People with massive cultural voids

[Brian Freeze]

I lent a friend a film a few years ago and saw him a week or so later and asked if he'd enjoyed it.

"Nah mate, I don't do black and white".

He wasn't taking the piss as I thought he was at first, but he's missing out on a fair bit I reckon (putting it mildly).

[SteveDave]

I lent a friend a film a few years ago and saw him a week or so later and asked if he'd enjoyed it.

"Nah mate, I don't do black and white".

He wasn't taking the piss as I thought he was at first, but he's missing out on a fair bit I reckon (putting it mildly).

I used to work with someone like this. Wouldn't watch any old films from the 90s either. He also used to let everyone know what time he went to sleep the night before like a badge of honour.

[Sebastian Cobb]

I used to work with someone like this. Wouldn't watch any old films from the 90s either. He also used to let everyone know what time he went to sleep the night before like a badge of honour.

Early or late?

[king_tubby]

They've all got massive cultural voids by the time I've finished with them.

[SteveDave]

Early or late?

It was mostly anywhere between 1:30 and 3...AM!

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

In some ways that's always been standard for young kids- when I was around 10 in the mid 80s you wouldn't even consider listening to a record from the seventies, Star Wars was year zero as far as films were concerned (anything black and white being an immediate no-no)

I don't think that's true at all. Black and white films and TV shows were shown on BBC Two and Channel 4 all the time in those days, so the average ten-year-old would be more than familiar with the likes of Laurel & Hardy, Abbott & Costello, Norman Wisdom and Harold Lloyd. And it wasn't just comedies either, they'd recognise the likes of Humphrey Bogart and Marilyn Monroe too. Star Wars certainly wasn't year zero as far as films were concerned.

[solidified gruel merchant]

I don't think that's true at all. Black and white films and TV shows were shown on BBC Two and Channel 4 all the time in those days, so the average ten-year-old would be more than familiar with the likes of Laurel & Hardy, Abbott & Costello, Norman Wisdom and Harold Lloyd. And it wasn't just comedies either, they'd recognise the likes of Humphrey Bogart and Marilyn Monroe too. Star Wars certainly wasn't year zero as far as films were concerned.

Can I just say I do think it's true and I reckon you must've been quite posh.

[bim sherman shirts]

I don't think that's true at all. Black and white films and TV shows were shown on BBC Two and Channel 4 all the time in those days, so the average ten-year-old would be more than familiar with the likes of Laurel & Hardy, Abbott & Costello, Norman Wisdom and Harold Lloyd. And it wasn't just comedies either, they'd recognise the likes of Humphrey Bogart and Marilyn Monroe too. Star Wars certainly wasn't year zero as far as films were concerned.

Yeah, you've got a point there. I was forgetting how much of the schedules were filled with old material at that time. I'd argue kids in general maybe weren't actively seeking out that stuff, but due to the lack of channels they certainly absorbed a lot of it by osmosis.

[mothman]

Because of how Americanised the internet/social media tends to be, I've found that many of the younger UK lot are more likely to be aware/following whatever's happening culturally in the US i.e Kardashians, Ariana Grande ect. but if you talked to them about say, Peter Cook or Brass Eye they often wouldn't know what the fuck you're talking about.

I've met someone from England who inexplicably didn't even know there was a UK version of Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares.

Of course, back in the day (he said nostalgically) we would all watch Entertainment USA - hosted of course by a Mr. J. Kkng, formerly of this parish - just to see what hot new trends were occuring Stateside (daddy-o). It was swings and roundabouts,  of course - for every ZZ Top, you'd get a Hall & Oates.

My daughter, as I've said before, likes things many of her peers have never heard of. She's also commandeered her mother's premium Spotify account, and has been on a massive 80s music kick, and before that was into fifties stuff, Patsy Cline, Doris Day, etc...

[Small Man Big Horse]

Can I just say I do think it's true and I reckon you must've been quite posh.

I wasn't posh and the same applies with me. I especially remember being dumped in front of the tv so my Mum could do housework and watching Harold Lloyd a lot, and many a Norman Wisdom film. We had a tiny black and white portable in the spare room as well so I saw many other things (Jaws and V being the ones I remember the most) in black and white and it didn't bother me in the slightest.

[Sebastian Cobb]

It was mostly anywhere between 1:30 and 3...AM!

I wonder what they were doing that was keeping them up?

I liked the idea that without any 'culture' to consume this person could regularly realise around 7:30pm that the evening had nothing in store for them and they might as well turn in.

[SteveDave]

I wonder what they were doing that was keeping them up?

I liked the idea that without any 'culture' to consume this person could regularly realise around 7:30pm that the evening had nothing in store for them and they might as well turn in.

