Black Mirror : I CAN'T stop thinking about San Junipero

I CAN'T stop thinking about San Junipero

For as long as I remember, I have been obsessed with the 80s. Particularly, 1987 is my favourite year as most of my favourite songs and movies came out that year and I love the 'style' that was dominant that year. I am 23 now so I missed all of the 80s and it sometimes makes me so upset that I wasn't alive then to enjoy it. Obviously living in this day and age has its advantages but I look back on that time with rose-tinted glasses and I seriously think I have a problem. Truthfully, I feel hard done by for being born when I was, instead of earlier. Does anyone else feel like this? Like they should have been in a different era? I am going to get a lot of sh!t for this because...you know...internet...so whatever. I have to say, I honestly think if San Junipero was on offer to me now instead of my actual life that I would take it. My life has been strange and complicated for the last 4 years due to circumstances that are too personal to write here. Maybe it has something to do with escapism but I don't know. All I know is that I would sign up to be in 1987 San Junipero in a heartbeat despite the many people in my life that I love. I am a bad person, ain't I?

Re: I CAN'T stop thinking about San Junipero

The 80s was pretty cool. Some of my favorite music is from that era. Bon Jovi, Guns N Roses. I also like the grunge music of the 90s. Everything after that seems to suck. My local supermarket plays 80s music over the loudspeaker, so it is a treat shopping there every Saturday and Sunday.

Re: I CAN'T stop thinking about San Junipero

About 80% of what I LOVE comes from the 80s, the other 20% either before or after that period, so I honestly think San Junipero would be a fair trade. Plus, it's a bit of a free for all. I assume you don't have to do anything except have fun in this virtual reality. You don't have to work, you don't have to do sh!t you don't 'want to do. That's what life should be about. I feel like I have this precious, small amount of time in the world and for the vast majority of it I am doing something that I don't 'really' want to be doing, and there's nothing I can do about it coz that is just how the world works. Jeez, this is turning into a therapy session...

Re: I CAN'T stop thinking about San Junipero

Well, I view my Saturdays and Sundays as my vacation time, 2 days out of 7 in the week. Not too bad. And when you think about how small children used to work 15 hours a day during the Industrial Revolution, I think we have it a lot better. But then again the future will have it even better than us. Eventually robots and artificial intelligences will replace humans in all jobs, and we will just sit home and collect paychecks from the government, and it really will be like living in San Junipero. And Virtual Reality will be pretty close to what you see in San Junipero, and that's already in existence. So we have it pretty good now.

Re: I CAN'T stop thinking about San Junipero

Pretty much me too as I graduated HS in 1985 and college on 1989. Musically that's my favorite decade, though some really good music came out late 70s (e.g., Cars, The Ramones) and into the very early 90s.

Re: I CAN'T stop thinking about San Junipero

How did you graduate ON 1989? You mean IN 1989, right?

Re: I CAN'T stop thinking about San Junipero

So you relate the 80's to only music? That's a pretty superficial and limited awareness.

Re: I CAN'T stop thinking about San Junipero

> All I know is that I would sign up to be in 1987 San Junipero in a heartbeat

Well, that's the whole point. The designers have figured out that most people's happiest memories are when they were in their early 20s. That's you, in 2016. For the characters in the episode, that's them in about 2040.

--
What Would Jesus Do For A Klondike Bar (WWJDFAKB)?

Re: I CAN'T stop thinking about San Junipero

I was born in the early 80s and in the 90s I used to think the same about the 70s. Man I thought I just was born in the wrong decade...
Man was I wrong... :D
Those who didnt live in the decade, tend to idealize the time... Only pick the good stuff. From music or movies. A version that never really existed...
Thats why in the 80s, the 50s and early 60s were kind of retro cool.
In the 90s the retro trend started really out. Late 60s and 70s - awesome! :)
In the 2000s the 80s became cool again. And now you got young people running around like in the early 90s... Their version of the 90s.
It has to be about 20 years old to be retro cool. The last decade just feels old, but not retro , cool old...
Also: the young people who buy trends, never actually lived in that decade, or were too young, and so they think its cooler than it actually was. :)
What I think...is that we get a bit of a problem, cause this thing is geting meta retro. :) Like, womens' hairstyles now are 90s 70s retro.
Next decade well get a problem. The 2000s were very very retro, so is it going to get 80s and 2000s retro? There will be little substance left.
Maybe well go into earlier times, like the 20s swing revival.
Lets just not hope we go for the bad things of the 40s...

