Hollywood and the 90's

"Welcome to Hollywood! What's your dream? Everybody comes here; this is Hollywood, land of dreams. Some dreams come true, some don't; but keep on dreamin' - this is Hollywood. Always time to dream, so keep on dreamin'."

People kept posting this on my Facebook wall when I talked about moving here. Even though it would make me laugh, it turns out this is applicable for a few reasons:

One is I kinda look like Julia Roberts from Pretty Woman.

And another is that Pretty Woman is just one of a few key 90's movies that defined Los Angeles for me years before I'd ever actually been here. 

In the first episode of Portlandia, they say Portland is the dream of the 90's. I've realized that LA is also a dream of the 90s. The fashionable, socialite, surfer dude, valley girl, health conscious, socially conscious but at the same time superficial side.

Clueless inspired the vocabulary of an entire generation.

I still blame the fact that I say "like" too much on this movie. 

I remember the flannel and the brooding, but more so I remember my friends wanting to go shopping at The Limited and have fuzzy pink pens and make up our own choreography to Spice Girls songs. Lest we forget, the 90's saw an economic surplus and even though I was too young to really know, it seemed like everyone could afford to care too much about how they looked and blow lots of money on new technology and Abercrombie and Fitch.

The 90's seemed to start that idea that you can be whoever you want to be and do whatever you want and be famous because you're special! My generation was arguably the first to be taught this way and to actually feel this way. Everyone gets a gold star; everyone wins. Late Gen Xers got a taste of that, but I got a sense that overall they came out a little more skeptical and worse for the wear.

At least Dave Grohl came out ok.

Portland and Seattle can have that flannel-covered, grunge soaked part of the 90's - I like the kind I've re-discovered in LA: the pre-packaged pop that makes you feel good about life. It may be superficial, but there is heart in there. *NSYNC and Britney Spears were businesses. LA is very good at getting it done and making it look good. That doesn't mean it's cold or uncaring. 

Every time "California Love" or "This is How we Do It" or "Nuthin' But a 'G' Thang" come on I get excited because I'M WHERE THEY'RE TALKING ABOUT! (Well, not Compton, technically, but still!) That is what I grew up listening to. The Fresh Prince of Bel Air is what I grew up watching. LA is a collective experience of 90's kids and it's a damn good one. 

I can't wait to have a best friend named Carlton and meet a rich old man who wants to give me a diamond necklace and use all of the Clueless quotes.

Mel: Where are you?
Cher: I'm just having a snack at my girlfriend's.
Mel: Where, in Kuwait?
Cher: Is that in the valley?