the 2000 s, as people became political, with the anti-war movement and the Occupy movement of today.

The Battle of Seattle An anti-capitalist protest against the WTO in 1999. Significant for raising global awareness of the issues of a movement that had before just been thought of as a bunch of left-wing and anarchist trouble-makers. The riots brought people who wanted real change to come together. But it also saw the rise of the ‘robo-cop’ and a bleak future if capitalism was left unchecked.