1988

In 1988, the world was a different place.
There was no Google yet. Or Yahoo. Or Libertatea.ro, for that matter.
In 1988, the year of your birth, the top selling movie was Rain Man.
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.
Do you know who won the Oscars that year? The academy award for
the best movie went to Rain Man. The Oscar for best foreign movie that
year went to Pelle the Conqueror. The top actor was Dustin Hoffman for
his role as Raymond Babbitt in Rain Man. The top actress was Jodie
Foster for her role as Sarah Tobias in The Accused. The best director?
Barry Levinson for Rain Man.
In the year 1988, 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
Cardinal of the Kremlin by Tom Clancy. Oh, that's many years ago. Have
you read that book? Have you heard of it? Look at the cover!

In 1988... The Soviet Union begins its program of economic
restructuring, perestroika, with legislation initiated by Premier Mikhail
Gorbachev. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is established,
creating the largest Lutheran denomination in the United States. Taiwan
President Chiang Ching-kuo dies in Taipei; Vice-President Lee Teng-hui
becomes president. The Great Seto Bridge opens to traffic in Japan.
World Expo '88 opens in Brisbane Queensland, Australia. Celine Dion
wins the Eurovision Song Contest for Switzerland with the song Ne
partez pas sans moi. U.S. President Ronald Reagan addresses 600
Moscow State University students, during his visit to the Soviet Union.
Wembley Stadium hosts a concert featuring stars from the fields of
music, comedy and film, in celebration of the 70th birthday of
imprisoned ANC leader Nelson Mandela. The Netherlands defeats the
Soviet Union 2-0 to win Euro 88. Volkswagen closes its Westmoreland
County, Pennsylvania plant after 10 years of operation. In Estonia,
300,000 demonstrate for independence. The United Kingdom bans
broadcast interviews with IRA members. The BBC gets around this
stricture through the use of professional actors. Super Mario Bros. 3 is
released in Japan. Philip Morris buys Kraft Foods for US$13.1 billion. The
video game of the day was Mega Man 2.
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 Naguib Mahfouz. The
Nobel Peace prize went to United Nations Peace-Keeping Forces. The
Nobel prize for physics went to Leon Max Lederman, Melvin Schwartz
and Jack Steinberger from the United States for the neutrino beam
method and the demonstration of the doublet structure of the leptons
through the discovery of the muon neutrino. 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?The Last Samurai. Do you still remember the songs playing on the
radio when you were 15? Maybe it was This Is the Night by Clay Aiken.
Were you in love? Who were you in love with, do you remember?

In 1988, 15 years earlier, a long time ago, the year when you were
born, the song One More Try by George Michael topped the US charts.
Do you know the lyrics? Do you know the tune? Sing along.

I've had enough of danger
And people on the streets
I'm looking out for angels
Just trying to find some peace
Now I think it's time
That you let me know
So if you love me
Say you love me
But if you don't just let me go...
...

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 Princess Mononoke was playing. When you
were 8, there was James and the Giant Peach. When you were 7, there
was a Disney movie out called The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Does this
ring a bell?

6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1... it's 1988. 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
isCount Duckula. The sun goes down. Someone switches channels.
There's Yo! MTV Raps 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
1988. Do you know what was invented in the year you were born? The
Digital Camera.

Battle ships crowd the sea
Sixteen year olds in the army
Our jails are filled to the max
Discrimination against the blacks
Planet Earth 1988
Planet Earth 1988
It's too late, it's too late, it's too late
...

That's from the song Planet Earth 1988 by The Ramones.

In 1988, a new character entered the world of comic books: Quicksand.
Bang! Boom! But that's just fiction, right? In the real world, in
1988, Carly Patterson was born. And Nikki Reed. Chelsea Staub, too.
And you, of course. Everyone an individual. Everyone special. Everyone
taking a different path through life.
It's 2012.

The world is a different place.

What path have you taken?