That said: I think the 80s will always stay fun, because of the tastelessness :) in fashion

Re: I CAN'T stop thinking about San Junipero

I agree and disagree with what you have said about stuff, All decades have their good and bad stuff

In the 2000's yes 80's became cool again, And it is having a comeback again now

I agree last decade some of it was alright but didn't have that classic feel to it

There are people everywhere now with a'lot of different decade style hair- But just like in 60's not everyone had the beehive + the mop top

When you said That said: I think the 80's will always stay fun, because of the tastelessness :) in fashion

Again all decades had their good and bad points, Like every decade had good, alright + bad fashion, Some of the 60's + 70's, 90's fashion was horrible but then you also had alright + good stuff so all decades was a mixed bag in fashion, TV, Films, etc

I remember as a kid growing up in the 80's some people wore logo-T-shirts with Levi Jeans with shoes or Black,Blue, White, Adidas/Reebok trainers or something from Ben Sherman, Lacoste, Ralph Lauren, Armani, Brook Brothers, Topshop/man, Marks 'N Spencers, And then you had some that wore crazy out there clothes with a'lot of neon colours so was a mix...Pictures + videos of me as a kid with my 7up/MJ logo T-shirts- black jeans and white Adidas trainers etc

I mean bands + Artists like Pet Shop Boys, Echo + Bunnymen, U2, Curiosity Killed the Cat,
Depeche Mode, Bruce Springsteen, Madonna after 85, Suzanne Vega, Kate Bush, Bryan Ferry, The Smiths, Madness, UB40, Robert Palmer, The, Housemartins, etc etc

And many films + TV shows I could mention that had alright/ good fashion but then some bad as well take me to long

Here is link to show 80's are back-www.vulture.com/2016/10/2016-why-are-we-obsessed-with-the-80s.html

I'm from the UK

Re: I CAN'T stop thinking about San Junipero

I grew up in the 80's and hated being a kid but I got kinda nostalgic when they used T'Pau's Heart and Soul.

Please, go...Stop smiling, it's not a joke. Please leave...The party's over. Get out.

Re: I CAN'T stop thinking about San Junipero

Why did you hate being a kid in the 80's, Did you get bullied or something?? + T'-Pau's Heart and Soul is a classic!

80's was in general a really good decade!!

Re: I CAN'T stop thinking about San Junipero

It wasn't the 80's I hated, I was just awkward and self-conscious. I wanted to be an adult from the get-go lol.

Please, go...Stop smiling, it's not a joke. Please leave...The party's over. Get out.

Re: I CAN'T stop thinking about San Junipero

I must say I was confused by your comment, That is why I said it must be something else as i it wasn't I would of been dumbfounded lol

What was you awkward + self-conscious about exactly!

What are some of the things you liked from the 80's? :-)

Re: I CAN'T stop thinking about San Junipero

The 80s wasn't that much different to now, minus the internet. Nostalgia clouds people minds, it wasn't anything special.

Re: I CAN'T stop thinking about San Junipero

I guess the difference is that if you were alive back then, you didn't realize you were experience "classic" things go live. Watching Michael Jackson's rise to fame, Cheers, Madonna, Star Wars, etc. They're legends now but back then, the world didn't have any idea just how pervasive in society's conscious they would become.

Re: I CAN'T stop thinking about San Junipero

Oh come on you knew whenever you saw the video for Bilie Jean and saw MJ do his moonwalk on Motown 25th anniversary- people knew that was iconic then + MJ was a legend by 1980's anyway

When Madonna was making headlines when she came out and was known as a legend in same decade!

The 80's were a great decade for music, Technology, Films, TV, etc

Re: I CAN'T stop thinking about San Junipero

Oh really. Name me a couple things in the present age that will become real legends in 30 years, just because you knew on sight that they would.

