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As a child of 1996, the 2000s were indeed my time. From the release of Halo 3 on September 25th, 2007 after nearly three years of highly anticipated waiting to the era of ringtone rap when that Senegalese fellow with the nasally voice was the only thing on the radio, the era will always hold a special place in my heart as the time I grew up in. This Take will serve as a memoir of some of the defining cultural trends, events, and styles of the decade that I remember.
The Transitional Stage
From 1998 and onward, it was an awkward transition from the 1990s into the new millennium. The internet was just becoming mainstream, yet at the same time, people were still playing video games on an antiquated Nintendo 64. My memories from this period are faint and brief, since I was literally a toddler, but some of the peculiarities that stand out to me were the music among other things. From Barbie Girl to I'm Blue, this was a time of weirdness to say in the least. In fact, it was these weird one hit wonders along with the spacey futuristic themes that I remember most. Disney Channel was still worth watching, my college-aged parents had not made the transition from beepers to cellular phones just yet, and everything revolved around this magic new device called "the computer." In other words, it was an awkward time that had not got on its feet just yet.
Of course, this all soon changed...
The Bush Years
If the period from 1998 onward was a period of awkward transition, then the 9/11 terrorist attack was the event that defined the decade. It was the moment when American society entered a new era, and whatever sentiments still lingering from the 1990s were definitively put to rest with the beginning of the Bush years. Thus began the War on Terror, and with it the new millennium.
But what defined this millennia?
Good question.
To answer, I believe that we need to review the pop culture of the time, in particular, cinema:
The Dark Knight was among the most memorable and renowned films of the decade, in large part due to its antagonist the Joker who was played by Heath Ledger, who unfortunately passed away before the film was even released. It is not common that a film is remembered not for its protagonist but its antagonist; and the few times this does happen, it is always significant. From Count Dracula symbolizing the breakdown of Victorian ideals in England to Zombies playing upon the fear of social unrest and nuclear annihilation during the Cold War, the antagonist comes to represent everything that his or her respective era feared. For the 2000s, it was clearly the Joker.
Fear
The era was defined by fear itself. Fear and uncertainty of what the future held, what we were doing, and more importantly, where we were going. The threat of terrorism in the aftermath of 9/11 just reinforced these sentiments. And it was upon this fear that the Joker made his legacy. It is no coincidence that the character wore a mask. Terrorism was in fact a faceless enemy. We did not know who they were. We did not know where they were. And we did not know when they were going to strike again. It was an enemy whose true identity was hidden from us; the fear of the unknown.
And this was the Joker. From the mystery surrounding his true identity beneath the mask to his chaotic and unpredictable behavior with seemingly no goal or motive other than to watch the world burn, he was the first truly original villain of the 2000s. Taking it even farther, the ethical dilemma that he sets before the fictional population of Gotham City of whether or not to destroy the other ship in order to save their own can be viewed as the ethical dilemma we felt in light of the War on Terror and President George W. Bush's increasingly controversial policies.
Do we allow our rights and civil liberties to be compromised in order to save our own lives or does doing so make us no greater than the very enemy whom we are trying to fight?
The Middle Era
...Granted, that still does not mean that we did not know how to have a good time, or enjoy our prosperity as a first world nation. Because complex ethical dilemmas and the fear of terrorism aside, we were still people like everyone else, and we valued pop culture like every other era.
The Fashion
The 2000s was a period of punk, at least initially. When the lingering influence of the 1990s was finally put to rest after 9/11, Hot Topic was there to fill the void. Before it became a tween girl's getaway to satisfy their nostalgia for Nickelodeon and other useless junk they would regularly get off of Amazon, it was a much darker place that catered to the punk crowd. From mohawks and spiky, colored hairdos to piercings, tattoos, and black clothing, the darkness reigned supreme. Every day was Halloween, of course, everybody loved Gir. Women also wore a lot of oversized belts circa 2006, and Victoria's Secret still had a catalogue that I stole from my mother every week, but other than this, I was a guy and I never paid much attention to fashion or style.
