By Kelsey D’Auben
Later this month Netflix will be premiering it’s newest series Fuller House, a spin-off series of one of the 90’s most popular sitcoms Full House, which will star the complete original cast (minus the Olsen twins.)
This is only the latest in the trend of rebooting old movies and television series from the 1990’s.
Sci-fi shows like The X-Files and Twin Peaks have reboots out this year, it was announced that Friends would have a reunion show, and this week Tyra Banks confirmed via Twitter than a Lifesize 2, a sequel to the famous Disney Channel original movie, is happening.
And all these announcements have every true 90’s kid very excited to see these classics back on screen.
So you ask what’s up with #lifesize? It’s happening. Just gotta make sure the new Eve is better than the last. https://t.co/g2jI9UASoF
— Tyra Banks (@tyrabanks) January 27, 2016
Television and movies aren’t the only pieces of the past that 90’s kids cling on to. Over the past few years trends that should have died with a change in the millennium are making their comeback.
Grown adults are now playing Pokémon video games, wearing denim overalls and plastic choker necklaces, while listening to Backstreet Boys on repeat. And this doesn’t seem to just be an instance of popular fashion trends cycling back.
The way today’s young adults are not seeming to just take this as a fun way to honor their pasts, but we seem to have an obsession with going back to it.
The height of cool. Not. Photo Credit: lix -/Flickr (CC By 2.0)
Millennials are a generation who seem to be in denial about moving forward and clinging onto the nostalgia of the past.
Sure, once a generation reaches adulthood they all seem to enjoy reminiscing on aspects of their youth, like the Baby Boomers and their Classic Rock.
So what is it that fuels this need for today’s generation to relive the past? Well, Millennials experienced their childhoods much differently than any generation before us.
Along with stretching over two different decades, centuries, and millenniums we grew up in what felt like two different worlds.
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We are the generation that lived half of our childhood without the digital revolution, and the other half of our youth in a world completely run by it.
We became the generation that bridged the technological gap. Because of this, we long for the simplicity that we were able to experience early in our lives.
And we achieve this through re-living the aspects of 90’s culture, such as television, movies, games, and fashion.
But it is all a little bit strange, isn’t it? And perhaps a bit lazy on our part as well.
Cover Photo Credit: David Amsler/ Flickr (CC By 2.0)
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The Sims 4 Will Now Give Sims “Customizable” Genders
The realm of virtual reality knows no bounds, and that now includes the boundaries of gender.
On June 3rd EA Games announced their newest update of The Sims 4 will now have the option to Customize your Sim’s gender.
In the original gameplay while creating your Sim although you could alter their physical appearance almost any way you pleased, there was only a “male” and “female” option when selecting their gender.
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This was true in all four versions of the game until this recent update.
But now, you can still choose the traditional male and female options, but now may also “Customize Gender.”
This option asks a variety of questions about the Sim you are creating including if your Sim has a more feminine or masculine frame, what their toilet behaviors are, and whether or not the Sim is able to get pregnant.
Clothing selections will also not be limited based on a male or female Sim and will be able to be worn by any Sim.
On their official website, thesims.com, this is what the team had to say about the newest update:
“The Sims is made by a diverse team for a diverse audience, and it’s really important to us that players are able to be creative and express themselves through our games. We want to make sure players can create characters they can identify with or relate to through powerful tools that give them influence over a Sims gender, age, ethnicity, body type and more.”
This update can be done for anyone who currently owns the Sims 4 game, and will a permanent feature to any future buyers of the game.
RISE NEWS is a grassroots journalism news organization that is working to change the way young people become informed and engaged in public affairs. You can write for us.
Cover Photo Credit: EA Games
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The Cincinnati Zoo Does Not Think Your Harambe Memes Are Dank At All
This past May following an unfortunate incident involving a young boy falling into the gorilla enclosure at the Cincinnati Zoo a 17-year-old gorilla, named Harambe, was shot and killed.
And, as usual, the world only took the death of the late gorilla seriously for about a minute before forever immortalizing him online by turning him into a widely popular internet joke, or otherwise referred to as a “meme.”
Many examples of Harambe memes can be found on the popular website Reddit, which has an entire feed dedicated to Harambe.
At first the zoo appeared to be at least trying to ignore these jokes, hoping they would die down over time.
But as more and more Facebook posts, tweets, vines, and websites were made to joke about Harambe, the zoo has finally had enough.
“We are not amused by the memes, petitions, and signs about Harambe,” Cincinnati Zoo director, Thane Maynard told the Associated Press in an email early this week. “Our family is still healing, and the constant mention of Harambe makes moving forward difficult for us.”
But that won’t stop people online from being vicious.
