Mall City Documentary 1983 NYU Film Roosevelt Field Mall Culture and Song "Mall City"
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- Опубліковано 28 лют 2017
- Mall City was part of SHOPPING WORLD film festival at Anthology Film Archives this August in NYC and a celebration of Mall Culture at the Forum des Images in Paris, France !
It’s 1983 at Roosevelt Field Mall in Long Island and you meet the mall rats, clerks, and old timers that made up the vibrancy of the modern day town square.
Director HUGH KINNIBURGH was a student at NEW YORK UNIVERSITY film school and used his documentary assignment as an opportunity to break new ground. The art-punk band RAWTONES needed a music video for their new song MALL CITY. MR. KINNIBURGH and his crew armed with (then) the latest portable video gear let the mall people answer the question in their own words, “Why do you hang out at the mall?” It all adds up to explain the inspiration behind the song MALL CITY which is performed live at the end.
Screened in the spring of 2022 at the Forum des Images in Paris, France for their tribute to mall culture, the documentary returned home in 2023 to New York City for three nights in the Lower East Side.
A time and place lost forever. If you grew up in the late 70's and early '80s you were lucky - this kind of fun will never come back - so enjoy this blast from the past.
“Go old school and get on the bus, come hang out, meet your friends because Mall City is Where I Want to Be!”
Mall City Alumni Alert! The guys in the army fatigues - The guy who comments is Bill - who now owns a curiosity shop in New Jersey. Stop by, say hello and buy some nostalgia!
iggiescuriosityshoppe.com
MALL CITY
2023 Screenings @ Anthology Film Archives, New York City.
Shopping World Festival
Wednesday, August 2, 2023 6:45 PM Meet the Director
Friday, August 11, 2023 9:30 PM Meet the Director
Wednesday, August 16, 2023 6:45 PM
For More Information:
Footage Licensing Info : hughfilm@gmail.com
www.mallcity.video
anthologyfilmarchives.org/film...
www.rctvstudio.com
www.realitychecktv.com
Thank you for all the great comments!
If you were at Mall City back in the '80s - Please reach out to me. email hughfilm@gmail.com
Background music under Creative Commons and Fair Use.
©1983
What fascinates me is that when you think about it 1983 is 10 years from 1973 and imagine all the different trends in music, fashion, movies that happened. 2022 is 10 years from 2012 and I feel like the only thing we got is just new Iphones year after year.
Yep!
Ikr 😂😂
10 years ago people were identifying as Vampires or Werewolves. Now they're identifying as pronouns, the opposite gender, sexual orientation, different species, mental illness or a culture.
The government is holding us back
True dat
My God people *interacting with each other* in public. I've heard about this .
Woah, what's that?
GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY FUCKING WAY YOU PIECE OF SHIT!
-love, an average new yorker.
That was before the cell phone and the internet now people can be beside each other and not even talk they just text each other
They should track down everyone of them and do a sequel
lol
The thing I notice is the sincerity. Everyone accepts the questions at face value and answers them without much snark, sarcasm or cynicism.
Part of that is likely because there wasn't youtubers(& a few tv shows) who routinely exploit the public, antagonize them, or are sarcastic/fake. It was reasonable then to assume that there was no ulterior motive when being asked.
@@DoubleMonoLR You're probably right, which is sad to admit. American culture hasn't aged terribly well in some respects.
@@scotey some? lol Not that the shopping mall was ever the paragon for culture, but we're socially retarded compared to these folks.
Idk I'm hearing a good amount of snark and sarcasm in these responses. It's just part of being young, I guess.
"American" culture???? This Is western culture. Most western nations have a shared culture, especially the us
The hairstyles, the indoor smoking, the accents, the clothes, the record store, the attitudes. Takes me right back to the 80s. I miss those times!
I, too, MISS the 80s! The only thing I can do WITHOUT, is the smoking!
Me also!
You can still have those accents.
The Member Only Jackets!!
This is back when “Amazon” was just a rain Forrest...
And apple was just a fruit.
@@Emotionengne Ever heard of the Apple II one of the most popular computers of the 80s?
@@CapCor But it wasn't part of common vocabulary yet.
And Samsung was just an Asian man walking on the sidewalk.
These comments are hilarious!
Shout out to Dave's mom for driving that day.
LoL. Dave's mom rocks...
It was her car. Didn’t say she drove.
@@misskim2058 Then shout to Dave's mom for letting him use her car that day.
@Meedeeuh Areliars Oh, they are still around, and having more fun than they ever were...
@@misskim2058 yep:))
Sooo grateful i was a part of this amazing time!!!! 56yrs old!!!
I'm 52 and I condemn these racist videos.
AMEN or LIKEWISE!
Yep! Me too!
“The mauwl” - God, I love that accent 😅 I was 11 in ‘83 and this is pure gold. The nostalgia is real ❤
This documentary is gold. It captures the consumerism boom of the 80s so well. What a time capsule.
Was that kid ralph macchio lol looks just like him
It's a Great Documentary about culture, people wanting to interact with other people socially. That's the genius of a Mall. Today our social activity is sadly just Facebook, and posting messages. Walmart is certainly not a place to meet cool people and hang out, and buy an album, and a snack, and get a date. The Mall use to be, during the 80s. and Yes, that was ralph macchio in the video lol.
@@markwiygul6356 i knew it was i skimmed the comments to see if anyone else picked that up!!!
@@talesfromthelotuspodcast I thought the same thing.... sounded just like him too!
Lol! yes producers consume and have expendable cash. Back then we had to go to brick and mortar shops to buy something today you shop online and Amazon delivers it.
Back in the day, The Mall WAS the 'Internet' of that time.
Movie theaters, music stores, books stores, arcades, meet up with friends, meet girls, go on a date... all at an app, called The Mall.
terrible, ignorant, racist, and you are looking at it with rose tinted glasses
Yep, except the Mall was a lot healthier than the internet and didn't destroy economies. I miss those days so much.
@@mirr1984 late stage capitalism
Correct and the mall actually required you to walk around and develop social skills. The internet hinders both of these things
@@mirr1984 Except all the smoking.
