It is a truth universally acknowledged that kids today are soft. After all, they will never know the sheer frustration of having to unspool the tape on a cassette; will never hear the AOL dial-up tone in their sleep; will never understand what a rite of passage TGIF and Saturday morning TV was. I was born in 1982; my first cassette tape was Paula Abdul’s Shut Up & Dance (1990), 1993’s Free Willy was my favorite movie (and oh the soundtrack!), and I lived and breathed Family Matters, “California Dreamin’” and Saved By The Bell. In other words, consider yourself lucky if you’re an elder millennial who came of age in the ‘90s.
Which is why I’m so excited to throw it back to a time when spending an hour at Blockbuster picking out a movie was a regular weekend activity. The slate of stories you see above and below are all meant to make you feel major nostalgia for all the pop cultural mega moments from our youths. We had it good.
— Kate Auletta, Editor-In-Chief
Remember When The Hottest Makeup Item Was Just... Glitter?
I hit the beginnings of adolescence in the late 1990s. I still assume that body glitter is immediately available everywhere.
My 3-Year-Old Loves Classic Rock & I'm Not About To Stop Him
Toxic masculinity abounds, but when he sings "knocking me out with those American thighs," I can't help but laugh.
'Josie and the Pussycats' Is The Lost Millennial Classic
And the soundtrack is genuinely good, too.
'Waiting To Exhale' Taught Me What It Takes To Be A Mom
The movie helped me reimagine what unconditional love could feel and look like.
It was a whole Friday night teen ritual, and I think we should bring it back.
Fun Facts You Never Knew About The Spice Girls
Photo credit: Josephine Schiele