Irony was not only in bad taste but worse - not funny. Television turned from the joke of a decadent amusement into a window onto Sparta. Actions suddenly had results. In the New Sincerity, we work to elect our friends or build new sewage plants. In the New Sincerity, we aspire to tell everyday stories with the intensity of Forrest Sawyer reporting from Kuwait.
Life is pretty serious business.
The New Sincerity sells cars by telling us they'll last forever and save our lives with airbags. The Old Sincerity pointed out everything fatuous the boss said. The New Sincerity says it really likes the boss and sees his or her point of view. The New Sincerity reembraces the need for a message and wants to teach us that propaganda all is necessary. The Old Sincerity was a summing-up of the Sixties, Seventies and Eighties.