The 80s was a great era to be a teenager. I was 16 in ‘83 and wow, I feel like I just passed through a time warp. Great video, thanks for sharing it. 👍🏼
All adults agree we wouldnt want to be kids these days.. schools and even universities got their fingers so far up the kids holes these days they cant be themselves.
I honestly feel so blessed to have grown up in the 80's and 90's
We all know why it ended.
@@KB-ke3fi Yes. 1990 happened.
Looking back, what I find most quirky about the 80s is the fashion. From shoulder pads for women to be more broad shouldered, to mullets, to big frizzly hairstyles, headbands, super high waist jeans that could stand on its own without the wearer etc. 80s was a wild decade. What's funny is all these fashion trends looked so cool during that time.
It was awesome being a teenager in the 80's. So happy I got to live it. Best decade ever.
AMEN or LIKEWISE!
Watching this shows you just how bad we messed everything up.
The irony is that it is precisely this consumer lifestyle that has the world in the void it's in. They just got to live in it before the cracks were so big.
@@naderkhouri9468 I think the part we messed up was the excitement of going out and meeting people in person. I was a mall rat in my late teens in to my early 20’s and what I miss the most is meeting new people in a place where meeting people was the point. This video is magical because what stands out are the connections between people being made, not the consumerism. Malls are the same today as they were 30 years ago. What is missing are all the people and our new meeting place is right here in the comments section. And that’s how we ruined everything.
@@mikebarriga man, you need to get out more and stop hanging out in the comment section. Haha
People are still out and meeting new people in places. Sure, malls are dying but there’s things going on. Just cuz you don’t do it doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen.
@@1zDiegoz1 sure there's people out meeting up with others to socialize, but socializing in general has radically changed since the advent of smart phones and social media.
@@1zDiegoz1 name a place cooler than the mall though
Its crazy to think these teens are now over 50yrs old.... time is so scary.
@John Dough Aint that the truth... and yes, lots of people dont realize the essence of time (instant or later).
time is a heinous bully.
Pink Floyd taught me that the there's no better time than now to start running your race. Everyone else is running theirs.
"Ticking away the moments that make up a dull day
Fritter and waste the hours in an offhand way
Kicking around on a piece of ground in your hometown
Waiting for someone or something to show you the way
Tired of lying in the sunshine, staying home to watch the rain
You are young and life is long and there is time to kill today
And then one day you find ten years have got behind you
No one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun"
@@billschlafly4107 FOCK YA 😈
Yup....
Everyone was in shape.
💯🎯
I was around 6 when this doc was filmed. When I see the little kids walking with their parents, I think to myself how they ended up. I went through many turns in life, from hanging out in the mall as a kid, going to high school, college, getting in trouble, landing a 10 year bid in prison, back to college and now I have a normal life with two wonderful kids and a happy marriage.
well done to you. a sad but also feel good story to read
Nice work!
Life is good.
My favorite part of the whole thing?
Transportation by:
Dave’s Mom’s Car
Yeah which is code word for the DeLorean Motor Car
FACT
❤ the mall it had great restaurants, places to shop, eye 🍬 candy, great place to hangout with friends, girlfriends
Mine too.
@@lloydkline6946 and you could always smell the pizza place that was in the mall when you first walked in, it hit like a ton of bricks lol.
I was walking around this very mall with my mom at the tender age of 7 years old around this time…. Wish I still could
RIP Mom ❤️
Where is it?
Same with my dad I used to walk around here with my dad.😊
I know...
@@aldehame 0:58
I'm so sorry you lost your mom. 💐
Everyone is smoking. It’s crazy! I was in high school from 1980 to 1984 and college from 1984 to 1988. I worked in the mall. We all lived in the mall. It was awesome.
Loved seeing those old gentlemen at their table. Sadly they are all long gone.
I was 14 in 83 and my brain is now exploding. This video is like watching my own personal documentary. Thank you for recording it and for posting it. Damn I miss "the mall". We all had one no matter where you lived and it was the center of the world
Omg i was a kid too this is crazyyyyy or maybe far out LOL
I was 12
I was 14 in 1983 too 😊
I was born in 83, my momma was 25. Came here to see what people looked like the year I was born 😂
Same age and yep
I was 16 in 1983 what a great year. I worked in malls from 1986 until 2009. Saw a lot of changes through the years. I would love to go back to 1983 for a day. Wonderful memories ❤️
Time machine? I'm in! When do we leave?
RetroJoe When we get a 1981 DeLorean and a Flux Capacitor
I was 17 and my wife was 16 :) Sucks being mid 50s, stuff is starting to hurt lol But yeah we were talking about how we didnt have instant video access like now. So much less was recorded!
You and me both, 83 was a great year, I was about the same age as yourself. I would go back in a heartbeat.
yeah, RIP MALLS because everybody go to shopping on-line now
I like how direct and at ease these people are. They seem real.. like they're secure in who they are.
Back then people hid in the closet a lot more
@@brandondetroitfanmichaels4325 Yeah that's probably very true. I guess they come off as more sure of themselves in these interviews and others I've seen in the time period than what I see nowadays. That could also be my misinterpretation.
Back when we had social skills and didn't fly off the handle with insults and get offended every time a stranger talked to us. We lived in the real world,with real human interactions,not fantasy worlds with video game characters. I'd NEVER trade my teen years in the 80's for anything. Great video. THanks for sharing these great memories.
OK, boomer...
"Back when we had social skills" The irony is flabbergasting.
@@patrickstromann3836 Patric is offended.. oh the irony!
@@patrickstromann3836lol and you're one of those people that gets offended easily, proven only by YOU LOOOOL
Right?! I was 14 in 1983. Today, you'd never see 14 year olds hanging out in the mall without their parents. Heck, malls are pretty dead now but it's just sad that teenagers are almost always with their parents because of the crazy world we now live in.
I grew up in the 80s too. It sucked. And fantasy world? These kids were living in just as much of a fantasy world. A consumer nightmare of shallowness.
