Given the phenomenal success of the Stranger Things series on Netflix, I wouldn't be surprised if the Shopping Mall is raised from the dead. Starcourt Mall plays a major roll in the latest season. On the surface it is a new mall located in the fictional city of Hawkins, Indiana, but deep underneath a much more sinister world exists. Leave it to our intrepid gang of geeks to find this hidden world after cracking an all too easy Russian code. I will say no more, lest you want to visit this homage to 1985.
It's not just the shopping mall, but Polaroid cameras and walking talkies and ham radios that are finding their way back into the mainstream. The Duffer Brothers, born in 1984, first re-imagined their birth year and turned it into a highly lucrative cable series that is chock full of product placements as we move slowly forward in the 80s.
Stranger Things is not the only television show or movie mining the 80s. Believe it or not this era is hip. This is Us takes a more serious look at this bygone time in developing the backstories to its set of protagonists trying to come to terms with their past. Its family stems from Pittsburgh at the tail end of the Steelers' dominance in the Super Bowl. There's an amusing scene featuring the "terrible towel."
The era also suits our current president, who came to commercial fame during the 80s with his jet-set lifestyle and now infamous book, The Art of the Deal. It was a period when virtually anything went, resulting in the first major economic bust. Savings and loans banks went belly up in mid 80s, leaving the average family and business owner scrambling to cover their mortgages. The massive number of foreclosures allowed guys like Trump to buy up property cheap.
The ubiquitous mall further stamped out small town America, which Stranger Things alludes to in its opening episode of the new season. The Duffer Brothers also take time to note the income disparities in Hawkins and how its mayor, a small town Trump, has sold out his community to dubious investors with Russian accents. Poor Joyce is left operating one of the few businesses left on Main Street -- a drugstore. However, this all serves as a backdrop for a show that sends us on yet another crazy adventure, borrowing liberally from sci-fi and action adventure movies from that era.
What is it about the 80s that has us in its thrall? I have to admit I enjoyed the ride, although I was surprised the Duffers were so primitive when it came to technology. After all, the Mac computer first appeared in 1984 and I would think Dustin at least would have one of these iconic computers parked on his desk. David Lightman was already tapping into the strategic missile defense system in War Games, which hit the big screen in 1983. We do get an allusion to an early cell phone, but the kids are relying almost exclusively on walkie talkies to communicate with each other.
Hawkins does seem a bit behind the times if it only got a shopping mall in 1985. By this point, outlet malls were undercutting retail prices and drawing patrons further away from the old town centers. Starcourt is more a celebration of the 70s, when malls seemed like the center of the universe to young Gen Xers, which helps explain all this pre-hi tech nostalgia.
The odd part is that it is all coming back thanks to these television shows. 13 Reasons Why, another Netflix production, is set in the present but the teenagers all seem wrapped up in 1980s nostalgia replete with cassette tapes and Polaroid pictures to tell its deeply sad story over two seasons. Clay fishes out his father's old boom box to listen to Hannah's tapes until his buddy gives him a more portable Walkman.
I bought my daughter a Fuji Instax camera, based on the old Polaroid camera, a few years back. The original Polaroid is now available with a Stranger Things tie-in. Strangely, I don't recall a single scene a Polaroid was used in the series. These are truly an anachronism given that digital cameras and cell phones relieve us of the burden of waiting for 35 mm pictures to develop, but my daughter loves it.
It's kind of like rummaging through the attic and finding all these strange things your parents had before. 50-somethings constantly make fun of how kids today have no idea how to use a rotary phone, which gave way to the push-button phone by the 80s, another anachronism in the show. Of course, rotary phones were virtually indestructible so Joyce might have held onto hers, assuming her local communications provider still allowed pulse dialing.
Anyway, shows like these are not meant to be scrutinized too deeply, nor our nostalgia for this arcane technology. It seems that current computer hardware and software has hit a standstill. Computers and cellphones provide more power and move faster, with 5G technology holding the promise of even faster networks, but sadly it feels like same old, same old. This opened the door for retro products. Even the old Nokia banana phone has come back, albeit amped up with a better display screen and more memory. Who needs the pricey iPhone X, which has more capabilities than the biggest supercomputer from the 80s.
Still, you have to fork out a lot of money for this nostalgia unless you are lucky enough to have dads or uncles who held onto all their gadgets from the past. The retro Polaroid One-Step comes with a hefty $180 price tag. You seriously have to ask yourself if it is worth it, as the film cartridges don't come cheap either. One has more fun rummaging through flea markets, even if the old items don't work anymore. What use are they anyway.
The only thing that has really survived the test of time is the vinyl. With a good turntable, amp and speakers you will be rewarded immeasurably for your investment in the quality of sound. You can still buy a good turntable or amp for $200, throw in a pair of $200 bookshelf speakers, and you are well below the cost of an iPhone with its best music player apps. Of course, it's not portable. You have to wait to get home to enjoy your music.
I was surprised Stranger Things made no allusion to vinyls. There was no trip to Sam Goody or Camelot Music in the Starcourt Mall, two of the more popular music store chains from that era. Instead, the kids check out the new video rental store at the end of the series, presumably Blockbuster Video which first appeared in 1985, soon wiping out all local competition. That is until Netflix came along.
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