In 1984, the world was a different place.
There was no Google yet. Or Yahoo. Or Facebook, for that matter.
In 1984, the year of your birth, the top selling movie was Ghostbusters. People buying the popcorn in the cinema lobby had glazing eyes when looking at the poster.
Remember, that was before there were DVDs. People were indeed watching movies in the cinema, and not downloading them online. Imagine the packed seats, the laughter, the excitement, the novelty. And mostly all of that without 3D computer effects.
Do you know who won the Oscars that year? The academy award for the best movie went to Amadeus. The Oscar for best foreign movie that year went to Dangerous Moves. The top actor was F. Murray Abraham for his role as Antonio Salieri in Amadeus. The top actress was Sally Field for her role as Edna Spalding in Places in the Heart. The best director? Milos Forman for Amadeus.
In the year 1984, the time when you arrived on this planet, books were still popularly read on paper, not on digital devices. Trees were felled to get the word out. The number one US bestseller of the time wasThe Talisman by Stephen King and Peter Straub. Oh, that's many years ago. Have you read that book? Have you heard of it? Look at the cover!
In 1984... US Bell System is broken up. Brunei becomes a fully independent state. The Apple Macintosh is introduced. Def Leppard drummer Rick Allen gets in a serious car accident, severing his left arm. Medicare comes into effect in Australia. NASA crashes a remote controlled Boeing 720 in a Controlled Impact Demonstration. The Sandinista Front wins the Nicaraguan general elections. The popular Transformers toy and media franchise debuts. Joe Kittinger becomes the first person to cross the Atlantic, solo, in a hot air balloon. Western Australia becomes the last Australian state to abolish capital punishment. Michael Jackson won a record eight Grammy Awards. Iran accuses Iraq of using chemical weapons; the United Nations condemns their use on March 30. Advance Australia Fair is proclaimed as Australia's national anthem, and green and gold as the national colours. The Louisiana World's Fair opens. Beverly Lynn Burns becomes the first woman Boeing 747 captain in the world. The Space Shuttle Discovery takes off on its maiden voyage. The United Kingdom and the People's Republic of China sign the initial agreement to return Hong Kong to China in 1997. The Detroit Tigers defeat the San Diego Padres to win in 5 games. The British Telecom is privatised. A Soviet cruise missile plunges into Inarinjärvi lake in Finnish Lapland. The video game of the day was Paperboy.
That was the world you were born into. Since then, you and others have changed it.
The Nobel prize for Literature that year went to Jaroslav Seifert. The Nobel Peace prize went to Desmond Mpilo Tutu. The Nobel prize for physics went to Carlo Rubbia and Simon van der Meer from Italy and Netherlands for their decisive contributions to the large project, which led to the discovery of the field particles W and Z, communicators of weak interaction. The sensation this created was big. But it didn't stop the planets from spinning, on and on, year by year. Years in which you would grow bigger, older, smarter, and, if you were lucky, sometimes wiser. Years in which you also lost some things. Possessions got misplaced. Memories faded. Friends parted ways. The best friends, you tried to hold on. This is what counts in life, isn't it?
The 1980s were indeed a special decade. The Soviet-Afghan war goes on. Eastern Europe sees the collapse of communism. Policies like Perestroika and Glasnost in the Soviet Union lead to a wave of reforms. Protests are crushed down on Tiananmen Square in China. Ethiopa witnesses widespread famine. Nicolae Ceausescu is overthrown. The AIDS pandemic begins. The role of women in the workplace increased greatly. MTV is launched in the US. There is opposition against Apartheid in South Africa as well as worldwide. Heavy Metal and Hard Rock bands are extremely popular. The rise of Techno music begins. Originally primarily played on campus radio stations, College Rock enters the scene with bands like the Pixies, REM and Sonic Youth. The Hip Hop scene continues to evolve. Teletext is introduced. Gay rights become more widely accepted in the world. Opposition to nuclear power plants grows. The A-Team and Seinfeld are popular on TV. US basketball player Michael Jordan bursts on the scene. Super Mario Bros, Zelda's Link, and Pac-Man gain fame in video games. People wear leggings, shoulder pads and Ray-Ban sunglasses.
Do you know what was on the cover of Life that year?
Do you remember the movie that was all the rage when you were 15?American Beauty. Do you still remember the songs playing on the radio when you were 15? Maybe it was Heartbreaker by Mariah Carey featuring Jay-Z. Were you in love? Who were you in love with, do you remember?
In 1984, 15 years earlier, a long time ago, the year when you were born, the song Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go by Wham topped the US charts. Do you know the lyrics? Do you know the tune? Sing along.
You put the boom boom into my heart,
You send my soul sky high when your lovin' starts.
Jitterbug into my brain,
Goes bang bang bang till my feet do the same.
...
There's a kid outside, shouting, playing. It doesn't care about time. It doesn't know about time. It shouts and it plays and thinks time is forever. You were once that kid.
When you were 9, the movie Last Action Hero was playing. When you were 8, there was Honey, I Blew Up the Kid. When you were 7, there was a Disney movie out called Aladdin. Does this ring a bell?
6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1... it's 1984. There's TV noise coming from the second floor. Someone turned up the volume way too high. The sun is burning from above. These were different times. The show playing on TV isMickey Spillane's Mike Hammer. The sun goes down. Someone switches channels. There's Kate and Allie on now. That's the world you were born in.
Progress, year after year. Do you wonder where the world is heading towards? The technology available today would have blown your mind in 1984. Do you know what was invented in the year you were born? The Digital Synthesizer. The Portable CD Player. Phase Distortion Synthesis.
1984
Knockin' on your door
Will you let it come?
Will you let it run your life?
...
That's from the song 1984 by Spirit.
In 1984, a new character entered the world of comic books: Donatello from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Bang! Boom! But that's just fiction, right? In the real world, in 1984, Ashlee Simpson was born. AndAvril Lavigne. Chiaki Kuriyama, too. And you, of course. Everyone an individual. Everyone special. Everyone taking a different path through life.
It's 2011.
The world is a different place.
What path have you taken?
