Simpsons, Bulls, Cowboys

[LeeLemonoil]

I was a youth back then, and from rural Germany. Didn’t know ***t about anything.

But I loved, loved, loved the NBA, the NFL and The Simpsons from the late 80s to the mid-/late nineties. I even loved the Dinosaurs by Jim Hanson and not to forget: ALF!

Michael Jordan, Bulls vs Pistons, Emmit Smith/Aikman... The kit and emblems of the teams. Jaromir Jagr, Fedorov, Gretzky, Bure, Forsberg... even watched NHL on tape as if I had any clue about that game. It was like action films/real super heroes back then. How incredibly funny and smart were early Simpsons.


I loved it and it aches me to see how poor the todays versions of the US leagues are.... Simpsons. Less said the better.
Well that years were peak USA to me. What a great time to be a carefree kid from over the pond and follow that world. Allegedly real and existing, but more of a fairytale and dream, the entire USA a Hollywood movie

 

[Sheik]

Well that years were peak USA to me. What a great time to be a carefree kid from over the pond and follow that world. Allegedly real and existing, but more of a fairytale and dream, the entire USA a Hollywood movie

It was. It really was.

 

[Nighteyes]

I feel the same way as you do in so many different areas. Also loved the movies from late 1980’s/ early 1990’s. It seems they just did something differently in developing characters and slower more intricate plots. It was like you had to put in some effort in the experience and got so much more enjoyment out of it. Nowadays everything gets served on a platter with so many cuts all the time and action every scene. A good example is the first mission impossible (1996) compared to rogue nation (2015). I mean back then so much time was spent on each scene that you Got a better feel for the characters. Not they have been to two different countries and a couple car chases in the first 5 min...

I can Think of so many examples. Its like why did they stop putting effort into The Simpsons? I mean something like Family guy came along and sort of crossed so many Lines and were so provocative that now only even MORE boldness could satisfy people. Same in video games. Are we seeing a global desensitization of reward centers? With all the screens / constant input? Just wanted to say I agree with you. Maybe we are just being old and nostalgic (I’m only in mylate 20’s though)

 

[Sheik]

Nowadays everything gets served on a platter with so many cuts all the time and action every scene. A good example is the first mission impossible (1996) compared to rogue nation (2015). I mean back then so much time was spent on each scene that you Got a better feel for the characters. Not they have been to two different countries and a couple car chases in the first 5 min...

I think they've tried to hard to rely on formulas and imitation. From a quality standpoint, that is. From the standpoint of big money they're doing exactly what they should be doing.
Follow the formula, and have the media do their usual shtick calling it "critically acclaimed" or such platitudes. Spiritually bankrupt people take whatever they can get. If all the sugar is gone you might eat sucralose and tell yourself it's the real thing.

 

[schultz]

Are we seeing a global desensitization of reward centers?

I was talking to my wife about how I find a lot of modern films to be intolerable. I can't get through them. Halfway through I'm like "Can we turn this off?". A lot of them are just not good. She wondered if maybe our attention span is not what it used to be and I thought about it and realized that no, movies just suck now. My attention span is perfectly fine. I have been watching all the Studio Ghibli movies with my kids (the only one I had previously seen was Spirited Away) and they are phenomenal. I loved "My Neighbour Totoro" and almost nothing happens in that movie. I actually got teary eyed when the big sister yells at the little sister to grow up (maybe because I have kids and can relate...). I can't remember if I have been affected like that from any modern movie.

I can also sit through long and slow TV shows and listen to hours of Ray Peat podcasts, not to mention read books, so I don't think it's a desensitization of the reward centers.

 

[LeeLemonoil]

Are we seeing a global desensitization of reward centers? With all the screens / constant input? Just wanted to say I agree with you. Maybe we are just being old and nostalgic (I’m only in mylate 20’s though)

I think you’re right that a desensitization is involved, and a decline in intelligence/IQ-levels. An evolutionary crossroads, who knows what kind of psyche this will result in.

And yeah, außer from all that, Nostalgia for ones childhood is the biggest bias there might be, so maybe not all is really that bad

Thanks for chiming in

 

[LeeLemonoil]

I can also sit through long and slow TV shows and listen to hours of Ray Peat podcasts, not to mention read books, so I don't think it's a desensitization of the reward centers.

Yes, but „kids today“ cannot but they do like the ***t movies - simplification for the sake of argument - so your reward system is intact when it is calibrated for quality and knowledge-gaining, while some pupils today can’t even read properly or make it through regular school-mornings concentration wise.
The old discussion. Something is going on with Homo sapiens in the current age of estrogen, poison and decadence.


MJ!!!!

 

[schultz]

so your reward system is intact when it is calibrated for quality and knowledge-gaining

Oh right, good point lol.

Sometimes I think I am becoming one of those old people who think all modern things are awful compared to "back in the day". I am only 33 though... I hear a song on the radio and I think "Wow this is probably one of the worst songs I have ever heard"... usually it ends up being some Drake song. Dude can't even talk on key, they gotta autotune him.

