The last decade before the start of the new millennium went down in history thanks to the rich legacy of pop culture, from cult series and pop stars to the widely discussed scandal in the White House, according to the National Geographic channel.
The beginning of this decade was marked by the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War, as well as the reunification of Germany. In the 1990s, technologies developed rapidly and mobile communications, later also personal computers and the Internet, became available to a wider range of people. Along with globalization and mobility, popular culture also changed.
Before the dawn of the new millennium, there was panic all over the world. Namely, there were fears that computers would not be able to “understand” the change of numbers from “99” to “00” and would read it as “1900” instead of “2000”, and the world of technology would come to an end. However, computers turned out to be smarter and the transition was relatively smooth.
The “National Geographic” program “Looking back at the Nineties” will tell about these and other significant events, phenomena, nonsense and brightest personalities of the 1990s.
Cult of “friends”.
The sitcom, simply titled Friends, created by producers David Crane and Martha Kaufman, achieved almost instant cult status and still largely defines how people remember life in the mid-1990s and early 2000s.
It should be noted that this series is also popular among young people who were not yet born when “Draugus” was broadcast for the first time on television. It aired on NBC from September 22, 1994 to May 6, 2004. The last episode was watched by 52.5 million US residents.
It is also significant that the events of the series take place in New York, but the filming took place on another coast of the USA – California. Each episode was filmed in front of an audience of about 300 Warner Bros studios. Their laughter and reactions can be heard behind the scenes of the series.
The series stars Jennifer Aniston, Courtney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matthew Perry, Matt LeBlanc and David Schwimmer have become famous all over the world. On the other hand, the characters they portrayed – Rachel, Monica, Phoebe, Chandler, Joey and Ross – have remained friends of millions of television viewers.
On October 28 of last year, one of the actors of the series, Matthew Perry, was found dead in the pool of his California home. He was 54 years old. Although Perry’s battle with addictions was well known, his death came as a shock to fans of the series.
Death of the “Queen of Hearts”.
In the summer of 1997, the world lost designer Gianni Versace (1946-1997), the founder of the Versace fashion house, who was shot by a mentally unbalanced suitor at the entrance to her Miami villa on July 15, and a month and a half later, on August 31, Diana, Princess of Wales ( 1961-1997), who tragically died in a car accident in the Alma tunnel in Paris.
Dodi (1955-1997), the son of Egyptian-born billionaire Mohammed Al-Fayed, was also in the car driven by Henri Paul. Both Paul and Al Fayed died at the scene. The princess was taken to La Pitié Salpêtrière hospital in Paris with serious injuries, where she died a few hours later.
The only passenger to survive the crash was Dodi’s bodyguard, Trevor Rees-Jones. It should be noted that Rees-Jones learned about the incident only ten days later, when he was awakened from an artificial coma.
At the time of her death, Diana was one of the most photographed celebrities in the world and representatives of the “yellow press” were ready to do almost anything to get pictures of her. The princess had already been officially separated from Prince Charles of Wales for a year, whom she married on July 29, 1981 at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London. Unfortunately, the fabulous wedding was not followed by a happy life together, however, two sons were born in the marriage, Prince William, who has now become the crown prince, and the youngest son, Prince Harry.
Two years before her tragic death, Princess Diana gave an interview to a BBC journalist, in which she also answered the question of whether she would like to be queen. “I would like to be the queen of your hearts, but I cannot imagine myself as the queen of this country.”
In September 1997, 2.5 billion people around the world watched the broadcast of Princess Diana’s funeral ceremony on television.
“Titanic” and “Leomania” madness
The year 1997 also went down in pop culture history with the fact that on December 19, director James Cameron’s cult film “Titanic” with Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet in the lead roles was premiered. It should be noted that “Titanic” was supposed to be released on July 2, 1997, but for various reasons, the film could only be seen at the end of the year.
This film set many new records, including as the highest-grossing blockbuster of all time, and could boast of this title until 2010, when another film directed by Cameron – “Avatar” – was released. The budget of “Titanic” was 200 million US dollars, while the profit – 2.4 billion US dollars.
With “Titanic” “Leomania” or the admiration of girls for the young actor began around the world, who later proved himself with serious roles and in 2015 he also received an “Oscar” award for his work in the film “The Man Who Lived”. It should be noted that DiCaprio was not even nominated for this award for his portrayal of Jack Dawson in the movie “Titanic”. In total, “Titanic” was nominated for 11 “Oscar” awards and won seven prestigious golden statuettes.
The Spice Girls are taking the world by storm and ushering in the girl group era
In 1996, Victoria Beckham, Melanie Brown, Emma Bunton, Melanie Chisholm and Geri Halliwell, or the Spice Girls, made a name for themselves with the hit “Wannabe”. They sang along with them in all corners of the world. The band was formed two years earlier, in 1994, after a producer placed an ad in a newspaper.
The catchy song stayed on the UK Singles Chart for seven weeks. The Spice Girls became an international phenomenon and started the Girl Power movement. The group has released three albums and ten singles. In total, about 53 million copies of Spice Girls albums were sold worldwide.
The last joint performance of the group “Spice Girls” was at the closing ceremony of the London Olympic Games in 2012. It should be noted that the success of the Spice Girls led to the formation of many other all-girl groups, such as Destiny’s Child, where superstar Beyoncé began her career.
A sex scandal in the White House
One of the most hotly debated topics in the 1990s was the extramarital affair of then 49-year-old United States President Bill Clinton with 22-year-old White House intern Monica Lewinsky.
In 1995, when the scandal broke, Clinton denied the relationship, but was later forced to admit to “indecently intimate physical contact” with the young woman. It almost cost him the presidency, but after years of investigation and impeachment proceedings, he managed to keep it.
Lewinsky turned 50 this summer and her name is still associated with the sex scandal caused almost 30 years ago. It should be noted that she became a co-producer of the series “American Crime Story” dedicated to this period of her life, because she wanted to tell her version of events.
Together with celebrities, experts and eyewitnesses of the most significant events, the audience will be able to remember the brightest moments of the last decade of the 20th century and relive the emotions that reigned before the dawn of the new millennium. The show will premiere on Friday, January 12, at 19.30, on the “National Geographic” channel!
2024-01-09 14:01:28
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