1. Film photography: B&W vs. color accessibility and cost
Commenters repeatedly noted that black‑and‑white film was far cheaper and easier to process in the 1970s, while color required labs or specialized chemicals and was less stable for archival work.
- “In the 1970s color film/development/print cost significantly more than black and white.” – jamesgill
- “You can process and print B&W yourself. Color needs to go to a lab.” – browningstreet
- “Long‑term‑stable color photo processing didn’t become widely available until the late 1970s‑early 1980s. So if you were an artist and interested in building and maintaining a permanent portfolio, B&W was pretty much your only option.” – blacksqr
- “Interestingly, it's the opposite now - B&W tends to be more expensive because it has to be done by hand at most shops, while color development is done by machine.” – rafram
2. Personal feelings about high school / adolescence
Many users shared contrasting memories of their teen years—some cherishing the freedom and friendships, others stressing the awkwardness and pressure, and a few noting a nostalgic longing for the “possibility” of youth despite its difficulties.
- “High school was a really awkward period for me that was much more stressful than enjoyable… College was much better for me than high school.” – rurp
- “From my experience, it's possible to hate the high school/college years, but for them to also be comparably less terrible than what comes after… A miserable past where the future wasn't set feels more glamorous than a miserable present railroaded into a miserable future.” – spijdar
- “I'm the opposite. I LOVED high school, and miss those friends dearly… I miss being on the basketball team and marching band… I miss the 90s and no cell phones… I miss being able to exist without the fear of having your life recorded…” – jawilson2
- “Yeah, I don't miss being a teenager, I miss that unique combination of low responsibility and high possibility.” – bena
3. Cultural idolization of youth and adolescence
Several remarks criticized how American media and culture glorify the teenage years, suggesting that society spends adulthood trying to recapture a fleeting, often painful, period of life.
- “Lovely pics, but no country as much as America idolizes and worships its adolescents.. MTV, VH1, now instagram, tiktok and all that.. according to mass media we spend the rest 50 years of our lives trying to recapture that short youthful phase.. in reality for a lot people adolescence was a painful and thankfully short period…” – AIorNot
- “Fascinating to see what would now be labelled as 'unrealistic female beauty standards' depicted here.” – philipallstar
- “The venture capitalists all ran here.” – ghost_of_moc (hinting at VC chasing youth‑centric trends)