Not Dated At All…
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cmtmj2006 — 11 years ago(August 29, 2014 07:16 PM)
Very true. In the late 80s decent paying jobs were plentiful and the American dream was alive. The last 25 years have been hard on generation X. Inflation, job outsourcing and part time jobs with no benefits have become the norm.
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Alfabeta — 13 years ago(July 01, 2012 06:00 AM)
One simple reason - they present us a plethora of very different (arche)types of parents and children. With this many different psychologies given it's simply impossible not to recognize or identify at least just a bit with some character.
In fact, I don't know if I've ever seen so many different personalities in one movie. This is one of its biggest strengths and it makes it almost timeless.
Technology is the only thing that changes fast. -
dabukaba — 13 years ago(July 01, 2012 09:56 PM)
True, though I feel that some time frames show faster change in general than others (in terms of technology and also pop culture). For example, 1989 was 23 years ago, and there was a much, MUCH bigger difference in those respects between 1966 and 1989 than between 1989 and 2012. I definitely agree about also the timeless aspects of the movie, however, in addition to things like clothing, hairstyles, and lingo, which reflect remarkable likeness to 23 years later.
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childers-3 — 13 years ago(December 13, 2012 01:26 PM)
I agree. It is just as good today as it was back then. Not a bit dated. The only other movie I can say that about is The Exorcist. The only thing that dates it is seeing doctors smoking! That just looks so funny to me!
"Well, make something up!"/RG -
EightiesKid — 13 years ago(January 31, 2013 10:56 PM)
Totally agree with the OP. I think what makes it timeless are two things
- The issues they tackled in the movie could work for any decade, and many are even MORE relevant now - such as Kevin being stereotyped and faced with being put in special ed, just because he was a little oversensitive. In that sense, they were really ahead of their time.
- (Less significant, but still makes a difference), they didn't really have any overt references to then-current Late 80s pop culture. Even when it was present, it was just as a backdrop and not central to the storyline (like Kevin playing arcade videogames at the pizza place, although even some of those are still around now).
Even the few dated scenes, such as Julie & Tod's pictures getting mixed up with Helen's at the photo hut could just as easily be modernized with sexting or FB pics if it were filmed now. Gary having pornos on VHS tapes would just be replaced with Helen finding sexy or naked pics on his computer, and/or him finding a way to look at pornos online.
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dabukaba — 10 years ago(September 01, 2015 08:42 PM)
The line by Larry some of the above posters mentioned was actually: "But we drifted apart as people tend to do during these complicated times." (By the way his story cracks me up "In Vegas I dated a girl, a showgirl, she was in that show 'Elvis on Ice.' Anywho, she shows up at my hotel room and says, 'This is our son. You watch him. I shot someone. I have to leave the country.' That's a parent?")
In keeping with how amazingly modern this movie is in general in 2015, there are a number of lines throughout that caught me off guard, one of which was when Susan said to her high school class as she approaches the white board (just before Nathan walks in to serenade her), "K, come on, we're way behind because of yesterday's bomb threat."
Some arbitrary examples of how current all the fashion styles are throughout the movie Gary wears cargo pants (and carries a skateboard with modern skate stickers covering the bottom) and Julie wears modern tops and jeans with faded stripes across the front I see these fashions nowadays on a daily basis. -
MissMargoChanning — 10 years ago(March 25, 2016 08:28 PM)
Aside from some of the styles in clothing and the fact that everyone is actually interacting with each other and NOT on their phones, I'd say that it isn't dated at all.
Parenthood is a universal thing!
"Fasten your seatbelts. It's going to be a bumpy night"
