Tenebrae
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- Mar 21, 2005
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Do you remember the 90's ? There was a particular aesthetic during that era that seems to have been erased post-2000's, and I sort of miss it.
Movies like Angel Heart, The Crow, Se7en or Dark City were describing the East Coast as damp and oppressive urban environments drenched in rain, ridden with crime and prowled at night by strange creatures or sadistic killers. A massive amount of steam could be seen coming out of the sewers. Derelict factories and abandoned hangars were the habitual settings for drug deals or ruthless executions often accompanied with torture. On the West Coast, Michael Douglas was losing his mind and lashing out against the system under the scorching Californian sun, when he was not playing a cynical businessman who had profited too much from the Reagan years. Corrupt movie producers were treating young women like bags of meat and sex objects in a Hollywood that was portrayed as THE place where innocence dies (8mm, Mulholland Drive...).
Heroes were almost always sporting black leather, whether it was worn as a whole outfit or a simple jacket, while sunglasses were not uncommon, even at night. They were often self-loathing, cynical and at times cruel in spite of their immense strength and strict moral codes. There was a sense that nothing mattered, that the world we were heading towards had nothing to offer to anyone anymore, and that innocence was no longer a given but rather a luxury at most and a burden to get rid of quickly at worst. Love was there of course, but also in an edgier form: in True Romance, Christian Slater and Patricia Arquette were madly in love but had to fight for their survival in an "us against the world" mentality. In Natural Born Killers, we were treated to a charming couple out on a killing spree. In Payback, an extra cute Asian clad in a leather outfit beat her lover with all kind of implements before being smacked back by him IN THE FACE with a telephone. Johnny Depp was the sexiest men in entertainment, yet was often portraying guys with tormented personalities. If you were into more virile types, Bruce Willis and Denzel Washington were fighting injustice with style despite suffering grievous wounds, and Brad Pitt looked so damn good even with his face all bruised up.
The most interesting superheroes of the time were monsters like Venom and Spawn, literally edgy in the sense that their suit itself could slice you to ribbons even before their lifted their arms towards you. Even the amiable Spiderman, never the last one to crack a joke, was shown bleeding, doubting, self-loathing. Villains like Carnage (whom Marvel feared so much they had to kill him in the vacuum of space to make sure their authors would not bring him back during the 2000s) were nihilists engaged in an endless killing spree in a fruitless attempt to fill the void of their soul, pure sadists enjoying the suffering of others, mass murderers or simply corrupt businessmen looking to make a profit with no idea of how to spend it. Revolutionaries were often ridiculed for their beliefs, and religion had long lost its meaning with even vampires laughing openly at the cross.
When everyone wanted to catch a breath from the gloom, derision was thankfully everywhere. Friends, Seinfeld, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Frasier were all there to make us laugh... often at someone else's expense. Cruelty was an art form, the world having become so disillusioned that we all thought we might as well laugh at the whole thing. There were no taboos, no "too far" and no offense that was too great. South Park reigned supreme and the Simpsons came out with their darkest ideas yet. Philip Roth warned us that it would end soon, but at the time only the intellectual elite could see the new wave that was going to wash away this peculiar aesthetic.
Which brings me to my existential question: where has it all gone? I've read everywhere that post-9/11, America felt a huge need for a much more positive image of itself (hence the very lighthearted Spider Man films or the aforementioned killing off of Carnage for instance), but is it truly the case? Am I the only one who misses the rugged feel and aesthetic of the 90's? Where have all the manly chain-smoking leather-clad heroes gone? Why do cities now look so clean and shiny in Hollywood movies? Where are the cute misfits like the Dude and Walter Sobchak? I still want to sell my soul to the devil but there is a big CLOSED sign on hell's ticket office I'm 35 now, my bosses were supposed to be Al Pacino in The Devil's Advocate and Kevin Spacey from A Time To Kill, not some hipster who looks like a groomed version of Lance from Pulp Fiction! And how come I am still not a vampire?
Movies like Angel Heart, The Crow, Se7en or Dark City were describing the East Coast as damp and oppressive urban environments drenched in rain, ridden with crime and prowled at night by strange creatures or sadistic killers. A massive amount of steam could be seen coming out of the sewers. Derelict factories and abandoned hangars were the habitual settings for drug deals or ruthless executions often accompanied with torture. On the West Coast, Michael Douglas was losing his mind and lashing out against the system under the scorching Californian sun, when he was not playing a cynical businessman who had profited too much from the Reagan years. Corrupt movie producers were treating young women like bags of meat and sex objects in a Hollywood that was portrayed as THE place where innocence dies (8mm, Mulholland Drive...).
Heroes were almost always sporting black leather, whether it was worn as a whole outfit or a simple jacket, while sunglasses were not uncommon, even at night. They were often self-loathing, cynical and at times cruel in spite of their immense strength and strict moral codes. There was a sense that nothing mattered, that the world we were heading towards had nothing to offer to anyone anymore, and that innocence was no longer a given but rather a luxury at most and a burden to get rid of quickly at worst. Love was there of course, but also in an edgier form: in True Romance, Christian Slater and Patricia Arquette were madly in love but had to fight for their survival in an "us against the world" mentality. In Natural Born Killers, we were treated to a charming couple out on a killing spree. In Payback, an extra cute Asian clad in a leather outfit beat her lover with all kind of implements before being smacked back by him IN THE FACE with a telephone. Johnny Depp was the sexiest men in entertainment, yet was often portraying guys with tormented personalities. If you were into more virile types, Bruce Willis and Denzel Washington were fighting injustice with style despite suffering grievous wounds, and Brad Pitt looked so damn good even with his face all bruised up.
The most interesting superheroes of the time were monsters like Venom and Spawn, literally edgy in the sense that their suit itself could slice you to ribbons even before their lifted their arms towards you. Even the amiable Spiderman, never the last one to crack a joke, was shown bleeding, doubting, self-loathing. Villains like Carnage (whom Marvel feared so much they had to kill him in the vacuum of space to make sure their authors would not bring him back during the 2000s) were nihilists engaged in an endless killing spree in a fruitless attempt to fill the void of their soul, pure sadists enjoying the suffering of others, mass murderers or simply corrupt businessmen looking to make a profit with no idea of how to spend it. Revolutionaries were often ridiculed for their beliefs, and religion had long lost its meaning with even vampires laughing openly at the cross.
When everyone wanted to catch a breath from the gloom, derision was thankfully everywhere. Friends, Seinfeld, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Frasier were all there to make us laugh... often at someone else's expense. Cruelty was an art form, the world having become so disillusioned that we all thought we might as well laugh at the whole thing. There were no taboos, no "too far" and no offense that was too great. South Park reigned supreme and the Simpsons came out with their darkest ideas yet. Philip Roth warned us that it would end soon, but at the time only the intellectual elite could see the new wave that was going to wash away this peculiar aesthetic.
Which brings me to my existential question: where has it all gone? I've read everywhere that post-9/11, America felt a huge need for a much more positive image of itself (hence the very lighthearted Spider Man films or the aforementioned killing off of Carnage for instance), but is it truly the case? Am I the only one who misses the rugged feel and aesthetic of the 90's? Where have all the manly chain-smoking leather-clad heroes gone? Why do cities now look so clean and shiny in Hollywood movies? Where are the cute misfits like the Dude and Walter Sobchak? I still want to sell my soul to the devil but there is a big CLOSED sign on hell's ticket office I'm 35 now, my bosses were supposed to be Al Pacino in The Devil's Advocate and Kevin Spacey from A Time To Kill, not some hipster who looks like a groomed version of Lance from Pulp Fiction! And how come I am still not a vampire?