Notes On The Nineties

A walk down the last decade of cool.

I regret to inform you that I barely have any photos of myself from the 90s.

It is very sad, as I would have loved to join the choir of the whole “I was there” trend, with photos of myself in clubs, wearing tiny tee-shirts, looking waify and disinterested (THE attitude of the times). But either I was too cool to take any photos, or I didn’t look waify or disinterested at all, and therefore, had to hide any proof of my existence pre-internet—I’ll let you guess.

I’m not sure how many of you are watching Love Story, the TV show about the Carolyn Bessette–JFK Jr. tragedy, but my algorithm has been buzzing with it: a mélange of real photos of the couple in the 90s mixed with images from the show, a dismayed Daryl Hannah, and some people “who were there” coming out with “never seen before” photos and dubious revelations.

All this for a show which is an idealization—not only of the story itself, but of the world it took place in.

Right now, some of my contemporaries call me to say, “hey, remember how great it was?” which I sometimes suspect is just a way to one-up the new generations while we, Gen X, are slowly on our way to replace the boomers.

But back to the show. It’s not finished airing yet, but the suspense is obviously in reverse—you already know what happens, and that’s why, instead of rushing towards the ending, all you want to do is to slow down the inevitable.

I need to say it right here: underneath the judgmental snob I sometimes present, hides a little girl who can’t get enough of beautiful, complicated love stories. Heroines who sacrifice themselves for The Idea of the Great Man (I’ve done that time and again myself)…

And above all—anything aesthetic. Needless to say, I LOVE the show. And aesthetic it is…

1/ Every scene takes place at sunset, which would make even eating packed sandwiches at a gas station in New Jersey look romantic. I’ve decided that from now on I only want to live my life backlit, at sunset.

2/ The soundtrack is very smart—the same theme returns every time our two lovebirds come close, giving an intoxicating sense of inevitability.

3/ They are both gorgeous, and even though the main actress’s mouth-biting and affected pauses can get truly irritating at times, her outfits and her luscious hair are a pleasure to watch.

Which brings me to my first point. It’s more like a hot take—and this might be controversial, but here you go.

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I don’t think JFK Jr. had such great taste.
To make matters worse, I’ll add another hot take.