I Love the 80's!

Yeah, I think I'm about to come across totally lame here, but I truly do. I find myself missing leg warmers, John Hughes movies of teen angst, the Smurfs, the material girl before marriage and kids...really, that whole Reagan period (okay, not Reagan so much but, you know what I mean). I get so nostalgic sometimes...longing for that time when the worse thing you saw on television were day-glow socks. I especially miss the cartoons (probably because I was a child during the 80's, that along with my current toy fixation, was what I did). Over the weekend, I found a tape with about 6 episodes of Jem and the Holograms. Remember them? My cousin and I would come home from school and watch it and Kids Incorporated. Crazy! I'd forgotten how enamored we were with these girls and how their lives were so important. Truly, it was the first time a cartoon was so like a soap opera.

So, I'm watching a couple of these episodes thinking, "What the heck are they wearing?" and "Why doesn't anyone just have one color of hair?" The stories were still compelling (even to a thirty-year old plus mom) and I wondered, "What has happened to the cartoons of old?" So much of what's on now I don't let my daughter watch, simply because it's just straight up garbage. If there's some substance and she's learning something, fine. (She watches a whole lot of PBS Kids and when we had cable/dish, Noggin and the Disney Channel). Granted, Jem wasn't breaking down any political barriers, but the stories were well told, had intrigue, and produced a lesson. The same could be said for even softer cartoons like Strawberry Shortcake and the Care Bears or harder ones like G.I. Joe and the Transformers (I watched those, too.) My hubby is a big fan of the Thundercats and can often be heard saying (when he's feeling really full of himself); "Thunder, Thunder, Thundercats...ho!" (Yeah, pretty comical)

My daughter watched a bit with me and seemed to get the stories, okay. She was really entranced by the music. Oh, the two-minute videos...priceless! The singing isn't horrible, either. I might grab these up for her once Sony gets it together and does a rerelease. Right now, the Rhino versions are the only ones out (out-of-print) and you can pay upwards of $100 for one season. Geesh!

I've purchased Punky Brewster (both seasons) for her and she loves them. Plus, they're wholesome and cute and it's a great tribute to girls and their individuality. If we'd let her, she'd watch Punky all day. Well, I want her to gain something, not fry her brain.

There must be enough of us (80's lovers) yelling for this stuff because, just from scanning the web, there are cult followings everywhere! Remakes have happened, already, with Strawberry Shortcake and (recently) I saw pictures of a new, revamped Holly Hobby. They are both trendier looking (not so dowdy).

I love the music of the 80's, too. AND, I actually remember when MTV played music videos all day and the videos were artistic or at least, creative. Okay, I'm going to stop now because I'm starting to feel really old. (lol)