He was a prick so he was probably chatting to hot babes online. He also chugged Red Bull all day.

[Nowhere Man]

I would just like to say I remember BBC2 showing Laurel & Hardy as late as the mid 00's. Black and White too, not those awful poorly coloured versions.

[solidified gruel merchant]

I wasn't posh and the same applies with me. I especially remember being dumped in front of the tv so my Mum could do housework and watching Harold Lloyd a lot, and many a Norman Wisdom film. We had a tiny black and white portable in the spare room as well so I saw many other things (Jaws and V being the ones I remember the most) in black and white and it didn't bother me in the slightest.

Fair enough but I don't think it was true of the average ten year old in the mid eighties. The only black and white films I'd watch were ones with monsters and dinosaurs in, but even that was seen as a bit cerebral amongst my peers. And I grew up in a fairly middle class area. Which was nice.

[Sebastian Cobb]

I would just like to say I remember BBC2 showing Laurel & Hardy as late as the mid 00's. Black and White too, not those awful poorly coloured versions.

My memory of 90's weekend television involved a western being shown on one channel at any given moment. Some were b&w and the ones that weren't just mostly looked like a mess of brown.

[Cold Meat Platter]

I wasn't posh and the same applies with me. I especially remember being dumped in front of the tv so my Mum could do housework and watching Harold Lloyd a lot, and many a Norman Wisdom film. We had a tiny black and white portable in the spare room as well so I saw many other things (Jaws and V being the ones I remember the most) in black and white and it didn't bother me in the slightest.

I remember these were mostly on during the school holidays and at weekends, Champion the Wonder Horse, Flash Gordon, the rocket man guy one and other b&w serials along with classic films. Mark Curry (ginge, specs) used to have a slot on BBC2 (?) for early cinema stuff. We're talking mid 80s here.

[Bennett Brauer]

Cue my anecdote about a young lady from work telling me she was into Cream. Bloody hell, liking Eric Clapton at that age etc. Turned out that (wait for it) it wasn't actually that Cream!!!!!!

I had a similar disappointment with a woman who told me she was into Anal Cunt.

[mothman]

I remember these were mostly on during the school holidays and at weekends, Champion the Wonder Horse, Flash Gordon, the rocket man guy one and other b&w serials along with classic films. Mark Curry (ginge, specs) used to have a slot on BBC2 (?) for early cinema stuff. We're talking mid 80s here.

Earloier, in fact - I reckon 80/81, and in term time too: there seemed to be an early evening BBC2 slot for oldies, L&H, Chaplin, Harold Lloyd, King Of The Rocket Men (that's the one you're thinking of)...

[touchingcloth]

This is quite depressing given one of the best things about the internet making most films and music so easily available regardless of age, is how many younger people now watch and listen to stuff decades older than they are without even thinking or caring too much about how old it is. Not everyone will agree this is a good thing but the apparent huge popularity of Friends among teenagers (mostly due to it being on Netflix) is one example.

But Coffee Friends is for teenagers. Like me. Well, not actually me because I would never, but my peers. Well, not my peers per se, but people my age.

[touchingcloth]

Ariana Grande

This is a cultural void of mine, but the only thing I know about Ariana Grande is that she got exploded, and news readers kept pronouncing her surname as gran-day.

[Bazooka]

I find it an interesting topic, we can't blame the youngsters of today for what they consume(not saying anyone is), its simply a matter of accessibility, waiting hours for something to be shown on TV back then, or watch it instantly on a phone or through a digital contact lense etc.

I don't want to get into the political side,but I consider YouTube to be the most cultural defining media platform of this time, its instant, and offers both educational and entertaining content in seconds. Even buried under the mass of shit, if you know what you want to look for its there.

[Nowhere Man]

This is a cultural void of mine, but the only thing I know about Ariana Grande is that she got exploded, and news readers kept pronouncing her surname as gran-day.

I know the name and what she looks like, but I keep imagining her as a type of coffee you can buy at Starbucks

[Avril Lavigne]

My memory of 90's weekend television involved a western being shown on one channel at any given moment. Some were b&w and the ones that weren't just mostly looked like a mess of brown.

There seemed to be a lot of showings of classic cartoons as well.  All the old Warner Bros and MGM stuff; Looney Tunes, Tom & Jerry, some great Tex Avery shorts.  I just checked Cartoon Network's schedule for this week and none of those shows appear at all so I have no idea where kids might see them nowadays without specifically looking them up online, which obviously requires prior knowledge that they exist.