Re: I CAN'T stop thinking about San Junipero

HAHA MJ was already an icon way before the 80's I mean that is just common knowledge so that wasn't like 6 months after he came out lol

And Madonna people knew she would be, She was always changing her image and her sound

I think Bruno Mars will be considered to be a legend his sound is very retro,

Re: I CAN'T stop thinking about San Junipero

HAHA MJ was already an icon way before the 80's I mean that is just common knowledge so that wasn't like 6 months after he came out lol

And Madonna people knew she would be, She was always changing her image and her sound

I think Bruno Mars will be considered to be a real legend in 30 years his sound is very retro and his singles + albums sound timeless, He has been around a long time now

Also I think Adele who has been around for for longer than Bruno Mars who will be considered a real legend in 30 years

Where you from??

And what are some of the bands/singers that you like from the 80's

Re: I CAN'T stop thinking about San Junipero

Oh okay, so by watching Madonna in Lucky Star you knew she would be a veritable worldwide legend in 30 years? Why not A-Ha from their video or the show Bosom Buddies? They were big in their moment but are nothing nowadays.

Anyway, my original point was that I was responding to a previous post that stated that present-day life in 2016 was not so much different from 1980s and that the 80s were nothing special. I argued that it's different because we now take for granted all the cultural icons that have been around for 30 years, but in the 1980s all those icons were in their infancy and we got to live through their rise.

Re: I CAN'T stop thinking about San Junipero

Don't think you read my post properly I put "When Madonna was making headlines when she came out and was known as a legend in same decade!"

I didn't say as soon as I saw her video or heard song on radio of Lucky Star that she would be a legend 30 years down the line- I said in same decade she was known Lucky Star as she had 2 dance hits before that and her single Burning up was a hit in Australia and those were in 1983

A-ha are still making hit albums and doing worldwide tours, Are you from U.S as they had 2 hit singles in U.S then 1 hit album then nothing but it was a different story for the rest of the world

Bosom Buddies knew it was a good show but wouldn't be Iconic, Now when Cheers was on after the first 2 long years I knew that would be remembered as being Iconic TV show in 30 years



but in the 1980s all those icons were in their infancy and we got to live through their rise.

How were they in their infancy like Prince or Billy Idol, Duran Duran, etc when they were selling singles + albums making records and doing really imaginative music videos confused by that

Re: I CAN'T stop thinking about San Junipero


I think Bruno Mars will be considered to be a real legend in 30 years his sound is very retro and his singles + albums sound timeless, He has been around a long time now


Nah. He's trying to recreate something from the past. Nothing original about him.

Re: I CAN'T stop thinking about San Junipero

Who would you say then that is original??

Re: I CAN'T stop thinking about San Junipero

"When Madonna was making headlines when she came out and was known as a legend in same decade!"

Not to hijack the thread but Madonna played at an all night gay bar and I danced with her for about 30 seconds. She wasn't on a stage, she was on the dance floor and I just happened to be near her. Then about a year later, maybe a little less, she hit the big time.

The 80's were great for me and I still have CDs in my car w/almost all 80's and 90's music. I could make a list a mile long but I don't have the patience. As for Black Mirror, I've seen 3 episodes - the first three - and I liked the second one but numbers 1 and 3 dragged.

Re: I CAN'T stop thinking about San Junipero

I know you said it is like now not anything special, I'm glad you didn't think it was crap, I thought it was a very good decade- My dad who was in his early 30's in early 1980 and it is his 2nd fav decade

Re: I CAN'T stop thinking about San Junipero

true. day to day was pretty much the same for me. i'm not a nostalgic person... well i wish i was young again but i rather be young in whatever the current decade may be than any decade before it.

Re: I CAN'T stop thinking about San Junipero

So what you saying exactly you would rather be young in any decade it don't matter what one?

Re: I CAN'T stop thinking about San Junipero

no. i'm saying i rather be young now in this decade. if we were having this conversion in 2026, then i would rather be young in that decade. the latest for me is ideal.

