Time stops for nothing and no one, that’s a fact. Trends come and go, new ideas get by, exceptional talents are discovered every day and steal the spotlight, and the latest technologies keep shaping our lives. In the middle of a constantly changing world, some things seem to flop tremendously somehow, while others challenge all the odds and stay undefeated. Seeing how people keep pointing out the things that aged poorly, we thought that, for once, we could highlight and recognize the beauty of things that aged well!
“Wait, is aging well even a thing?” Sure, it is! There are things we learned to love and cherish long ago that don’t seem to fade away with the years — they get better and better and never go out of style. It can be anything from a classic car to TV shows, a fashion trend, slang, a way of thinking, or even celebrities whose talent and charisma stayed strong through decades. They have been around for a long time, yet these things have stood the test of time and remain relevant and popular even today. It’s so easy to get caught up in the “now” of things when we’re continuously being told that the latest and greatest is what we should be looking for and that if we don’t stick to it, something may be wrong with us. No more of that! If you’re also wondering which things aged well, you may be happy to know we already did our homework.
We turned to AskReddit, where users shared their top picks for things (and people) that got better with age. Unsurprisingly, the answers ranged from the funny to the more serious, but they’re all equally interesting in contributing to the topic at hand. And rest assured that these submissions will make you think, “Yeah, it aged so well!”
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"Calvin & Hobbes comics."
"Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen."
"Morgan Freeman."
I would like to counter with Helen Mirren, at her age she is still strikingly beautiful, and doesn't have the" creepy old guy" vibes and stories that you hear about Morgan Freeman.
"Weird Al. Celebrity after celebrity comes out with drug problems, abuse allegations, friends with Weinstein, and there's Weird Al, singing a Coronavirus polka."
I just watched "Weird" a few weeks ago. Easily one of the best movies I've seen this year
"Monty Python and the Holy Grail."
"Mr. Rogers. He was amazing as a child, I respected him as an adult, and I love him as a legacy. No crazy stories. No scandals. Just an amazing person."
"Definitely Rick rolling. It has been a thing for about a decade and is one of the most popular memes and ways to troll on the internet."
I have once been rickrolled by someone who wrote the lyrics on the pavement using a chalk. I kid you not.
"Sherlock Holmes. Was written a century ago, but still keeps getting remade."
"My 84-year-old mother still walks 3 miles a day and has all her wits about her."
"Tetris. Still addictive. I sometimes get hallucinations of falling pieces after playing."
this is actually a scientific thing, called the "tetris effect." google it!
"Lord of the Rings Trilogy. Still great."
"Wallis and Gromit, the first episode were made in 1989 and it’s just a great show about a British man and his dog inventing stuff and going on adventures. “Grand Day Out” is to this day my favorite episode of any show, I watched it when I was a kid and I revisit it every year or so. Y’all should check it out."
"Denim in general."
"Shrek. It still makes me laugh."
I love every Shrek movie, but Shrek 2 will always be my favorite. The inclusion of Puss made a fantastic new dynamic, and I still tear up at the "I need a hero" scene!
"Avatar the last Airbender."
this is my favourite show It's like 50% if my childhood along with httyd 1
"I find that a few classic rock bands are still very popular with young people today. Bands such as the Beatles, Queen, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, the Rolling Stones, AC/DC, Metallica, Guns N' Roses, and Nirvana especially are the most popular among my peers."
My 12 yo daughter asked me if ive ever heard of Metallica and Nirvana 🙈
"The Stormtroopers from the original Star Wars. Every other Sci-Fi costume has aged terribly lol but they’ll always look great."
Star Wars is full of timeless costume designs, like the Jedi or Rebel pilots.
"George Carlin's stand-up comedy specials."
"My Neighbor Totoro by Hayao Miyazaki. Watched it with my 18-month-old today and now he tries to howl like Totoro."
"Heath Ledger as a Joker."
This might be a controversial opinion, but I didn't enjoy the late, great, Heath Ledger as Joker. He brought so much fun to almost every character he ever played, but there wasn't any fun in his Joker. I stand by my belief that Jack Nicholson was the best live action Joker, but he still can't compete with Mark Hamill in "Batman:TAS". Also, I do have to say that I'm not sure if Jack Nicholson was actually acting when he played the Joker, I kinda feel like he was just being himself
"Couples that are above 70 and still love each other more than ever. The most beautiful thing on this planet."
"The Twilight Zone. The series premiered in 1959 and so many of the episodes still hold up today because of its brilliant writing."
"Jurassic Park, I still think the visuals look great in that movie, even if it were to be released today!"
If you have the means...definitely watch it in 3D...astounding that he had thought how it would look in 3D when it wasn't ever screened in 3D...
"Classical music, like fine wine."
"Just rewatched Forrest Gump last night. Totally aged well."
"Incredibly, some very old photography. Sure they might be now in digital and w.e, but the composition, attention to detail, there's just so much."
"Arabic numerals - or what most people call 'numbers'".
Interesting thing: I spent a little time in Afghanistan in 2014 and 2015. Car license plates there have their numbers in what we call Arabic numerals, and what people who write in Arabic call Arabic numerals. They're pretty different.
"Art Nouveau. From architecture, the jewelry, to fashion. I find it all incredibly aesthetic!"
Wish it would come back. New Buildings are so souless now. Gimme sweeping train stations
"Gaming as a whole, it really evolved, and a lot of people play games, there's even an Esports league based off of some of the games."
"Megamind. The villain being a nice guy incel was absolutely ahead of its time, and I think now that we are farther away from will Ferrell we can appreciate his role more now that it's not something oversaturated. The animation still looks amazing, and the music selection feels very reminiscent of both Shrek and guardians of the galaxy. The comedy doesn't feel dated at all and is very timeless. You could watch multiple times and learn something new every time (as I have... A lot). It's starting to get a lot more love now which is great because now I can talk about it with other people and not look batshit crazy."