I was 13 in April of '83. I lived 4 miles from Roosevelt Field Mall. I am almost crying watching this. In 1983 I saw Return of the Jedi and Eddie Murphy: Delirious at the movie theater there. I bought games and peripherals for my Commodore 64 at Games and Gadgets, which was next to Sbarro's. I played games at Time Out. I don't think I know any of the people interviewed, but I "know" all of them, because they are me and my friends. 5 years later I went to college upstate, and took tons of crap for my accent. I didn't realize how thick the accent was. Thank you for this little piece of my childhood that I can now share with my son. Sure there is good and bad, but I sure think overall it was better. Social interaction, real opinions. And yeah, maybe it wasn't so good to walk around the mall smoking at age 14. Nowadays you try to talk to a stranger at the mall and it probably won't go so well.
Where did you go Upstate? I was born in Oswego and everyone around there, Syracuse and Watertown don't sound much different.
@@hendo337 RPI in Troy. There were a lot of New Englanders that went to school there with their own thick accents, and a lot of people not from the Northeast at all.
✊ same.
Wow. Such awesome girls over there. Its taken me decades to appreciate that time & people around me. Even the ones I never met. 🤜🤛
@@anthonyfoppiano5024 I am born in 71' lived in Bklyn but parents would take me to RF every weekend. Got my computer fixes from ToysRUs (not in the mall). I live about 10 min from RPI (Albany Suburb) :lol:. I guess Crossgates is our RF, it is sad what it it became. Kids under 18 need 21+ Guardians.
I got emotional reading this.
It`s ironic that we have the internet to thank for showing us how much better life was before the internet
Like the misogyny and sexism that existed in the 80's how about that?
Ellie Murphy yes
@@NA-oc7eq Yeah. It was because of back in the day that there's still racism and sexism so let's not deal with it now but blame the past.
Hahaha totally!! Simpler times!
@@NA-oc7eq Seems to me the sexes got along and had more thrill with each other back then.
Not a single cell phone. Beautiful
This is so trippy because it’s like hanging out with people that are in their 50s and 60s today.. People of that generation just have a different presence and depth to them that you don’t really sense in younger folks today
AH MALE KAREN so not talk to me or my son again please without a lawyer present
It is called Soul , feelings !!
I was 19 in 1983, I swear the nostalgia is so strong with this it almost hurts. I know we all look back on our youth ( whenever that be for that matter ) with rose coloured glasses and hell yes there was tons of bad shit happening in the world but in the world of we teenagers at THIS particular time...it was damn near perfect. Without the internet our worlds were a lot smaller and I think we were actually better for that. Malls, field parties, our first cars, booze crusin, early clubbing days. It was a GREAT time to be young.
Yea I’m around your age and yes the world seemed smaller and simpler in 1983 minus the internet. Although I guess I can say the internet has really connected people all over internationally especially now with zoom during the Pandemic which is awesome in a way. If the Pandemic happened in 1983 not 2020 then people would definitely have felt more lonelier during quarantine
Yeah, I'm with you 💯
@@analogkid4957 there wouldn’t have been a quarantine in the 80s, people wouldn’t have gone for that.
I was young in the 80s, but it was an amazing time from my recollection. Arcades, food courts, talking to random strangers - good times.
At this point, I'd give my left tit just to have Record World back!! And Tower Records later on, of course.
Even back in the 90s, kids use to just go to the mall to hang out. I did that as a kid in the 90s. Miss the Good old days before Social Media and Cell Phones.
Agreed. I was born in 87 but this still feels nostalgic to me. I remember going into restaurants and my parents being asked "smoking or non-smoking". I remember growing up and no one had a cell phone. Kids still took off in the morning and came back for dinner with no way of contacting their parents. I remember when if you said you were going to meet someone somewhere, you had to damn well be there or you would be standing them up. There was no flaking out via text.
100%! I’m an 80’s baby and now totally remember well into the 90’s hanging out at the mall. So innocent and fun.
Simpler times 😭
Me to I went to the malls to hang out and to look at the boys and to shop for clothes jewelry etc..❤️😎🌏💋
I'm curious if kids still are hanging out at the mall today. Me and my friends did as teenagers in the early 2000's.
Really captures the Mulletness of the era
Mullet will never die.
They all have the same haircut it’s crazy
One thing I just thought about was the photo booths. I still have a couple strips of photos with all of my friends and I piled in a booth. Definitely good times!
This documentary makes realize ho much cooler kids were then than now.
True. Kids today are too cool in their mind. They are also entitled and spoiled beyond belief.
Ironically enough, it was the parents (kids in this video) that kinda ruined them ,lol
I was 16 at that time lived in levittown it was a good time back then lots of memories
Kids are to duchey these days back then everyone seemed to vibe with eachother was less judgment. Everyone seemed less superficial
@@joshuakirschenbaum417 I agree man. No one has anything in common anymore. Also, teens aren’t social at all now. No more true layed back natural confidence( within yourself). Only fake artificial confidence.
@@willwillisproductions159 amen very true sadly
“He got caught shop lifting here”
“oh yeah what happened to him?”
“Nothin, his mom kicked his ass”
GOLD
👎
lol.... hilarious..
Same conversation in 2022. "CHILD ABUSE! I'm gonna call child services!"
@@jzen1455 EXACTLY! people need to wake up, seriously.
time stamp!!
1987 my first date was at our local mall with a girl named Bambi. We ate at the food court, went to the arcade, photo booth and saw a movie. Things were pretty good back then. I wonder if these folks could believe they would be seen by over half million people 40 years later marveling that they actually met and socialized w others in person.
Everyone looks so healthy and happy, hope in their eyes, the future was bright.
Yet 1983 was the peak of Cold War.
@@jimbotron70 It was political, not an actual war. A war of words.
@@crtgamer2355 Maybe you don't remember well, but in 1983 we were close to a nuclear war than ever since the Cuban Crisis.
@@jimbotron70 That's exactly what they want you to think to keep you in constant fear and panic.
@@crtgamer2355 The Star Wars announcement, the Evil Empire speech, the KAL007 downing, the Stanislav Petrov event, the Able Archer event... all in 1983.
