A "Surreal" Super 8 Look Back

[Carolyn Marie]

For those in Gen X, Super 8 was one of the last formats of film camera used in the 70's and 80's. My best friends and I shot a lot of 8mm when we were young. Recently, one of them transferred about 90 minutes of film to DVDs, and I watched it today with my wife and son.

It was very strange, seeing myself between the ages of 19-23. It was like watching another person entirely, someone I barely recognized. My son asked me if I felt emotional or nostalgic about seeing myself at that age. He expressed mild shock that I felt almost nothing at all, except a sense of detached bemusement at how silly my friends and I looked in 70's clothes and hair.

We had shot some faux scripted "movies" with ersatz plots, as well as the usual assortment of vacation films. It was fascinating seeing what Vegas and my home turf looked like back then. You Gen Xs would be amazed at how quaint Vegas looked then, with the only "skyscraper" hotel at the time being the Hilton. Me and my friends were driving Pintos then, just goofing around.

The one thing I didn't feel, watching those old movies, was any sense of unease about seeing myself as the person I was. I know it would bother many, but like said, I just didn't feel connected to it, or him, in any real sense.

My son said he really liked it, and that it was "surreal." That was about as apt a description as I could ever come up with.

Yup, pretty "neat" all right.

HUGS

Carolyn

[Guest]

Your title made me laugh, Carolyn.

I was trying to guess whether the topic was about 8mm film or about the Motel chain.<giggle>

For us calendar challenged, the 8mm can bring back some "scary" memories.

Thanx for sharing.

Huggs,

Joann

[gennee]

I remember how I dressed back then. Kind of wild when I think about it. Cameras sure have changed since then. Whoever thought that now you can take pictures with your phone?

[Guest Jo-88]

Just so you know it goes like this

baby boomers (1945-1964) > generation X (1965-1984) > generation Y/millennials (1985-2004) > generation Z (2005-2024)

So since super 8 was popular in the 1960's and 1970's I would say most generation X'ers know what super 8 is... its us gen y folks who are gonna be clueless lol

I however being a geek and a gen Y person immediately thought of the Sci-Fi movie "Super 8" which is awesome lol

I hear what you are saying about feeling detached from what you saw though. I have no films of me as kid but I have come across things I have written in the past and its such and odd thing to read them... I don't remember writing them and most of the time I have no clue what I am even talking about. Its like reading something a completely different person wrote. Its strange how we retain our sense of self throughout the years yet we change so drastically that we are literally different people (even at the cellular level). The human condition is a fascinating thing.

[Carolyn Marie]

Just so you know it goes like this

baby boomers (1945-1964) > generation X (1965-1984) > generation Y/millennials (1985-2004) > generation Z (2005-2024)

LOL! Thanks, Jodie. I can't keep the generations straight any more. So, what's going to come after Z? AA?

Carolyn Marie

[Guest Jo-88]

Well we will all be speaking chinese by then so probably... 代壹點壹 (generation 1.1) lol

[Guest Brenda Hailey]

I am afraid to look at all that stuff about me in the past...luckily there is a completely lost decade where there are absolutely no pictures of me in the throws of my addictions,,,,that I can be thankful for.

As for the rest of my family photos I dont know how to feel about them yet, I guess just keep ignoring them until the nostalgia time is right. Wearing clothes back then signifying my older brother status emblazened across my chest is not something I wish to relive with enthusiasm.....as I recall I didnt like it back then either.. :-/

I dont know its just to much to think about right now....enghhhh.

Brenda

[Bulldog1948]

Carolyn, What type of Pinto did you have? My Dad had a neat little mint colored Pinto station wagon [ loved to drive that thing]. Then Mom's last car she ever bout was a 1980 hatch back [ I still have it]. They went pretty good in the snow beleive it or not

[JJ]

Sometimes when I remember the past I get the same feeling. Maybe because I was only pretending at life in a way unless I was alone or with my child when she was small. I don't hate to see the old pics and videos. Just detached -because in a way I was at the time too.

Oddly enough I think had anyone taken pics or videos of the activities I did as a male mentally-the fishing and hiking etc-I might be bothered by the difference in what I felt and where I was in my mind and what my body actually looked like. perhaps it isn't coincidental that no such pics or videos exist. Well after age 11 anyway. Just those taken post transition for anything I did when I could be male.

I'm glad you got to go back and see the old stomping grounds and enjoy the videos.

I have a few Super 8s of my daughter I need to take in to convert before they crumble or combust.

Hugs

Johnny

[Carolyn Marie]

Carolyn, What type of Pinto did you have? My Dad had a neat little mint colored Pinto station wagon [ loved to drive that thing]. Then Mom's last car she ever bout was a 1980 hatch back [ I still have it]. They went pretty good in the snow beleive it or not

It was a blue sedan, Mike, with a manual trans. A pretty decent car it was, too. I think I had it for seven or eight years. I think most of us are very fond of our first cars. I was.

HUGS

Carolyn Marie

[VickySGV]

Carolyn -- I was thinking about the budget motel chain when I first read your title. I didn't know one of them was the Bates Motel!! I totally forgot about the cameras, but at my superannuation, that's to be expected!!

Never had a Pinto, but drove them as L.A. County motor pool cars in my early 20's. Better than Gremlins for sure.

I have been scanning some old family photo's and cataloging them for my grandkids, and seeing me as a boy in them is also a head shaker for sure. "Why did he always have a sad look on his face, even when sorta smiling?"