The United States's Aversion to Earnestness in Culture - As filtered through 80's and 90's video game box art

[Tahoma]

(This is my first serious thread, be gentle pls)

So I was on /vr/ (retro vidya) the other day, and I was reading a thread on why US box art for old video games was inferior to Euro and Japanese box art. Between all the shitposting, I found one comment to be very striking and compelling to why this trope is common, at least in my opinion. First, let's begin with the box cover comparison used (the Guardian Legend). The order is as follows: US, JAP, EURO.

Spoiler: BOX ART

Now, in response to this, I will post the comment in its entirety.

Spoiler: TEXT WALL

I assume it's related to the fact that American cartoons tended to either be trash aimed at very young kids or crass/edgy satire aimed at adults. The culture seemed to have a nigh-religious devotion to the idea that earnestness and wonder are evil, except when experienced or practiced by pre-pubescent children who are too young to matter yet and so can do whatever. Delicacy and subtlety had to be snuck in the margins of in-your-face stories about crime and battle and stuff, or heavily adulterated with cynicism or mean-spiritedness. You couldn't just look at a futuristic robot girl gazing dreamily into the sky and feel wistful about it. You might then express some kind of honest feeling and then you'd have to be ostracized. You needed to stay safe with the BIG SCARY COBRA ALIEN THAT IS ON FIRE. Nobody needs to worry about responding to that image in a nonstandard way.

I found this to be an incredibly accurate appraisal of Western (Primarily American) cultural differences. I spoke to another friend about this and they told me that growing up in that time and seeing American commercials, and later seeing Japanese commercials was such a culture shock, because they weren't ruthlessly edgy, they were free to be cutesy, happy little dumb robots. Not everything had to be so corporately edgy/safe/boring outside the US.

I guess my question to you, would be "Why?" Why did we have such an aversion to wonder and earnestness aside from it being delegated to worthless children's entertainment. Why is actual wonder and splendor vilified unless it's peppered with sarcasm and cynicism? I know things have changed somewhat recently, but this is something that I actually wonder about a lot.

EDIT: fucked up quote formatting.

 

[Mushroom Soup]

This is why Pixar films are so nice generally (fuck you, Cars). Sweet movies that can be honestly enjoyed by adults.

 

[Shoggoth]

I think America always had a streak of puritanism and reservedness running through it. Even so called rebellions against it were usually just crass performance pieces which were still part of the "cathedral". Everything is safe, wrapped up, and turned into a product, even rebellion. Rebellion is also always defined in negative terms it needs a backdrop.
I think this cultural aversion to earnestness started with the anti-hero, and we can speculate for years on where that came from.

 

[The Fool]

I think this kind of a media inverse to what the respective culture considers normal.

People in the west see Japanese video games and anime and think ", so deep, why can't we have things that deep" and assume it represents their entire culture. Video games and anime are a subculture, the majority of the media culture in Japan is actually pretty dull, and even comes with a literal reaction box in the corner to tell the audience what to feel, before YouTube started doing that.

In the west, video games and cartoons are a lot more socially acceptable. Marketed primarily towards children, yes, but still considered more acceptable. It is therefor an interest in marketing empires to freely use those mediums to produce marketable goods that they know will sell, because it's not a taboo, it's normal. Therefor, the material marketing these things can target a much lower common denominator than eastern media, which has to cater to a specific demographic who are used to having the luxury of being a picky, fringe group. The end result is the west having a lot more edgy explosion-filled materials that gain a lot more attention and the east having to meticulously engineer their material to a smaller demographic. It's not that the west is dumber, it's just how the different cultures respect different mediums, and how they see their citizens and demographics consuming them. That's why adults enjoying MLP is such a shock to the west, adults aren't supposed to like cartoons, it's weird. But nobody bats an eye in the east when an adult enjoys Ojamajo Doremi. Because cartoons in the west are acceptable for children, whereas in the east they're acceptable to a fringe minority. Kids like explosions, demographics like material that caters to them.