 

[LeeLemonoil]

Yup, I’m just a bit older and feel the same. I virtually don’t watch or listen to contemporary pop-culture with a few rare exceptions. If by chance I tune into a newer episode of the Simpson’s I get melancholic and angry as **** at the same time. Insane but it’s like that.
I‘m trying to figure out how to raise my 2 small kids without being to strict and excentric once they inadvertently develop their first own „tastes“. Well, time will tell. Just by giving a good example I guess.

 

[Nighteyes]

Oh right, good point lol.

Sometimes I think I am becoming one of those old people who think all modern things are awful compared to "back in the day". I am only 33 though... I hear a song on the radio and I think "Wow this is probably one of the worst songs I have ever heard"... usually it ends up being some Drake song. Dude can't even talk on key, they gotta autotune him.

Yeah I mean I feel the same Way you do. I dont feel screwed up - I just end up hating most current music/movies because I Think the younger generation is getting screwed. Everything is tailored to their need for excessive stimuli. I also really enjoy super slow movies that get deep into character development and that I can relate to. Its funny whenever I talk to my friends about shows they always lose interest really Quick and complain when the show slows Down after a couple of seasons. This is always the point I really like where you get these little side quests and side stories that help build on the Show’s universe. I also really love looong Novel book series like The gunslinger or the Farseer series

 

[Nighteyes]

Yup, I’m just a bit older and feel the same. I virtually don’t watch or listen to contemporary pop-culture with a few rare exceptions. If by chance I tune into a newer episode of the Simpson’s I get melancholic and angry as **** at the same time. Insane but it’s like that.
I‘m trying to figure out how to raise my 2 small kids without being to strict and excentric once they inadvertently develop their first own „tastes“. Well, time will tell. Just by giving a good example I guess.

Man, my advice would be to avoid excessive screen use and constant stimuli.. I really doubt that it is good for anyone. Introduce Them to books. Books are such a good Way to slow Down and develop that ability to focus and immerse oneself.

Edit: dont have kids..

 

[LeeLemonoil]

It’s all gone. It seems it was a chimaera, an illusion, a dream.

Even Apu is now racist? This benign, endlessly funny and loveable portraying of a stereotype is racist?

Woke-fascism. Congrats to those who designed it, it’s invincible.

 

[Zsazsa]

It's getting worse and worse, now even Lisa, Maggie, Marge and Ned Flanders find reasons to flexibilize their morals...
Someone had to wrote an article about what is happening in The Simpsons... It is going beyond poor jokes and wokeism.

 

[-Luke-]

A perfect day for ten-year-old Luke in 1997: Watch a recording of Bulls vs. Jazz Finals game, go outside, shoot some hoops for three hours and pretend I'm Scottie Pippen, Reggie Miller or Detlef Schrempf, watch two episodes of The Simpsons, read a book about basketball history,...

Was it possible to watch the NFL in Germany in the 80s and 90s? I remember having a Cowboys t-shirt and pretending to be a big fan, although I had no idea about the rules.

I feel for the kids who have to grow up these days (and I bet a lot of adults said the same thing about us in the 90s ).

 

[LeeLemonoil]

It's getting worse and worse, now even Lisa, Maggie, Marge and Ned Flanders find reasons to flexibilize their morals...
Someone had to wrote an article about what is happening in The Simpsons... It is going beyond poor jokes and wokeism.

Thanks for sharing that observation. I don’t watch The S any more since ~ 2002 or 3. They were getting extremely poor in comparison to the first seasons already back then.

But if they even deteriorate now especially in the as you say morale or amorale department you can tell that the creators and those that still find them fine are seriously sick in the mind and soul

 

[LeeLemonoil]

A perfect day for ten-year-old Luke in 1997: Watch a recording of Bulls vs. Jazz Finals game, go outside, shoot some hoops for three hours and pretend I'm Scottie Pippen, Reggie Miller or Detlef Schrempf, watch two episodes of The Simpsons, read a book about basketball history,...

Was it possible to watch the NFL in Germany in the 80s and 90s? I remember having a Cowboys t-shirt and pretending to be a big fan, although I had no idea about the rules.

I feel for the kids who have to grow up these days (and I bet a lot of adults said the same thing about us in the 90s ).

I was a bit older than 10 in 97. But roughly did the same stuff.

NFL I think wasn’t much televised let alone covered. NBA was on its peak popularity here though. 2 games a week on DSF. Friday evening show and so forth. Great memories.

I think I read a magazine called US Sports that covered all the major leagues. BBall, football, nhl, a bit of MLB.

And Simpson: every evening. Pro7. My brother, my best friends… we could recite almost every existing episode back then.

It was a great time to be a western kid or youth.

 

[-Luke-]

NFL I think wasn’t much televised let alone covered. NBA was on its peak popularity here though. 2 games a week on DSF. Friday evening show and so forth. Great memories.

Inside NBA. Watched it all the time. Back when interesting things came on TV. Even before DSF & Co. We had three TV channels and when I turned on the TV as a kid, it felt like there was always something interesting on. Later, there were 1000 channels and the same garbage ran on all of them.

And Simpson: every evening. Pro7. My brother, my best friends… we could recite almost every existing episode back then.

With some I probably still can.