Well, I was in a bit of a nostalgic mood and I thought that I’d ramble about early-mid 2000s entertainment. I’ll start by talking about films, but I’ll cover a lot of other stuff later in the article too.
This was something I ended up thinking about after glancing at a small pile of early-mid 2000s DVDs I had been given the day before writing this article (Thanks again 🙂 ). If anyone is curious, the films are: “Equilibrium” (2002), “Creep” (2004), “The Grudge” (2004), “Blade: Trinity” (2004) and “The Bourne Supremacy” (2004).
Somehow, seeing this little pile of DVDs evoked a lot of nostalgia in me. As well as reminding me of of the gothic “gloom” that a lot of post-9/11 films had – the darker lighting, the gloomier cover art (with the exception of “The Bourne Supremacy”, which has bright red cover art) and the moodier emotional tone of many popular films back then. Other films with this quality include: “Minority Report” (2002), “Underworld” (2003), “Resident Evil: Apocalypse” (2004) and many others. It is a quintessentially “early-mid 2000s” quality.
It also reminded me of a time when the “12A”/”PG-13” film rating was a bit less common. Films with this rating were obviously still released back then, and it was starting to become a bit more popular too, but it wasn’t quite the almost-omnipresent thing it later became. There were still major blockbuster films aimed directly at older audiences in a way which is less common these days.
This included everything from horror films like “28 Days Later” (2002) and “Saw” (2004), action movies like “Once Upon A Time In Mexico” (2003) and “Kill Bill vol.1” (2003), comedy films like “Shaun Of The Dead” (2004) and the first Harold & Kumar film (2004) and even religion-themed films like “The Passion Of The Christ” (2004). Blockbuster films were just as, or more, likely to get higher ratings than they often do these days. Major films often seemed to have a bit more of an “edge” to them than modern films often do.
Though, of course, “PG-13” horror films were also an awesome trend during this time too – mostly consisting of US remakes of Japanese films, such as “The Ring” (2002) and “The Grudge” (2004), but also including western-style horror films like “The Others” (2001) too. Many of these horror films got a more restrictive “15” rating in the UK, although I certainly have fond memories of getting into a cinema screening of “The Ring” when I was under-age. And, yes, it was also a time when teenagers were expected to rebel a bit more too.
Still, as mentioned earlier, it was the pile of old DVDs itself that gave me a sudden flare of nostalgia. The early-mid 2000s were the later parts of the heyday of physical media. Whether it was DVDs, CDs, Game discs, VHS tapes or paperback books, there’s just something about a pile of physical media which instantly evokes nostalgia. It feels like wealth, like having a pile of cool things to enjoy. Like the things that you enjoy aren’t some insubstantial digital file or internet streams but are actual physical things. Things that can be used to decorate a room whilst also showing off your tastes in entertainment too. There’s something about the feeling of this which can’t really be replicated by anything else, and it will instantly be familiar to anyone who was around back then.
As for music and books, although I mostly enjoyed older 20th century stuff in these mediums during the 2000s, I still get nostalgic about the relatively few modern things I listened to and read back then. Whether it was the way that milder forms of gothic metal briefly became popular in 2003 – with albums like Evanescence’s “Fallen” and HIM’s “Love Metal”. Whether it was how pop-punk music of the time would sometimes be a bit “heavier” – with albums like Sum 41’s “Does This Look Infected?” (2002) and The Offspring’s “Splinter” (2003) being good examples of this.
Of course, other types of music – like pop, hip-hop, indie rock and acoustic music – were also really popular back then too. Not to mention that traditional FM radio was a lot more popular too. In the UK at least, there were also more distinctive local stations too (like an awesome, and much-missed, one called “Ocean FM” which played lots of 1980s/1990s music – there’s still an old 2000s cinema advert for it on Youtube. Yes, a cinema advert for a radio station! Truly a different age!). These days, of course, local stations often get absorbed into larger chains, like how Ocean FM later became one of the many Heart FM stations in the UK.