Re: I CAN'T stop thinking about San Junipero

But why that doesn't make sense, Why would you being young in the most recent decade benefit you in anyway.....Doesn't mean it is better or will be much better in the future

Re: I CAN'T stop thinking about San Junipero

unless something catastrophic happens, everything has been better and will continue to be better just because of science. everything significant that happened culture-wise is still available to us. so to say "the 80's were awesome because of the music" is silly because all that music is available right now plus a lot more. all the music from the 90s is available now too. on top of that, all of it is available on demand. you want to wear color baggy sweaters? head over to the good will. there really isn't anything to miss about the past except for your actual youth.

and no i don't want to live in a post apocalyptic world.

i'm gay. my fellow gays were dropping dead left and right in the 80s. moms were taking speed to lose weight. it's not all peaches and roses.

with every year that passes by i can say without a doubt there is no previous year i rather live in than in the current one. again as long as nothing catastrophic happens, i'm good with the present.

Re: I CAN'T stop thinking about San Junipero

Not at all I completely disagree with you, You better to be in present cause of science

There is a cure for cancer, Parkinson's etc but it would cost government to much money to put out on open market......There is to many migrants in a'lot of countries which are using up all of the money in our NHS system

Got told the other day that few hospitals in my area have cut back some treatments due to immigrants using up all the money which I knew anyway as to many people living in places like France, UK, Germany, Sweden, etc

So your saying for all mums in the world in the 80's were taking speed to lose weight is utter nonsense- What a very bold statement to make

Every decade had it's up and downs and was never all peaches and cream

Yes music is available right now and TV shows and films etc- That doesn't mean you still not wish you were living in the past and does not come back to just the past......This generation has gone to pot like the music industry you don't have to sell nowhere near as many singles or albums to get in to the top 40.......And not as many good artists like we had in previous decades!

Now comedians/actors/musicians etc have to watch what people say on TV or they will get fired/get in to trouble

Also there wasn't things like online gambling etc




Re: I CAN'T stop thinking about San Junipero

then live in the past and let me enjoy my now. i'm a happy person for it.

Re: I CAN'T stop thinking about San Junipero

I can't live in the past as it has gone, But I can reminisce about it thankyou very much

And so called future technology you speak about some of it has been around for decades, So u will be waiting for the other half to arrive

Re: I CAN'T stop thinking about San Junipero

Shut up.

Re: I CAN'T stop thinking about San Junipero

Yea that Mech has lost it hasn't he, Being in future don't mean it is for the better

Re: I CAN'T stop thinking about San Junipero

San Junipero was definitely an episode that stayed with me for days after and had a real impact (also for personal reasons). I absolutely loved the episode and love everything about the 80s, I think the episode was really well done and definitely left me thinking for quite a while after.

Re: I CAN'T stop thinking about San Junipero

I also can't stop thinking about it, especially the part - HOW ON EARTH DO YOU STAY MARRIED FOR 49 YEARS TO A MAN YOU LOVE (and brag about that no one can understand the connection you had) BUT THEN TURN OUT TO BE - an old lesbian?!- WHAT THE F>>>K is wrong with screen writers these days?

Re: I CAN'T stop thinking about San Junipero

she is prob a bisexual

Re: I CAN'T stop thinking about San Junipero

That's the problem with Nostalgia freaks, they say they love a particular period, but after a day or two, they would be bored of it. BTW, the afterlife is pathetic; a childish Adult fantasy version of Santa Claus.

Re: I CAN'T stop thinking about San Junipero

That made me LMAO when you said That's the problem with Nostalgia freaks, they say they love a particular period, but after a day or two, they would be bored of it.


What a load of crap, If there was a time machine I would go and live in 80's for 6 months then come back and then go again for 6 months- And would not be bored of doing that agin and again

Re: I CAN'T stop thinking about San Junipero

Watch Midnight In Paris. It's about a man who feels the same way as you.

Re: I CAN'T stop thinking about San Junipero

I have done a number of times mate, Really good film that :-]

Thanks anyway

Re: I CAN'T stop thinking about San Junipero

I loved that episode too. I graduated in 1984. There has been a lot of looking back to the 80's lately. Without being just nostalgic I have to say I feel lucky to have been young in the 80's.

