I was originally just going to make this post about TV shows that are hard to watch now, but decided to include all media. What I mean by hard to watch is it's either super dated due to what has occured in the world, seeing what used to be is painful ("the world you grew up in is lost" meme), or seeing old media one can now see the progression of leftism and what was slightly obnoxious then is now understood to be the beginning of something much worse.
An example of the latter is Burn Notice. I love that show, but the serious daddy issues and pointless drama is a little hard to stomach nowadays, and I can't stand Fiona's proto girl boss crap. She even has the botoxed/ heavy makeup face of modern thots. Or Dukes of Hazard had an episode which featured the blue pill storyline of love. Two lady drivers come into town and show up the Duke boys in every way. Then their evil exes show up and the Duke boys have to save the fair maidens, despite them being better than them in every way. Only once the boys beat the exes do the ladies show their love towards them... An entire episode geared towards white knighting/ simping, with the women both being super independent are more awesome than the men and super damsels in distress in need of protection from bad men they used to date.
One of my favorite shows is Miami Vice. I have the box set on blu ray, as well as the soundtrack on cd.
Miami Vice isn't just a product of the 1980s, it is the 1980s. It's the era of optimism, of possibility. That show has my dream car, my dream era, and a bangin soundtrack.
Just about everything I love in life has either been from the 80s or had its roots in that period. From Blade Runner, to Ghost in the Shell, to Megadeth, to Rammstein, to Stratovarius, to the Testarossa, to Synthwave, to 80s action movies.
Watching that show is like meeting the man I could have become if I had reached my full potential. Even as I enjoy it, it shatters my heart to know I will never be able to have that kind of future. My parents grew up in that era, and they basically achieved the American Dream. I however, am looking at a bleak cyberpunk dystopia (without any of the cool neon aesthetic I was promised) at best, and possibly a massive civil war/revolution/ethnic conflict that will probably result in millions dead and my country torn asunder.
It is hard to watch my dreams and my future slip further and further away from my grasp as time goes on. I will likely never have a family, or own a house, or get my dream car, etc.
All I can do is endure.
We can be friends