Whilst I mostly read older second-hand novels back then, there was one “modern” novel which it seemed like virtually everyone read back then. I am, of course, talking about Dan Brown’s “The Da Vinci Code” (2003). This novel was popular in the way that blockbuster films can sometimes be. Although I didn’t get round to reading it until autumn 2005, it’s easy to see why it was so widely-loved. As well as a gripping thriller plot about a symbologist solving an ancient mystery, Dan Brown also made expert use of ultra-short chapters. Many of these would also have small cliffhangers at the end of them too. It was a book that was designed to be difficult to put down.
And, yes, people read more novels back then. Whilst other types of portable entertainment existed – like the Game Boy Advance, dedicated MP3 players or the way that mobile phones of the time would often include simple videogames (with “Snake” being the classic one on Nokia phones) – novels still had the advantage here. They were cheaper, they didn’t need batteries, they had better “graphics” and they were the natural choice for things like long bus, train or car journeys. Smartphones didn’t really exist back then in the way they do now.
Magazines were also a lot more popular back then. Actual physical magazines which you had to buy in shops. Whilst websites certainly existed back then, the best source of information about the latest films, music, videogames etc.. could often be found on the shelves of your local newsagent. In the UK at least, magazines were also noticeably edgier back then – with, for example, “Lad Mags” still being a fixture of almost every cornershop, supermarket and major stationery store.
Traditional television was also a lot more popular back then. “Streaming” didn’t really exist in the way it does today, so TV shows were actual TV shows that you watched on a television. However, although there were a small number of exceptions, they weren’t really the novel-like TV shows you’d expect these days. Because it was more likely that people could accidentally miss an episode or two, TV shows from the time often had episodes with relatively self-contained stories. Forensic detective shows, like “CSI”, also started to become really popular back then too.
Not to mention that, whilst the trend began in the 1990s, the early-mid 2000s was also the heyday of animated sitcoms aimed at older audiences. These included US shows like “South Park”, “Family Guy” and, later, “American Dad” too. In Britain, late-night animated comedy shows like “2DTV” and “Monkey Dust” often aimed for more topical social satire too – often with a very cynical sense of humour. The early-mid 2000s was perhaps the heyday of edgy animated comedy.
Finally, and I’ve saved the best until last, there were the videogames 🙂 This is almost an article in it’s own right. As well as a lot of ground-breaking PC games like “Deus Ex” (2000), “American McGee’s Alice” (2000), “The Sims” (2000), “The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind” (2002), “Half-Life 2” (2004), “Far Cry” (2004) and “Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines” (2004), it was also something of a golden age for console games too. I had a Playstation 2 back then (still got it too!), but it was also the age of the Xbox and GameCube too. Oh, and the Sega Dreamcast as well – for the short time it was still around.
Back then, gaming was still mostly seen as entertainment for teenagers and game designers often focused more on actual gameplay and on being “edgy”. Yes, there were some games that were “serious art” – like the horror genre masterpiece “Silent Hill 2” (2001). Even if you don’t like games, this one is well worth playing for its story, atmosphere and characters. That is, if you can even find a copy of it these days (although there is apparently a modern remake of it being released this year).
Still, “AAA” videogames of the time often focused more on being cool and fun than being “cinematic” or “serious”. It was an age of first-person shooter games, 3D platform games, open-world crime games, stealth games, “fixed camera” survival horror games, racing games and so many other genres too. Seriously, like with films from the time, it was an age where the “blockbuster” end of the spectrum had the sort of variety to it that you’ll often only find in indie media these days.
There’s just something about videogames from this time period that is instantly endearing – whether it is the slight goofiness they would often have, the “trying to be realistic” console graphics of the time or even – again – just the timelessly solid and fun gameplay. I’m glad that I grew up with videogames back then, because not only are they very nostalgic, but a lot of them still hold up surprisingly well to this very day.
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Anyway, I hope that this was interesting 🙂
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