I miss the mall days of the 80s..all day Saturdays with friends, records and tapes, making mixed cassettes, arcades, eating in the food court, the best days! Gone forever. 🇨🇦❤️
Did you write out the lyrics to your mix tapes like I did? It took forever, but was worth it.
Why would anyone make a mix tape in the mall.
@@9852323 allow me to field this inquiry.......
Everyone made mixtapes at the mall! Only lame dweebs did that at home. Best set up was the display case at Hot Sam. The aromatic scent of fresh pretzels really warmed the mix.
Now the lyric transcribing procedure required more finesse than possible at the food court. This was best performed on the clearance table at Chess King
@@maxi-me wow I didn’t know. That’s cool. The 80s sound awesome.
I miss going to the Mall as a teen. Even though I was a teen in the late 90s. Mall culture truly is not the same anymore
UA-cam is the closest thing we will get to a time machine.
If I had a dollar for every time I read this unoriginal comment I’d be rich enough to actually buy a time machine
@@pjnugget333 the same lmao
@@pjnugget333 maybe that's true but he or she is of the same mind as alot of us. miss the 80s!
For now, at least.
@@pjnugget333 fr… this comment is on every old video lmao
The sun shined different in those days. Real human beings 😢😢😢😢😊
They spray our skies now.. and block the sun
Class of 85 here. There were lots of great memories made in malls of the 1980s! We didn't have cell phones, social media or the Internet, but we still had fun! Thanks to whoever made this video and posted it!
People were so much more relaxed back then. Now everyone is stressed out.
And hating some thing or somebody
Maybe it is because they were able to smoke indoors, lol...
Don't forget offended by everything and anything.
Not everyone. It’s a choice.
Life was slower paced. Better times.
I guess Long Island accents were thicker in the 80’s 😆
Awful
I never realized we sounded like that, a lot of our parents came from places like Brooklyn, Queens etc so it came from that.
Probably changed when a lot of people came and went over the years
They were like that in many places I feel like. Here in NYC, there's so much diversity these days. I feel like I'm always hearing a new accent every day. A lot of people from NYC go to this mall too. Since it's the best option. Especially for people living in Queens and Brooklyn.
I think the internet and reality tv evened out most people's accents
I am so thankful i was a kid of the 80s.. graduated 84
Feathered hair ❤
I initially intended to watch maybe a few minute of this and 43 minutes later I can't turn away because I'm just blown away at the whole social aspect of everything.
Same
What do you mean, social aspect. It was what it was
@@michaelj.weinstein4016 what do you mean what do I mean
I was like " let me watch 5 min" and ended up watching the whole vid
@@visionop8 ..you are so right about this, hard to believe that this kind of mall microcosm existed
WOW!!! What a blast from the past I was in this video the shy one at the 4:45 mark with my girlfriend which we are still friends. She told me about this video so happy you posted this. Those were the best of times. Im married 28 years 3 beautiful kids and two Angelic Granddaughters. Nothing compared to these crazy times we are in now. God Bless America🙏🙏🙏❤❤❤🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
Amazing and weird. Now you can see what you were like back then, and how you become.
@@bomenorange. yeah and imagine nowadays, everyone will have to cringe at how we are acting on tik tok 38 years later…..
U would be 38 or even 48 if that was true ur a liar .... Why are u lying ur birthday is 1992 wtf !!!
@@memotank2089 married FOR 28 years ya dum dum
@@memotank2089 jeez. You're not the brightest crayon in the box. She has to be older than that. My parents are 54 and they're younger than the people in the video.
What a great time piece. I was born in the 80s but a teenager in the late 90’s. So I consider myself an 80’s baby, a 90’s girl, and a young adult in the 2000’s 🥰
😂same. Except the girl part lol
Same. Wouldn’t change it for anything.
Big thing that stands out is how everyone is genuinely laughing….I don’t think kids today could ever think of going to an actual building and actually interact with other people without being behind a phone.
I wonder what adults in their 50s, 60s, and 70s would have said about these kids. Smoking, flirting, being lazy. Times change. Not for the better, not for the worse. Just different.
My 13 year old daughter does this. She goes to the mall with her friends and hangs out. Same with her cousin that is the same age. They aren't smoking and being friendly with strangers though.
Kids still do this. Yeah they have their phones but teens still act like this
Lots of fights today and men and women detest each other today, really pathetic era
“I come here for my piano lessons”
Malls really had EVERYTHING back then lol
You could go to your eye doctor for your exam, get some clothes, some food or sign up for piano lessons if you wanted to, find out the REAL scoop on who's dating who, It really did have everything lol
@@kimwarner1681 Yeah, and there was even a dentist down on the lower level. I remember malls having much more of a variety of stores when I was growing up in the 80's.
@@belindaczerkowicz5465 My husband and I went to the mall yesterday , actually. Kind of busy but not like it used to be. A lot of overpriced stores still in business, not sure how they manage to stay in business charging 255 for a pair of jeans and it wasn't a store you would expect prices like that from, I had never heard of this store, forget what it was called but we were looking at jeans for my husband. He did get me an early bday present, a summer flowy type top I had my eye on at Nordstrom's (they have always been pricey but they carry the higher end brands, quality is a little better on most of the brands, I expect those prices there) but some of the stores were the regular, run of the mill, nothing special types of stores with crappy material, charging 70 or more for a casual summer dress to hang out in, nothing fancy. The food court was open but it was empty, I was surprised, no one was eating there but then again, it was not the usual , fun places that made up the food courts. The only store that was packed and had a line and a security guard patrolling out front was the Apple store lol. You read on here how no one has any money for extras , doom and gloom yet this Apple store told a whole other story. Unless, they were paying with their stimulus checks lol. The security guard was all hyper vigilant, lol, you should've seen him. Every single person that got in line, us included, he comes over and gives the 20 questions, why are you here, what are you looking for, etc. Good Lord, not even Nordy's had a security guard roaming around , it was hilarious. Then, of course, the Bath and Body Works, Victoria Secret, etc., the staples. Victoria's Secret tho, I used to get a lot of things there but now I just can't justify it. The quality has gone down so badly, I refuse to pay 60 or more for a pair of pj;s or a bra when you can go anywhere else and get them on sale. I usually get the PINK 2 for 50, those last forever but the fancier ones I have found do not last, even hand wash, and who the hell has time for that crap, laying them out to dry, quality just sucks anymore. All in all, fun day but every other store was some overpriced place we had not heard of, except for Nordstrom's.