We had so many choices of who we wanted to be in the way we expressed ourselves in fashion and music. Preppy, Mod, Punk, Rockabilly, Rock, Stoner, Hairband...etc etc (we did "throw back" to the 50's and 60's...) as in awesome vintage clothes.

Great and fun music. We were there when MTV and music videos started :)

We were kids who didn't text or have cell phones and interacted with each other in the 70's.

It was rose colored glasses for us too because we were young.

---

Now ironically I would like to be a young person today...your generation has many advantages over mine... but I don't think you will have that perspective until you are older.

my advice...enjoy every moment of your youth. Your "time" It passes quickly. (Now I sound like the "old" people who use to tell me that) but it's true. When you are 50, you won't "feel" 50, but you're body will be, and there isn't as much time to be or do all the things you wanted to do or be.

Re: I CAN'T stop thinking about San Junipero

Remember my dad, Uncle + Cousin and his friends and my friends at school folks with PC's like Apple, IBM, Amiga, Atari ST, Awesome PC's same for Home Consoles, going Arcades + playing Laser Disc games put down below

also remember the adverts for them were on like every 10 mins, + Also playing on Home Consoles like Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, Nintendo-nes, I then got all other Nintendo's Except the Gamecube as I then went to Playstation- My brother after then got Sega-Master System after I got NES he got all the other Sega ones + then he went to XBOX


As for the music come on now there were load of good music, from likes of Depeche Mode, U2, The Cure, Echo + the Bunnymen, Big Country,

Style Council, Pet Shop Boys, The Smiths, The Housemartins, The Cult, Billy Idol, Suzanne Vega, Mike Oldfield, Tears for Fears, Simple Minds, Prince, MJ, Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joel, Duran Duran, Madness, Billy Bragg, Dexy's Midnight Runners, Dire Straits,Madness, Iron Maiden, AC/DC, Talking Heads, Jesus + Marychain, INXS, R.E.M, Bon Jovi, Bryan Ferry, Robert Palmer, Crowded House, The Pretenders, etc etc

There was a'lot of cutting edge in the 80's like Mobile brick phones, Pagers, CD's, Fax Machines, CGI, Video Cameras, Car Phones, Answering Machine, Microwaves, Laser Printers, Digital sound, Home Consoles, PC'S, Laser Discs[I mentioned them up top], VHS/Betamax, Pagers, Teletxt, Email-via teletxt, Phone Cards, SKY TV, DNA, Great musicals in both West End + Broadway, Walkman, Boomboxes, 3D, Flat Screen TVs, Cassettes, Classic films, TV Shows, Cartoons, Film soundtracks, Pulse Oximeter, Laryngeal Mask Airway,

The automated external defibrillator, Digital Hearing Aid, Safety Needles and Syringes,
Contact Lenses, Electronic Shaver, etc etc

Re: I CAN'T stop thinking about San Junipero

I completely understand the unexplainable nostalgia you have for the '80s. I feel the same about the 1920s. Whenever I watch a movie that takes place during that time and has a seen of a party with music and flappers dancing I get this indescribable nostalgic-like feeling. I believe in past lives so I believe/know I was either a flapper or in love with a flapper during that time. I also think that since that time period brings such a joyful feeling to me that it must have been an overall good past life. I also discovered a perfume that I absolutely love recently and the only way to describe how the perfume makes me feel is that it reminds me of when I lived in the 20s. The odd thing about that is that your olfactory sense (smell) brings back memories more than any other sense.

Re: I CAN'T stop thinking about San Junipero

As the others say, we did have some pretty cool music back then.

However, as a teenager throughout the 80s I distinctly remember the Cold War and the fact that there was this ominous undercurrent for a few years where we didn't know if we'd even be around to see adulthood.

I've watched people from subsequent eras closely and from what I can tell that wasn't there in the 90s - but has since got crazy again since 9/11, and Brexit and Trump etc recently.

So what I'm trying to say is there's probably good and bad in every era. ;)

Re: I CAN'T stop thinking about San Junipero

I grew up in the 80's and it was an amazing time. Fun, everybody was positive, and it just felt more alive than any other time.
Top