Nothing Good Came Out of the 80's?

According to the infallible wisdom of my 14 year-old son, "nothing good came out of the 80's." We've had numerous discussions of some of the great things that came from that decade, but he's sticking to his guns and insists that the 80's was, in general, a stagnant period in the world.

First and foremost, Wang Chung came out of that time period. In fact, there was a lot of cool music that came out of the 80's. Men Without Hats, Men at Work, Duran Duran and The Thompson Twins all became popular about that time. His eyes just glazed over.

After coercing him out of his self-induced coma with the promise of a chocolate milk, I continued on.

MTV debuted in the early 80's. You know, music videos? You simply weren't a cool band unless you had a really awesome video to go along with the songs! Take Van Halen's "Hot For Teacher," for example. Wow! Now that was some video. A work of art! And...
"Wait," my son said. "Were you a teenager, Dad?"
Well, yes, of course I was.
"And did it have girls in it, Dad?"
Well, duh! This is Van Halen we're talking about. Of course it did!
"I rest my case," he said, then muttered something something derogatory about 'works of art.'

The movie "Raiders of the Lost Ark" came out in the 80's, as a matter of fact. This one caused him to hesitate because he is a big fan of that particular movie.

"One good movie does not redeem an entire decade of sub-standard quality and values, Dad," he said. Ouch!

I went so far as to point out that HIV/Aids was recognized during that decade. I also made note of the internet, which was 'invented' during that time frame. Heck, the Cold War ended in the 80's. Nintendos and Apple IIe's, high technology indeed, came out of that decade.

"Oh, Dad," he responded, worrying me. He is a history buff. "HIV/Aids? I mean, really?! You're going to go there? And the internet... Well, let's just say nobody could really use it until the 90's. It was kind of an exclusive thing, in the beginning.

"And check your history Dad. I think the Cold War officially ended in the early 90's. Nintendo has since expanded on that simple technology to make bigger and better things. And isn't the Apple IIe the computer you said you programmed a rocket image with big green squares? Lame, Dad."

All this conjecturing led to one very important question. I asked him if this meant that all the people born in the 80's are all lame or, at best, "stagnant."

"The 80's has no bearing on those people unfortunate enough to be born during that period," he replied matter-of-factly. "It only means that those poor people had nothing decent to look forward to for at least another decade."