 

[Y2K Baby]

No, you fucking retard. America is corny as Hell and super earnest compared to most other countries. Best example is American Office vs. Britbong Office. You're a stupid nigger.

 

[The Shadow]

I've noticed something similar lately. There's a bigger and bigger divide between entertainment aimed at adults and entertainment aimed at kids. I posit that this influences the general audience success of Star Wars and Marvel and Disney + of late; there really isn't much else that falls into the realm of "family friendly" i.e. not strictly juvenile entertainment but not misery porn or edgehog stuff.

Even then, earnestness and sincerity is always averted or subverted to some degree by having Whedon-inspired snark, and the implication being the ironic Gen-Xer makes the character the smart one. Anyone that is sincere about anything is seen as corny and old fashioned.

 

[The Reaper]

When you're on top you start to fear those little emotions that could be perceived as a weakness?

I don't really know. There's a lot of ways it can be interpreted. Americans found comfort in the safety of consumerism, and so box art shifted to being 'samey' in order to look familiar and get you to buy it. I've always felt there was a certain charm to 90s commercials and toys which just made everything fun and interesting. The bombastic narrator who made the product just sound cool, kids with colorful clothes.
Just look at these two nerf commericals:

And the one from the 2000s:

They just don't feel the same. There was a point where the actors they were using were way too old too, and everything just lost its charm.

I blame 9/11.

 

[Ughubughughughughughghlug]

It’s because media is mostly made by Yankees and Jews, both of whom carry the seed of evil in them.




(Idk tbh)

 

[B. F. Bugleberry]

Being bombastic, corny, and violent, are classic American sincerity. Fundamental American culture. It no longer seems so and has lost its sincerity because that culture is dying.

A hyperviolent-corny culture requires the same elements in life. What wars have we fought in the last fifty years haven't been dogshit? What's up with these noguns-nofuns running around? Butchering FBI fedoraniggers because they're ruining your shine runnin is American as it gets. They've even killed off our cocaine nosejob nutty business types. My potbellied hillfolk relatives in the ark and sauce and Appalachia are getting invaded by East coast retirees, who are cutting up trees to put in.. indoor plumbing. Horror and unamerican lunacy.

Amerimutt no culture meme is wrong. It just was dying before the internet was made.

 

[Ughubughughughughughghlug]

So rate me autistic and call me an incel, but I think OP's point kind of applies to dating too. This isn't an original sentiment, but doesn't it seem like romance was sacrificed, at some point, for the sake of cool? The old people claim that they can tell a difference between how they wooed each other versus how it's done now. It's not so much couples I'm thinking of, but more like the first several dates. It feels like there's this attitude that you shouldn't try to hard (because that's not cool), and trying to woo the old-fashioned way is corny. What's left is an experience that's more hedonistic and empty for both parties.

No, you fucking exceptional individual. America is corny as Hell and super earnest compared to most other countries. Best example is American Office vs. Britbong Office. You're a stupid nigger.

I dunno man. Britain is more reserved (usually in a very tasteful way), but Latino and Oriental stuff is batshit insane.

 

[Pissmaster]

If you really wanna compare box art, here's one of my favorites, Panic Restaurant on NES:

Japan

Europe

Spoiler: AMERICA

Seriously though, my best guess is because nobody wants to be called a faggot.

That's about as basic as I can put it. America's by far the youngest culture depicted in the OP, made up largely of the recent descendants of those brave enough to leave their home country and start a new life on a completely different hemisphere. We just naturally have it in us to be much stronger and valiant than the descendants of those who decided to stick around and endure crazy taxes and whatever other forms of bullshit their country put them through.

 

[Lemmingwise]

It feels like there's this attitude that you shouldn't try to hard (because that's not cool)

You can read the same thing in treatises over 100 years old.

