1990s vs. 2016 AMERICA | marisoldramaturgy

Politics:

Leadership on a national and local level in the early 1990s turned a blind eye to many of the problems right under the nose of American society.
There was also a renewed sense of social conservatism among politicians and within the Bush and Clinton White Houses.
- Ed Koch, Mayor of New York City, saw the homeless as a problem for the city as opposed to a problem of the city.
- President Clinton promised to move forward with a small chip called a V-chip that automatically scrambled programs coded with sex or violence in every television in America by 1997.

Economics:

“The 1990s was a defining decade of unquestionable American economic power set against the amazing collapse of the Iron Curtain.”
Reaganomics affected the theater scene in the late 1980s and early 1990s as small regional and non-profit theaters had to sell tickets to survive and therefore produced less political theater and more commercially successful theater.

Culture:

Rivera on American Culture, "I often think of America as a hyphenated place… Within the same person there are a variety of cultures.”
There was growth of marginalized art forms coming to the forefront.
- In 1990, television viewers experienced the first presentation of the Grammy award for rap artist, granting mainstream legitimacy to a genre that had been struggling for recognition.
There were shifting cultural fears expressed through art and film.
- Edward Scissorhands: "Touch me." "I can't."
- Total Recall: Bodies that are unnatural normalized in a cinematic world.

Politics:

The concept of the hegemonic powers proclaiming America’s greatness, “Make America Great Again,” contrasted with the minority and underrepresented populations clamoring for progressive change and inclusion is a modern mirror of early 1990s political discourse.

Economics:

We continue to live in a highly capitalist system where the gap between the 1% and the rest of the country grows every day.
There are more mainstream options for potential change and we are on a precipice of how we want our American economy to function.
- According to the Democratic Socialists of America, "Today, corporate executives who answer only to themselves and a few wealthy stockholders make basic economic decisions affecting millions of people...We believe that the workers and consumers who are affected by economic institutions should own and control them."
Theaters sometimes produce more politically active work than in 1990s, but due to continued budget cuts for the arts, theater itself is on the decline.

Culture:

We have a unique sense of heightened nostalgia for an idealized past.
- For example, in Marisol Rivera points out the enormous problems plaguing American in the early 1990s, but we look back fondly on "The 90s" with articles in pop culture publications like Buzzfeed and even entire TV shows on channels like MTV and VH1 based on the concept: "Only 90s kids remember...."
- Millennials often remember the 1990s as an idealized decade as they were children, but they are not all educated on the extensive problems and important conversations occurring at that time.