Expository Essay
Why the 90s was awesome
If you’ve seen the latest AT&T commercial, you’ll see a couple of young kids watching TV and playing on their iPhones. While they’re doing this, a kid about my age lectures them about what life was like without Iphones, U-verse, 3D-TV’s, etc. Sadly, this is all but true, as many problems with kids that are occurring today did not occur in the generation I grew up in-the 90s. The 90s was awesome for three reasons. First, most of the TV shows for us kids were not filled with too much violence or stupid actions as today’s shows. Second, most of the sports were believable and were even mixed with some cool innovations like zorbing or robot combat. Most importantly, most of the movies I watched had sad moments, some so tear-jerking that I had to turn off the tube. Today’s kids do not have as much knowledge of these things, which explains the many stupid actions they commit today.

Most of the TV shows for kids in the 90s were not filled with as much violence or stupid actions as today’s shows. The kid shows were very cute and entertaining. I remember waking up every morning to see how Cookie Monster would devour the letter of the day or how the dragons in Dragon Tales weren’t as frightening as a fire-breathing, building-munching Godzilla. The action shows were very upbeat and entertaining. Most kids my age can remember and play the original Mighty Morphin Power Rangers theme song on the piano by heart. The game shows were the best part of watching television of the 90s. From the artifact-finding Legends of the Hidden Temple to the slime +inducing Double Dare 2000, most of the best game shows for kids could be found in the 90s. Unlike today, kids had quality television when I was growing up.
In the 90s, we had many kinds of sports to play-some of which were even creative and innovative. One of those sports was zorbing. Zorbing involved kids getting into a large inflatable ball, sealing the ball shut, and using your arms and legs to roll the ball down a hill. There were even some sports that involved robots fighting each other. Robot combat shows appealed to all ages, not just kids, and the bouts could get pretty interesting. For example, in one episode of Robot Wars, one of the robot's heads was decapitated and the robot was rendered immobile. Today's sporting events are still entertaining, but pale in comparison to 90s sports.




Most importantly, almost all of the movies I watched as a kid had a sad, tear-jerking moment. A prime example would be Pocahontas. When her-dad-Chief Powhatan-is about to kill her boyfriend-Captain John Smith, she rushes to the cliff's edge and demands her dad kill both of them if it makes him happy. Another sad moment in a 90s movie is the finale of The Iron Giant. When the army general orders a nuclear missile to be fired at the Iron Giant, it unknowingly plots a crash course for the town of Rockwell, Maine, planning to decimate the entire town. That is, until the Iron Giant volunteers to sacrifice himself in order to save his friend’s town. Another example would be The Lion King. The scene where Simba helplessly watches his uncle Scar push his father into a wildebeest stampede is probably the most shocking, tear-jerking moment in any movie ever made. According to Kelly Burns, “ Simba, feeling like it was his fault on top of it, is just the saddest,” (Burns, Kelly, 10 kids movies form the 80s and the 90s that will make you cry). Sad moments made movies appealing to the audience of 90s kids.







In conclusion, today's kids do not have as much knowledge of these things, which explains the many stupid actions they commit today. The TV shows for kids were not filled with as much violence as today’s shows. We had many different kinds of sports to play-some of which were creative and innovative. Most importantly, almost all of the movies I watched as a kid in the 90s had a sad, tear-jerking moment. If only we could take all of the stuff from the 90s and make a new TV channel about it. Oh wait, we already do have TV channels devoted to that-Boomerang and TeenNick.