Yeah the mall was a replacement for normal stores for suburbites.
A local "dead" mall in my town recently put a music studio in there, they teach signing, guitar lessons, piano etc. Funny thing this mall is less popular within our city it's not updated still looks the same from the 80s but they have the most interesting stores such as sewing lessons, karate, a reading nook for children, a gym, and the music lessons. Sunland Park Mall in El Paso, Texas.
If we only knew how good life was back in the 80's... There will never be another time like it..
You are absolutely right, I just thought that those times would last forever. Boy was I wrong.
I don't miss the cigarettes at all though. They were everywhere...you couldn't get away from 'em.
@@rustydemz7919 100% agree.
This actually showed how hyper modernism and crass consumerism had taken over like when they were like why would I read a book or walk in a park or do the stuff that everyone did historically
Life was ruined because the young adults of the 80's got greedy
"I only listen to disco... Or punk"... A statement that could only happen in a very small window of time, and be sincere.
I grew up in Canada and this was exactly how we were in the 80’s. Going to the mall is where you would go to meet boys , meet your friends, hang out and make plans for the weekend., the feathered hair was epic, we had so much fun socializing and just growing up, the mall was a right of passage.
I love how the drugged-out homeless-looking guy turns out to be extraordinarily sharp, thoughtful, and articulate.
Goes with the old adage of "Don't judge a book by it's cover."😊
And then they ask the dude Yo wanna go out for a smoke and he shushes them haha
Hippy hold-over from the 70s. More power to him.
That's sad to think homeless can't be Educated,I've watched lots on TV about the homeless ppl & they all have there stories. In 80s you'd have EX Nam vets to all sorts of thing's & it's still sad to Me... ✌
LoL True
the kids are learning social skills... a lost art these days.
As a teen I agree.
Too bad they didn’t learn health skills.Every single person smoked back then.
Cringe
@@BrooklynBalla a lot of people still smoke, it’s not a big deal. I wish people would stop trying to shame smokers.
@@glockdude5472 Smoking is offensive to non smokers. At least my bad habits don't affect you and your health. Cigarettes are repulsive...I can't stand the smell of a smoker.
Gen Z is in DESPERATE need of something like this.
Then STOP TEXTING !!!!!!!!!!
@@LannieLord WE CANT ITS LIKE DRUGS WE NEED SOMETHING TO FORCEFULLY STOP IT
I was born in '83 and became a manager at Abercrombie/Hollister here in the mid 2000s to the early 2010s. Some of my best memories and friends came from working at Roosevelt field. It's amazing how much I can still recognize despite how much the mall changed by the time I worked there and again since I left. I miss it all the time.
Also born in ‘83 & worked at the mall. Victoria’s Secret & a coffee shop. Some of my friends worked right above me at Abercrombie. You must have been cute because they only hired cute guys!
I’d give anything to go back to this time period. Had we known that things would change so much as we knew it, I’d probably have taken more photos with my Kodak Disc camera and made more mix tapes.
Let me emphasize....I’m SOOOOO glad I had a childhood before technology took over.
My favorite stores at the mall of the 80’s: Spencer’s Gifts
Hickory Farms
The Gap
Yeah, because we were young. Other than that nothing special. But I love to think of those hairy and sweaty snatches.
💯💯💯💯 I was 7 years in 83. So many memories
I would turn 11 at the end of that year. Man. What a time to be alive
100%. I’m an 80’s baby and I’m so thankful for the memories I have during that time
Technology honestly ruined society. I was born in 87. My childhood was the 90's and my teens to college years I watched society transition into the social media boom. I watched some of my friends turn into narcissistic selfie obsessed attention seeking people and everyone put half their lives into a computer. 2000-2010 was the last good decade.
Members only and feathered hair, galaga, pack man, cenipede, Stargate, Galactica, good times
Regularol Poet Stargate/ wrong decade
Yes, in 1983 I would have been 15 and they built the mall in our town.. Such a great place, and the hangout for the teens. It was about a block from my house. So spent lots of time there. That mall is so struggling now, and not sure how long it will continue with the anchor stores all gone.
@@loki6253 Not long. Cheap Chinese junk kiosks doesn't exactly pull the big spenders. They'll call it a dump and shop elsewhere.
@@windsofmarchjourneyperrytr2823
This is so so sad, but I am sure you are correct. Selling out our production to China to line the big man's pocket wen to far. Makes me sad
I was so hoping our nation's future was just that "our future" hopefully we can reverse that enough in the near future to make a difference...
,Mario,Nintendo NES,Star wars,
Has anyone ever watched the first two seasons of Gimme a break( 1981)Nell Carter. Everyone in this era has the same fashion ,mentality,and scope
The young man @ 38:15 with the leather jacket made alot of good points
So true! 😂
Every single person in this mall can read and write cursive. That’s the crazy thing about this.
I will never forget the smell of walking through the doors at the mall; the smell of different foods and snacks, and the sound of people talking. We just went there for fun, to spend the day doing a bunch of nothing with our friends. 👍
I know! It smelled kind of like Jersey boardwalks... 😉😉😉
Now they just want you to spend your money or go away.
I anticipate that when things open back up, they'll be a resurgence in mall popularity.
The popcorn and cotton candy smell wafting in the air as you walk past the Fun Factory (major arcade chain in Hawaii). The off-gassing of variously scented stationary products from pens, erasers, and such at the Office store. The 80s was a more fragrant decade now that I think about it. The spectrum of good and bad smells were wider than today. Body odor tolerance was a bit higher. The smell of exhaust fumes was a blend of disgusting and pleasant. Aqua Net, cheap perfume/cologne, cigarette smoke everywhere, after shave, fabric softener, and on and on and on... all created memorable smells. The shift towards hyper-cleanliness, non or lightly-fragranced skin products, regulations, and other numerous factors have led to fewer smells today. People even looked dirtier in the 80s with the earth toned clothing, longer hair everywhere. I have bittersweet feelings of those smells.
