Why does every show and movie from 'back in the day' look so... brown?
By @marakay · Nostalgia
I'm not talking about old black-and-white films. I mean shows from the 90s and early 2000s. Everything has this weird sepia, brownish-yellow filter on it, especially if it was a drama.
The full story
My daughter has been watching some of my favorite shows from when I was younger, things like Buffy or The X-Files, and even sitcoms from that era. I noticed it immediately when she put them on our big, new 4K television. Everything has a very distinct, almost dingy, brownish-yellow hue to it. It's not a problem with the TV, because new shows look vibrant and crisp. I remember them looking normal at the time on our old tube TVs, but now they just look... muddy. Was this an intentional artistic choice that everyone was making for twenty years straight? Did directors think brown meant 'serious' or 'gritty'? Or was it a limitation of the film cameras and the technology of the time that we just didn't notice because our screens weren't as good? It's genuinely distracting now. Modern shows are so colorful and sharp, and going back to watch something from 2002 feels like I'm looking at it through a layer of dust. I just find it so strange that for about two decades, that was just the accepted look for television.
How people voted
- Valid Take — 29% (14 votes)
- I’m Torn — 44% (21 votes)
- Bad Take — 27% (13 votes)
Readers say “I’m Torn” (44%) — 48 votes and 5 comments so far.
What people are saying
@judeyk — lol
@umamaybe — L take.
@finny — i knew exactly what u meant before i even read the whole thing
@danakay — Oh, that's such a fun way to connect with your daughter! Even if the colors are a bit funny now, you're sharing something special with her.
@finnliterally — Couldn't this just be a result of the original film degrading over time?
Keep reading
- People romanticize early 2000s internet culture way too much.
- Streaming completely destroyed the lost art of the album experience.
- Kids these days will never know the stress of burning a perfect CD.
- Remember when you had to burn CDs for a road trip?
- Kids today will never know the stress of burning a perfect CD.