When it comes to the topic of dating, that you bring up, it's a natural part of the process. Eagerness implies desperation and desperation implies that you're aiming outside of your league. You took the wrong lesson from it, though. The point isn't to not try hard; the point is to not expose how hard you try until both have invested something into the exchange. Because if you try hard for someone who does not invest into the partnership, then you're likely going to end up being a sucker. This goes for any type of partnership.

In the west, video games and cartoons are a lot more socially acceptable. Marketed primarily towards children, yes, but still considered more acceptable. It is therefor an interest in marketing empires to freely use those mediums to produce marketable goods that they know will sell, because it's not a taboo, it's normal.

Kinda yes, kinda no.

I've never been to japan, so this is solely based on hearsay, but if I'm not mistaken, it's very socially acceptable to do things like go to an arcade, or play computer games together. You might have people yell Shoryuken and all the other moves as they do them. But the same people will turn around and think you're otaku for having a spirited away poster or playing games when you're alone. It's kinda like drinking in the west. When it's not done socially, it's indication of a problem, but it's otherwise normal.

 

[Ughubughughughughughghlug]

I was thinking about how OP's point applies to fast food.

Fast food restaurants used to have silly, cartoony mascots and colorful decors. You could recognize a fast food restaurant's brand just from its profile.

Nowadays they've made them all very austere and minimalist, with an A E S T H E T E design. It looks like shit and it's boring.

It seems like the restaurants all got this idea in their head that their childlike appearance was undignified, and they wanted to be dignified like real businesses.

Thus we get stuck with the boring garbage that is the modern McDonalds (with no Ronald in sight), modern Wendy's, modern everything.

 

[Y2K Baby]

Fast food restaurants used to have silly, cartoony mascots and colorful decors. You could recognize a fast food restaurant's brand just from its profile.

Based Big Boy.

 

[Ughubughughughughughghlug]

Based Big Boy.

Found the Ohioan

 

[Y2K Baby]

Found the Ohioan

Nope, just a lover of the fine arts (burg)

 

[5t3n0g0ph3r]

I was thinking about how OP's point applies to fast food.

Fast food restaurants used to have silly, cartoony mascots and colorful decors. You could recognize a fast food restaurant's brand just from its profile.

Nowadays they've made them all very austere and minimalist, with an A E S T H E T E design. It looks like shit and it's boring.

It seems like the restaurants all got this idea in their head that their childlike appearance was undignified, and they wanted to be dignified like real businesses.

Thus we get stuck with the boring garbage that is the modern McDonalds (with no Ronald in sight), modern Wendy's, modern everything.

Oh, don't remind me how hideous current fast food restaurants look like.
Seriously, who in their right mind thought "hey, those Soviet-era Eastern Bloc housing complexes look like a great design for a restaurant! Such warm, inviting aesthetics will surely create a welcoming atmosphere"?
It reminds me of when the Scions came out.
I saw one of those things and I thought "Who used their 4-year-old child's drawing as a car design?"
All of this makes me shake my head.

 

[Marissa Moira]

They replaced the play area at my local McDonalds with an adult coloring book and decompressing area.

 

[💗Bitchstopher Columbitch💗]

I was thinking about how OP's point applies to fast food.

Fast food restaurants used to have silly, cartoony mascots and colorful decors. You could recognize a fast food restaurant's brand just from its profile.

Nowadays they've made them all very austere and minimalist, with an A E S T H E T E design. It looks like shit and it's boring.

It seems like the restaurants all got this idea in their head that their childlike appearance was undignified, and they wanted to be dignified like real businesses.

Thus we get stuck with the boring garbage that is the modern McDonalds (with no Ronald in sight), modern Wendy's, modern everything.

Let's hope mascots make a comeback in the west. They're still really big in Japan, although it looks like KFC is the only big western brand to have capitalized on that with their own mascots. There's no anime Ronald McDonald or Burger King for some reason.



I assume over there adults of both sexes can consume cutesy media without being called immature faggots, which is why cute stuff is everywhere and even videogame covers generally have cute vibes.

 

[jorgoth]

Because America is a low-trust society. Jews at the top, muds at the bottom will do that to a country.