I just wrote a comment about how I missed the smell of the the cigar smoke that would would emit from the to tobacco shop.
Thank God I grew up during this period. I would have a nervous breakdown if I had to be a teenage girl in 2022.
Preach 🙌
It would be amazing to see a Mall City documentary Then and Now. Would love to see what some of these kids are like today.
I don't think we would like the outcome. Haha
Wow! Such innocent times in the days before social media and mass shootings. Kids actually left their houses to interact face to face with other kids.
Ain’t that the truth! Too much convenience since the internet has made a lot of things accessible. If there internet would go back to being used for research and some entertainment but, cut the social media aspect and shopping, people would likely spend more time elsewhere and at home doing other things.
I can see UA-cam and other video sites as useful tool for how-to’s and some entertainment but, cut out the comments.
@izapsense2323 Well you're an exception.
@izapsense2323 You're 17 means you're still a kid and don't have a clue what you're talking about.
@@robp9746Exactly, when I was growing up in the 80's and 90's I lived in a huge apartment complex that had plenty of room for kids to play outside, ride bikes and even a pool for us to swim. When we weren't doing that we'd go exploring in the woods that surrounded the complex. We had a swamp that had alot of surrounding trees and vines, and I remember us kids turned one of the vines into a swing that was awesome and we were so proud of it until a slightly older, overweight boy sat on it and broke it, and ended up soaking wet in the swamp when the vine snapped from his weight, lol. I lived there from birth up until age 9 and I remember at least 40 kids living there, always outside. Maybe 10 of those kids were teens, and while they didn't play like us young ones, they'd spend lots of time outside. The neighborhood i moved to at 9 was also filled with kids. But fast forward to 2017, I went back as a adult to my old complex because I was considering moving back to it but now with a child of my own and first thing I noticed, was despite it being a gorgeous summer day, there were only 2 kids outside, no older than 4. I bumped into an older neighbor who still lived in the complex and I remembered her from my childhood years. I asked her if there were still as many kids living there and she said yes,there were tons, moreso then there was in the early 90's when my family moved out, but she said that they rarely if ever played outside, and that she noticed as the years went on, especially in the mid to late 2010s she saw less and less kids coming outside, even with the pool still open. By 2017 she said she barely saw anyone and that even the adults/parents were not friendly with one another. As a kid I remember all our parents and other adults in the complex hanging out together on the front steps of the apartments, having barbecues and playing cards while us kids played. Everyone knew everyone in that complex and there was a sense of community. I was disappointed that it changed so much and didn't end up moving back. I feel bad that my kids are not having that experience i did as a kid playing outside all day. My eldest plays outside but gets bored as in our current neighborhood,despite there being kids, we don't see them. My youngest isn't old enough to walk yet so obviously cannot be playing outside. Sad that even parents are not as friendly, I introduced myself to some neighbors with kids when I moved into my neighborhood and they looked at me strange, said hello back and that was it, I never see them outside either, at my kids bus stop they stay apart from one another and that's the only time besides in school that my kid, who is extremely outgoing, gets to interact with some of them. Seems that isn't just kids who aren't as social, but many adults too. Long comment, I apologize but this comment thread made me realize just how disconnected many people, not just the kids have seemingly become. Complete opposite from my parents experience in the 80's and 90's. I remember neighbors coming up to welcome us when we moved to a new place in the 90's.
God, I miss the 80s!!!
I never realized how many people went to the mall to chase tail.
Now people just go on Tinder.
Me neither
If anyone remembers Nathan’s on Central Ave in Yonkers.
@@joshstephens3650 i love how u think tinder still works
@@Mocs6574 thursday nights!!!
This bought a tear to my eyes! How we use to wear our hair, the clothes. 70's and 80's were the best times of my life.
You made a real time capsule with this film. It was a great time to be alive..
Is it out of sync for you?
No, it's fine
Damn, everyone was so wholesome, witty, adorable, and just play cool without even trying. Nearly everyone in the 80s was living the role of the 80s as if they had no other choices. Nowadays, most people try to emulate aspects of the past, but do so in a disjointed and disingenuous manner. Seems from 2000 onward, we've reached a plateau in aesthetics. Nearly everyone in the 80s were just unabashedly and uniformly 80s. The same can be said of the 50s-70s. Now we have so many choices and everyone is fragmented in much smaller niches, which is both nice and a bummer at the same time. Many of us are nostalgic for the past and try hard to relive the past, only to barely be able fill that void that the pangs of nostalgia develops. In essence, we've got exponentially more media from books, to movies, to music to everything. We have a constantly growing catalog things to draw our attention plus previous catalogs. We are pulled in so many directions that many of us can't help but to be a dabbler who is always riddled with FOMO who's always longing for the past while worrying about the future but rarely ever just being in the present moment. It's as if we are all in a third person video game detached from who we are and our environment.
Damn...bro I'm 20 now I get the nostalgia behind the 80s
@rob biglin I was born in 83, so I've had a glimpse of that splendid decade. I'm much more fond of the 80s than I am of the 90s especially when it comes to music. From what I recall and have seen in videos of the 80s, people were more willing to talk to strangers and be sociable. All that socializing allowed people in the 80s to have more lively and interesting personalities and be better conversationalists. Since the internet was barely a thing and other forms of tech weren't as addictive, people socialized or they'd get restless and bored fast. If you were at home alone, there were maybe books or other reading materials, records/cassettes, and very basic video games on Atari/computer to keep you occupied. I think Nintendo was the beginning of the downfall of society and internet led to a freefall. Technology has allowed people to spend much more time alone and sedentary. Some gamers spend nearly every waking moment of their free time at a desk for days or even years on end. Being that sedentary and alone in the 80s would require the discipline of a monk or someone who was an extremely introverted hermit. Imagine covid lockdown happening in the 80s!
Nailed it!
Wow, you stated it all PERFECTLY.✌
Yes I believe this as well
This is wonderful. I really miss those strong NY accents. The shyness of these teens is very endearing.
