Revertigo: When Everything Used To Be “All That”

By GARRICK SEE

Updated: February 27, 2013, 7:41 PM

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Growing up, I had a childhood almost identical to everyone else. I went to school, ate a lot of fast food, went through puberty awkwardly, but the one thing that really defined the idea of being young was watching all the TV shows. As most of you know, television was, and still in some way is, a big part of life growing up and I was raised by it to understand the nuts and bolts of human nature.

I was looking back at old shows such as Kenan & Kel, All That, Figure It Out and Legends of the Hidden Temple and I noticed the massive involvement of kids in a social context. Those shows were the pioneer of the traditional Disney recruitment of kids and teens and placing them in exciting and challenging situations. Those kids that were involved had a place to go and hold on to for good, clean fun. They didn’t need any sort of phone or tablet to help them socialize more with their own peers. All they needed was the company of each other and the support of their families.

As a viewer myself, I grew up appreciating a good sense of humor from watching shows like All That and Kenan & Kel. They were people at my age on the shows and each one of them influenced me not only in a comedic fashion, but also as good examples of a decent human being. There was no need to mock, insult, cuss, provoke, hurt or damage other people to get any kind of entertainment. Everything was good family fun and they avoided any sort of drama that real life would have had.

What do kids do these days? Do they have Barney telling them that it’s perfectly fine to fall every now and then? Do they have Arnold telling them that being an orphan doesn’t have to be a bad thing? Do they have Lori Beth Denberg telling them some vital information? No, they don’t. I won’t push on to say that everything they have right now is bad because it really isn’t, it’s just different with different effects compared to the 90’s. I’m a sole believer that technology has helped a lot of people in a lot of ways, but I don’t believe that the soul of the heart will ever be touched the same way again.

Most people agree that everything from their childhood is always better than the ones right now and they wish that it would stay the same throughout centuries. However, change begets change and if one doesn’t follow suit, he’s just going to be left behind. I think back to my childhood memories and I’m glad that it has come and gone because now I have a beautiful memory that puts me in a melancholic mood every time I’m feeling bad about the present. As Kel would’ve said, “Aww, here goes!”

Published February 27, 2013 in Global Perspectives