This past weekend Maynard’s personal twitter account was hacked.
A variety of Harambe jokes were posted from Maynard’s account, most of which included hashtags such as #AnimalRights #JusticeForHarambe and the infamous #*****OutForHarambe.
He has since gotten control back over his account and removed the offending tweets.
And Maynard isn’t the only one getting slammed on twitter.
On nearly every tweet recently put out on the official Cincinnati Zoo account there are dozens of vicious and sarcastic responses condemning the zoo for their actions that resulted in Harambe’s death.
The online harassment towards the zoo got so bad that they officially deactivated their twitter account last night.
RISE NEWS is a grassroots journalism news organization that is working to change the way young people become informed and engaged in the world. You can write for us.
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Could Prince Charles Become A Revolutionary King?
Long Live the King?
Queen Elizabeth II has been the longest reigning monarch of the United Kingdom, but what will the monarchy look like when her son, Prince Charles of Wales, ascends to the throne?
While the monarchy is mostly a symbolic institution for the state and the government, the role of the monarchy within the Unites Kingdom is meant to remain political neutral; showing no favorability of one party over another.
The UK is a constitutional monarchy, meaning that the monarchy has some technical state authority; however, it must be in line with the constitution.
The UK gives royal assent to Parliament who then has the power to create and enforce legislation.
Within a Parliamentary system, people vote on a political party who has its own leader.
The leader of the winning political party then becomes the prime minister and is made official by the monarch.
The prime minister meets weekly with the monarch to inform him or her of the current matters of state, but the monarch does not have the ability to set any political policies, at least not officially.
Queen Elizabeth is well known for her lack of public political views.
But her son is something different.
Prince Charles seems to be challenging the political role of the monarchy by showing a large involvement in politics and voicing his opinions.
Some are worried that he may try to be a political force when he eventually takes the throne. (Queen Elizabeth is 90 years old)
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Prince Charles has been more transparent about his political views after the publishing of his letters to government ministers from 2004-05, also known as the “black spider” memos, about a variety of his political views in 2015.
In the memos, Prince Charles states his political views concerning problems ranging from dairy-farming to the UK’s armed forces in Iraq.
He has also in recent years become a strong supporter of taking aggressive action in combating climate change.
Even though the monarchy is meant to be apolitical, it seems strange that the rulers of a democratic society, where free speech is considered a natural right, are meant to keep opinions concealed.
Monarchs do not even have the ability to vote in this case because of their duty to remain neutral.
Why is this exclusive group meant to remain quiet?
If a monarch were to present opinions regarding matters of state and sway the opinions of citizens to be in favor of one particular political party, the monarch would then have some control within matter of state and forming legislation.
While they are meant to act as figure heads and a symbol of national unity, this could be viewed as undemocratic in the sense that monarchs are not democratically elected by the people, and would be in violation of the constitution.
Geoffrey Wheatcroft, a well-known journalist and strong defender of the monarchy recently launched a campaign to get Charles to step aside and allow his oldest son- Prince William take the throne.
This doesn’t seem to be a real possibility.
However the idea of a King who gets too involved in contemporary politics is a thought that has pierced through the British zeitgeist before.
In 1993, the British version of House of Cards ran a four episode miniseries titled “To Play The King.” In it, Conservative Prime Minister Francis Urquhart has to fend off a popular and strongly liberal King.
(Spoiler alert: Urquhart is able to win in the end because the British public grew uneasy with a King who involved himself so deeply in politics.)
Prince Charles is also considered “revolutionary” in the fact that he was divorced.
While Prince Charles is widely known, his ex-wife, Princess Diana, stole the attention and hearts of millions across the globe acting as an inspirational link between citizens and the monarchy.
Photo Credit: Peter Broster/ Flickr (CC By 2.0)
Previously, it was frowned upon for monarchs to get a divorce, let alone be in a relationship with a divorcee.
This was the main reason Prince Edward VIII abdicated the throne to marry Wallis Simpson, an American divorcee, causing his brother to take the throne and later his daughter the current queen.
Times have changed, but the perception of monarchs getting a divorce is not looked well upon, nonetheless the scandal surrounding the marriage of Charles and Diana.
Charles is also scandalous in the fact that it is rumored he was having an affair with his current wife, Camilla Parker Bowles, now Duchess of Cornwall, while still married to Princess Diana.
Public opinion of a “King Charles” fell after the divorce and sudden death of Princess Diana.
Would the British public abide a King who tried to push a political agenda?
We might get a chance to find out.
RISE NEWS is a grassroots journalism news organization that is working to change the way young people become informed and engaged in the world. You can write for us.
Cover Photo Credit: Steenbergs/ Flickr (CC By 2.0)
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