[MidnightShambler]

As far as I remember the 80s, there was absolutely loads of old programming shown for kids in the mornings of the school holidays. Laurel and Hardy were always on, as was Stingray (which even then looked as naff as fuck but we still watched it). I vividly remember loving Abbot and Costello's version of Jack And The Beanstalk when I was about 6, I thought it was the funniest thing I'd ever seen. I watched it a bit on YouTube the other week and the giant is only about 6ft tall and just looked like an old tramp. Wasn't how I remembered it at all.
Add to that endless daytime reruns of Dads Army, On The Buses and I'd say we just thought of it all as telly and didn't discriminate that much about its age, maybe because special effects and production values were still in their infancy so everything looked a bit dodgy. Plus, in my house we watched whatever my dad was watching and that was fucking that, which would explain why I can still sit and watch a Randolph Scott film these days without the slightest hint of irony. It was better than nothing.

[ToneLa]

Girl mate of mine is 27 and has never heard of Danger Mouse. (Was watching it on Netflix!)

Instant feeling of being decrepit kicks in like a Special Brew hangover - suddenly, painfully and with a taste for vengeance

[MidnightShambler]

Girl mate of mine is 27 and has never heard of Danger Mouse. (Was watching it on Netflix!)

Instant feeling of being decrepit kicks in like a Special Brew hangover - suddenly, painfully and with a taste for vengeance

I know what you're saying but I don't think that's that surprising. It's a cartoon that finished broadcasting before she was born and was probably not repeated when she was little. It's when you speak to people 30+ who don't remember Henrys Cat, Bertha, King Roland or Pudding Lane that you properly start to feel fucking discarded!

[ToneLa]

I know what you're saying but I don't think that's that surprising. It's a cartoon that finished broadcasting before she was born and was probably not repeated when she was little. It's when you speak to people 30+ who don't remember Henrys Cat, Bertha, King Roland or Pudding Lane that you properly start to feel fucking discarded!

There is a logic to it but how sharp the cut off seems! Haha, I remember all those, as well I should. Seem to half remember some drunken discussion about Stoppit and Tidyup with someone, having to coax it from their memory...

If you mention that to a youngster of similar vintage to my friend there they'd probably think you were tripping balls. 'Remember Beequiet? Had fuckin acromegaly, surprised the fucker could fly... Mates with Beehave, Wash your Face and  Go to Bed, Wogan said. You know Wogan. Do as you're told!'

.. 'Fuck off Tone you're always on something when you call me'

[MidnightShambler]

There is a logic to it but how sharp the cut off seems! Haha, I remember all those, as well I should. Seem to half remember some drunken discussion about Stoppit and Tidyup with someone, having to coax it from their memory...

If you mention that to a youngster of similar vintage to my friend there they'd probably think you were tripping balls. 'Remember Beequiet? Had fuckin acromegaly, surprised the fucker could fly... Mates with Beehave, Wash your Face and  Go to Bed, Wogan said. You know Wogan. Do as you're told!'

.. 'Fuck off Tone you're always on something when you call me'

Haha, I remember that but I was never keen. I think it was something to do with Wogans voice, he had that chat show that was on every night when I came in from playing out and I associated it with grown-up telly and therefore shit and boring. I might have to revisit it one day, probably one for mushy season :)

Telly was weird when when I/we were kids. You were just as likely to watch a repeated episode of Banacek or Van der Valk (which I remember really well for some reason even though I was only about 6 and it must have been far too adult for me) on a Sunday as you were a Supergran or a Mr Majeika. To be honest, the lack of choice was much better for your interest I think, now we've got every programme ever made and nothing to watch.

[Lisa Jesusandmarychain]

I had a similar disappointment with a woman who told me she was into Anal Cunt.

I can see why you were disappointed. You probably just thought she was quite plain speaking, and that there was a comma somewhere in the middle, there.

[Icehaven]

But Coffee Friends is for teenagers. Like me. Well, not actually me because I would never, but my peers. Well, not my peers per se, but people my age.

Yeah but it's still 15-25 years old. It's like my gggeneration (teenager in the 90's) watching whatever was on TV for teens in the 1970's (apart from BBC DJs). Apart from Top Of The Pops I don't even know what there was.
They were on about Friends on a news site the other day and someone BTL reckoned her 18 year old son watched it on Netflix and hadn't even realised it was old until she told him. Not entirely sure that's believable, although arguably none of them are regularly in the mainstream media enough for the age difference to be too obvious (Aniston's probably the most still-famous but more in women's mags etc.) and after the first few series the clothes and hair aren't too egregiously outdated anyway, particularly given 80s/90s fashion is in now. Most obvious giveaway really is the lack of smartphones.and social media references. An episode from either the last or penultimate series last week was partly based round a Friends Reunited type website, think that's the closest it gets.