I'm a high school teacher and a lot of teens are still like that.
What accents?
@@keithmccormack6248 you must be from Long Island!
"The shyness of these teens is very endearing."
They're literally ok to be be filmed and doing interwiews randomly 😂
@@Hauntolo-G I’m a HS teacher as well; snd A LOT are NOT shy and absolutely CRAVE the spotlight.
I'd go back to the 80s in a flash. Best decade ever!
Makes me smile. Genuine people, curious about the world and others. No looting, no fighting, no drugs. Just good clean fun at the mall. Ahh to be young again in the 80s and 90s 😔
Is it out of sync for you?
@@AMEER-114- a little. That’s just the 90s tech.
@@jrthetravelingsalesman6357
The very title says 90s to your eyes?
Ok.
It was the 1983 camera that had the sync issue...
Not a issue with the upload and modern tech
@@AMEER-114- that’s what I meant, 80s tech. My fault. That’s the cause of it though, for sure.
@@jrthetravelingsalesman6357
Oh yeah..
For sure...
That is how he submitted it at NEW YORK UNIVERSITY and how he showed it to people back then..
Out of sync.
For sure.
I was 14 yrs old when this was filmed. I experienced all of this and it was awesome.
RetroJoe Yes...yes, it was.
Cerebrosity Cerebrosity I was 13 lol
i was 11 but from Liverpool England so differant here to the usa
Dang , you’re are old I was only 12
@@paulmcdonough1093 In what ways?
Malls were still like this when I was in highschool 2000-2004. Amazing how fast that changed
true, then 2005 hit and the economy tanked
Yeah I think the days of young people going to the mall to hang out are long gone. Where do they go to hang out now?
@@brianmeen2158 virtual spaces, sadly! We need to give the mall a "vibe" again. Right now it looks like a sanitized corporate no emotion place
@@brianmeen2158 online
@@svsproductions1 Thats all of America, its all hydrogenized corporate garbage. Everything has to be scanned, tracked, etc.
I think my favorite part of this video is hearing "Come on Eileen" when it was pretty much a new song! Still one of my favorite 80s tunes.
Ugh! I HATE that frickin song! I wish we could just flush the 80’s and it’s music down the toilet.
The 80’s sucked.
@@Suddenlyits1960 Lol! Well can we agree to disagree? Early 80s is pretty much my favorite era for music.... but I guess bc I was born in the 70s and that's when life was by far the most carefree for me.
I have no idea why this video (was it tape or film?) popped up in my timeline but it is an absolute gift. Though I grew up in the Midwest in the 50s and 60s, the culture and the observations are familiar and spot on. Kudos to the filmmakers and NYU.
its so charming how the kids said they come to the mall to meet people, just about anyone. Nowadays it seems everyone is SO insulated and to themselves you'd be hard pressed to be social. i wonder why we live in such an isolating time
Distrust, crime, fear… pick one
@@Brando-wc8fz That's too vague. The smartphones really drove things into isolation.
40 ensuing years wherein most tv shows have been about cops, crime, criminals, courtrooms, serial killers, forensic crime scene analysis, America’s Most Wanted, psychopaths, narcissists, terrorists, rapists, unsolved mysteries, SVU, and then sensational xenophobic news, FOX news, etc. 40 year slow drip of paranoia becoming a river, even the most heretofore rational person isn’t immune after 40 years of deliberate programming to make one fear strangers.
Social media addiction and online shopping/amazon.
@@tiasara5967accurate
Gotta admit, everyone seems to be so respectful and “United” here.
Because they were entitled to be themselves. To think critically (or not), to speak their minds without getting cancelled. Yeah you had to have a little guts but you knew you were probably going to be ok. Today?
@@blueeyedsoulman Today, forget it! Everyone’s seems to be caught up with this fake political bs and mannerism just for “likes”. Social media has turned people into the society of shallow brainless zombies.
Correct 👍
@@CaptainPlanet007 yesss 😭😭😭
I bet none of the kids in this video ate Tide.
This was awesome to watch! Brought me right back to the days of my youth. What a different time! A much better time. Look at how genuine these kids are. Laughing, clear headed, just having fun. Happy to talk and share their feelings with the interviewer. Today's youth seem like they are miserable. Nobody talks to anyone because their heads are buried in their phones! They all try to out do each other on social media. The girls have no self respect with these Instagram videos they make. Who could be more vulgar is the name of the game. There was no gender identity, no political rants, no being fake for the cameras. The 80's were a more innocent time and I thank God I was lucky enough to grow up during that time!!
I was 15 in 83 i remember my school days ❤ very nostalgic 😢
Back when people used to talk to each other....
Put the phones down
You have to create your own reality. People are still open to it, you just have to go for it and have a few things to say. It's ALMOST a thing of the past. Do it now before it's too late because it's coming.
@@jameshayes9849 shut up
@@jameshayes9849 But I'm still texting with my friends.
Life is too short, I’m happy I experience the 80s
"Pretty much we walk around..." I freaking miss the 80s
this made me smile a lot yet it's so sad these days are long gone
Yes, a more innocent time
I miss the 80s. No internet, no smart phones. I was a teenager during the 80s, BEST TIMES OF MY LIFE
it's true, but the technology was emerging, as video games, MTv was huge, music was improving, cars were too...the computer wasn't far behind, the Mac came out in 1984...rip S Jobs
Agreed… just may go down as the last best time to be alive…
Same here. 51 now. Wish I could go back. To me this world is a hellscape compared to then
@@whitetornado603 it's just boring...no one out doing jack anymore
I had a feeling the internet would destroy society back in the 2010’s…when it was becoming more prevalent in our everyday lives. Guess I was right. Sad.
The elements that brought the kids to the malls in the 80's were: 1, music stores, 2, video stores, 3, game arcades, 4, cheap fast food places, 5, clothing and novelty stores, and 6, movie theaters. The first three have now been taken over by the internet. The rest have also become impacted by online services provided by the internet.