The Sex Symbol
Marisa Miller. From topping Maxim's Top 100 to setting records in Sports Illustrated and outperforming even Gisele Bundchen on a couple of occasions, Marisa Miller was the hottest woman of the 2000s. Her achievements were incredible to say in the least, and to this day she still remains one of the most renowned Victoria's Secret angels of all time. She was my first crush, and the woman who brought me through puberty. The fact that she was also a local girl as a California native made her that much more appealing to me. She made me proud to be a Californian.
For women, it was this guy.
...I'll pass on giving a description. But the Twilight film series was the rave of tween girls everywhere.
The Music
From Hey There Delilah to Suga Suga and Mr. Brightside, the 2000s was a time of many one hit wonders that died out just as soon as they gained popularity. It would be futile to try and list all of them, but generally they can be divided into two categories: alternative rock and ringtone rap.
Chances are that if you 10 or above, you were bumping either Don't Matter, Smack That, or I Wanna Love You from your antiquated iPod nano. Ringtone rap was pervasive, and perhaps one of the strangest moments ever in the history of hip-hop. It was the final song on that list that really warrants attention. Possessing an absolutely beautiful beat with some of the strongest verses ever from Snoop Dogg's career -- certainly one of the only times I have ever heard him utilize a multisyllabic rhyme pattern -- it was also extremely vulgar, profane, and explicit on a level that would make the editors of Cosmopolitan blush. And yet we loved it, even if the radio censored most of it.
The Video Games
Bungie's Halo 3 was the definitive game of the 2000s and arguably of all time. It was certainly the most anticipated game ever for nearly three years, and words will never describe the sense of joy that overcame us when September 25th finally arrived. Never will I forget those long nights of gaming with my friends during holiday breaks from school, and dreaming of Recon armor.
A New Hope: The Late 2000s
With the approach of the 2008 presidential election, the 2000s gradually came to a close. This was when the decade entered a new transitional period into the 2010s, characterized by a massive shift in politics combined with a newfound sense of political correctness and LGBT "awareness." For my generation, this was the first time we ever learned about what it meant to be gay, and the subsequent debate over same-sex "marriage." Proposition 8 in California and all of that. The blind patriotism of the Bush Years was replaced by a growing dissatisfaction with the war in Iraq and confusion over what Bush's policies were truly doing other than sending our loved ones out to die. This is what enabled young senator Barack Obama to win election and become the first Black president of the United States of America, with his motto of "Change."
There was also a recession at the time, with gas prices nearing almost $5. Yet everyone still somehow found it in their budget to purchase the first iPhone. It was a time when the fear that characterized the majority of the decade was replaced with a newfound sense of hope and enthusiasm. Though personally, I consider this a time of decline and the moment when everything good that I remember from my youth ceased to exist. Because with the iPhone came social media, and with social media came the renewed culture of political correctness and radical "progressivism."
And this is a problem that we have yet to grow out of...
I long to return to the days when I could always expect to see beautiful women like Marisa Miller dominate the media before political correctness forced us to accommodate their overweight counterparts like Ashley Graham. I miss when being a conservative did not automatically make you an outcast on college campuses. I miss when Supernatural was actually good, before it became ruined after its fifth season which should have been the end. Tween girls ruined it.
But most of all,
I miss when I could always expect to see my same friends the next morning at school. I miss the predictability. I miss when nothing was so bad that it would not be back to normal by next week. I will never forget those lunch periods spent laughing on the playground, and those long summer nights at the movie theaters, amusement parks, and restaurants among other things. 7th and 8th grade was probably the single greatest period in my entire life, and I will never forget it.
What do you remember from the 2000s? And did you enjoy this MyTake? Should I continue to write cultural reviews or would it be preferable for me to abstain? This was certainly new territory for me, and I am not very confident in this piece.
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