"Me. 53 years old, got sober 90 days ago, addicted to yoga, lost 32 pounds in two months, six pack emerging in the former beer belly."
"Seasons 1-3 of Spongebob. Classics to this day."
if you tell anyone to imagine the "spongebob laugh" they will immediately know what you are talking about
"Astronomer here! There is a star about 200 light years away from us called the Methuselah star which appears to be about as old as the universe itself. Specifically, the universe is thought to be about 13.8 billion years old, and the star is, based on its composition estimated to be 14.46+/- 0.8 billion years old. So presumably if you err on the side of that minus, it's younger than the age of the universe, but still, the fact that it's been shining for a good 13+ billion years is astounding! For reference, our Sun has been burning for about 4.5 billion years, and has about 5 billion more to go... so this star has already lasted longer than our Sun ever will."
"12 Angry Men. It's over 60 years old and still a very great and compelling movie to watch in 2020."
"The 80s. A time that displayed a future that never happened, only for the future to feel nostalgic over it."
"Whisky, steak, cheese... etc."
"The movie Young Frankenstein. It's hilarious and isn't full of gags that are super offensive today. Movies like Airplane and Blazing Saddles are considered comedy classics, but they couldn't possibly be made today. Young Frankenstein absolutely could if there was a competent enough director and writing team around."
A comedy, a monster movie, a love story--a couple of love stories even. The only comedy that makes me tear up, after probably 20 viewings. The greatest movie ever made.
"Tom and Jerry cartoons!"
Only thing that still makes me laugh out loud and either spit out or choke on whatever I have in my mouth at the time
"The Matrix. (first one) I watch it every 5 years or so and I still don’t know how they pulled it all off. The story, the style, the cinematography, the action, the world, the music, the feeling it gives you, like in moments when Neo is told to follow the white rabbit and then you see the girl’s tattoo. The movie is a masterpiece."
"Eminem."
"Run Rabbit Run" is still my favorite song of his. It's just amazing, there isn't a chance to catch your breath if you try to sing along, you just gotta rap the whole way through.
"90's Japanese cars."
"Especially if they have pop-up headlights."
60's and 70's muscle cars: they never go out of style. I have a 1979 Camaro that I bought in 2000, and drove for 20 years before the engine finally died. The engine was a SBC 400ci, and it had a TH350 3 speed automatic transmission. Both came out of 1973 full size car, but from different vehicles. The transmission still works, I just need to rebuild the engine because it overheated when one of the freeze plugs rusted out. Fuel economy actually wasn't bad because I had a 2.41 posi unit in the back, so I was still getting 20mpg on the highway. Most importantly, there isn't a car that is more fun to drive. Cars of all types would try to race on the highway, and they would just get smoked if I put my pedal to the metal! You only needed to push your big toe down to drive on normal streets
"The first 2 Home Alone movies. They are still hilarious and very fun to watch after all these years, anyone I know has watched them at least 2-3 times."
"Horror movies. They're not as scary as they used to be, but the aesthetic is amazing. Beautifully creepy movies."
"Serial experiments lain. a show with only 13 episodes, every 22 minutes, released in 1998 that managed to be incredibly similar to now. the show had an immense presence of technology, from everybody having a portable cell phone they used for mail and the internet, to online MMORPGs at one point, to even a guy with augmented reality. it's surprising how well the show has aged with its predictions."
"Airplane!, the movie. I've seen it so many times since my childhood, and it never lets me down. I always got several years between viewings, and in the back of my mind, I'm like "Okay, man, this is the time you're going to get bored. This is the time you won't even crack a smile. This is the time you're going to realize this movie is outdated and not nearly as funny as you used to think", but it never happens. For the same effect with a TV show, try out Police Squad!, the precursor to Naked Gun. That show was literally too funny for its own good."
"The 1971 Willy Wonka movie with Gene Wilder. The messages delivered throughout the movie are timeless and still resonate today."
"Dragonball Z. The anime came out nearly 30 years ago, and it's still one of the most iconic animes to ever be created."
"Old Nintendo games... The speedrunning community alone speaks for this. It's crazy how much hype there still is for 20-30-year-old single-player games."
"Terminator 2 - any time I watch this movie, I think I am even more impressed with the practical and VFX they were able to pull off seamlessly... in 1991!"
"Star Trek TNG ! The themes are still actual and the scripts are really good."
"Skateboarding. Not just in the skating itself, which is crazier and more awesome than I could have ever imagined. But also who is skating: Tons of young women of all types, queers too, old and young."
"Wine."
Not all wine is good to be aged. Primarily it's going to be full-bodied wines with robust structures that will age well, others - not so much.
"Thomas the Tank Engine. It was made in 1946 and it's still running and it's still really popular."
"Ash Ketchum, staying 10 years old for 23 years and finally reaching his dream of becoming a pokemon champion."
"MEMES, they’re an old concept and only get better."
"Super Smash Bros Melee, a 19-year-old game that’s the 9th most popular Esport, Even higher than the newest installment Ultimate."
"Roger Federer; is still a top 10 player at 38!"
"I think the Federer, Nadal, Djokovic hegemony over men's tennis is going to be in the record books. Those 3 have been in the top 3 for the last 15ish years."
"I made Alton Brown's aged eggnog recipe last summer. I still have a small amount of it left and it continues to taste better as it ages even after 7+ months."
❤AB - anytime I cook and my husband where I learned some technique, my answer is always the same - the Master of Evil taught me😉