Online shopping was the nail in the coffin but the relevance that malls had on culture was declining well before online shopping and broadband internet was a thing. The video is a glimpse into the peak of mall culture. Decline of malls which was underway by 1990 seemed to be from the following 1.) Oversaturation of malls cannibalizing each other 2.) Arcades were becoming less relevant with home consoles becoming more powerful. There might be some other factors as well that caused people to simply hang out less at the mall. In 1983 there was simply a lot less entertainment options in your home. VHS was just starting and cable TV was still in infancy stages. By 1993 you had 60 cable TV channels and VHS was extremely common along with lots of home consoles video games..etc.
I grew up during this era and I truly miss it! Back then you had everything under one roof to enjoy as a teen! It was a teenager's playground! 😊
Crime is another big reason malls close. Had one close here because of it.
The Dead Malls channel by Dan Bell is really good to watch
And foxes
No wonder people are considered overweight these days, everything is in front of them at their computers, and back then you had to leave the house to do the above things you listed, people are more sedentary now.
Love this Archive doc watched it many times over the years
Roosevelt Field Mall was a big part of my growing up on Long Island (East Meadow boy). I worked at Jeans West and Chess King... and this film resonated 40 years later. The Islanders Stanley Cup T shirts, the Lawn Guyland accents, the innocent perplexity of answering the question, "Why do you come to the mall?"... this documentary captured a moment in time so well. It was fun to see my friends and business colleagues in the film again... like a time capsule. My business today as an architect and urban planner has been influenced by this period of time... not to recapture this moment, but to learn from it as community develops from interactions with others to deliver environments that meet the demands of the community today and into tomorrow.
In 1983 I was a senior in high school who shopped at this mall, and worked here at B. Dalton Bookseller
lucky
Frank Janosko I miss bookstores in the malls 😥
That's funny; I applied for a job at that B.Dalton in 2011 when I was a senior in high school. Didn't get it, but they closed down very shortly after (Jan. 2012)
Remember Fortunoff down the block?
I loved B. Dalton, that's one of the stores I miss.
And who ended up being 100% right and prophetic out of all of those DOZENS of interviews?! The punk kid and the stoner.
Brilliant.
I know, right. Ya can't make that stuff up.
In reality, those are the shit for brains that proclaim autonomous zones, burn police buildings, and get people killed for ideology today ... some people are just miserable to see a lot of other people being happy and enjoying themselves.
@@larebear1902 You seem like one of them.
@@JaJaM.C. really? How so?
@Clyde Wellington listen to what they say a few more times and then contemplate ...
I love how the mall functioned as a third place back then. You didn't have to spend money. You could literally just go and hang out and get a bite at the food court.
A huge hand to Dave's Mom's car for doing half the lifting in transportation 😂🥰
I was 16 years old in '83. I miss my youth and the bygone era. The lights, music, mystique, antiquity, retrofuturism-- overall, the spirit of an Age no more present ...
I am 10 years older than you and believe me - 1973 was even more FREE and EASY than 1983 ! So for me: TODAY looks even MORE like a nightmare.
@@LannieLord, I stand corrected. I totally agree (may God help us all)!
Graduated HS in '83. What a wonderful flashback. Remember those days so well. What a great time to be a kid.
Graduated 83 too.
@@ursulabklyn_mia6148 Me also.
Daaamnn you old fart
@@STEVEDAMAR You're only as old as you feel and I feel you're pretty much an ignoramus.
Me too. I really loved the way it used to be. I actually feel sorry for the next generation.
It's nostalgic and depressing all at once. I went to the mall last Christmas, it was a ghost town. They started to decline right around the time I graduated, 1997. Life seemed so much better, fun and interesting. We are all just zombies staring at our phones now.
In the 80s I remember older people complaining about the modern world and how it was better in the 60s.
I think our current needy relationship with the smartphone and other technologies is a fad because the honeymoon period is ending and people, most especially the teenagers and the young adults, are looking for whatever it is that imbued pre-social media society. Vaporwave and the genuine and heartfelt nostalgia that people feel for the 80s, 90s and early 2000s are among the symptoms of this desire to live a more human life. Old people are always nostalgic, but now it's rampant among the youth too - that's how we can tell that it's significant and an indication of things to come. Anemoia, nostalgia for a time one never personally experienced, is a bizarre and very real phenomenon, and it's in the air now all across the Western world.
Class of 97' 🎉🎉🎉🎉
@@AircaliburGod, I hope that you’re right. I don’t recognize this world anymore. I’ll be turning 24 soon and even in my lifetime, I have noticed a complete change and disconnect from my childhood days to the emptiness that seems to be prevalent now. UA-cam is the only “social media” I have, and I find it so difficult to make meaningful connections. We need communication back! Let’s make malls popular again!
@@squeakyb.7709 That's interesting that a person your age feels that way, and I think it says a lot to how much things have changed for the worst, because when I was 23 in 2006, I didn't feel any disconnect from how life was as a child, things changed but it still felt like I was part of the same world that the 80's and 90's took place in. But somewhere in the last decade or so, that all started to change, I started feeling the disconnect you mentioned and it feels like I'm in a completely different world than the one I was in at 23 and as a child. I can't quite pinpoint when things started to change or feel different, but I'd say around the 2010s. Maybe 2012 or so. Then the pandemic made it feel even worse
My family moved to Long Island, from Queens in the late 80s and my sister and I would always hang out at Roosevelt Field after school. Those were the days. You could easily meet new teens to hang out with at the mall without any worry about crime/shootings, etc. Most people were very civil/polite during that time period.
Sad. We will never have days like this again.
Thank God the 1980s are over.
@@davidralphs4 u like today better really?
@@NidalWorld yeah I'd miss the convenience of today's living. I'm not saying it's perfect because there are many faults, but once you're used to this, its hard going without it.
@@davidralphs4
Thanks for leaving us.
@@_loss_ Back then you couldn't miss what was never there.
"I don't wear what everybody else wears"
Dressed exactly like her friend
lol....
Remember Brittannia jeans? LOL
@@thiscorrosion900 Never heard of them.
This video made me weep. I wanna go back .
I would do *anything* to go back to this year and walk through Gimbels with my mother on a lazy summer weekday when I was 6 years old.