In case you missed it yesterday, Canadian Actor Ryan Reynolds became one of the central focus points of X ... for all the wrong reasons.
As our own Sam Janney wrote, we're not sure which decade Reynolds lived through, but the 1980s in America were pretty awesome. For Reynolds, however, the 80s were "a brutal time" because of ... the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis or something.
Frankly, we're not sure what the heck he's talking about, but here are his comments again. Maybe Twitchy readers can figure it out.
Ryan Reynolds says ’80s nostalgia “paves over all the trauma” of the “tumultuous” decade:
— Variety (@Variety) September 2, 2026
“The 80s was a brutal, brutal time for people. It was a f***ing mess and people forget that. It was a tremendous strife. Socio political tensions everywhere. We were still pretty fresh off… pic.twitter.com/CvNE3KLfff
Nope. We still got nothin'.
At first, most of the comments were directed at Reynolds himself, who didn't live in America in the 80s and didn't even become a teenager until the decade was basically over.
Ryan Reynolds was 4 years old when the 80's started.
— Cynical Publius (@CynicalPublius) September 3, 2026
Maybe he was "brutalized" by not getting as many Jello Pudding Cups as he wanted.
Or maybe his poutine didn't have enough cheese curds or gravy.
Ryan Reynolds grew up in Canada and moved to the U.S. in 1995.
— Angela Belcamino (@AngelaBelcamino) September 3, 2026
In the 80s, he was a Canadian child—not an American adult.
So maybe he should stop lecturing Americans about what America was like back then.
Hollywood keeps finding new ways to make us like them even less. 😂 https://t.co/2UZhscgrfY
And most people liked Reynolds ... at least they did before he declared himself an enemy of Ronald Reagan, the Miracle on Ice, the fall of the Berlin Wall, and the best of times.
Recommended
I have no idea what he's talking about
— Fusilli Spock (@awstar11) September 3, 2026
No one did. Likely not even Reynolds, given that his "trauma" callback was to an event that happened an entire generation earlier.
Ryan, what are you talking about? The 80’s were amazing. Please just stop talking about things you don’t understand. I’m begging you. pic.twitter.com/NnBqLX497H
— GAgirl1967 Jesus brings freedom from sin! (@SavvyTamz_57) September 3, 2026
This is what happens when you let “aCtOrS” speak without a script in front of them.
— Vincent Charles: Roi De Tout, (Ret.) (@YesThatVCharles) September 3, 2026
A: Read your lines.
2: Cash your check.
D: Just shut up.
As PolitiBunny said yesterday, 'Just shut up and be Deadpool, dude.'
Everybody likes Deadpool.
Like any good trend on X, however, the replies soon grew beyond Reynolds, as many Gen Xers struck back and began sharing their own examples of being 'traumatized' — by living through the greatest decade ever.
The 1980s were a living Hell. Young people simply do not understand.
— Cynical Publius (@CynicalPublius) September 3, 2026
✔️New Coke.
✔️"Heaven's Gate" and "The Blue Lagoon."
✔️"Hello Larry" and "Alf."
✔️Lean Cuisine, Beefaroni and Jell-O casseroles.
✔️Mullets, rat-tails and BigHair.
✔️Kajagoogoo and Milli Vanilli.
✔️Parachute…
The list continued (hilariously) before the tweet ended with the following admonition:
Those who were not there simply do not understand. It's a wonder civilization survived, and most of us silently suffer from the scars today.
Do not mock us survivors. We might tie you down in a beanbag chair and make you watch re-runs of The Morton Downey Jr. Show.
Oh, NO! Not Morton Downey!
He was the horrific precursor to Jerry Springer, like an evil, anti-John the Baptist and Jesus.
I couldn’t enjoy the 80s because we were still playing with our set of original Lawn Jarts. The ongoing fear was palpable, especially when we used them as poison darts when we played jungle warfare.
— Maggie (@drillanwr) September 4, 2026
We lost so many good men and women to deadly games of Jarts.
Not to mention Roman Candle shootouts and skeeching.
The most traumatic thing I can remember from the 80s. pic.twitter.com/zGT9lus03v
— ʞɹıɯ𝕊 (@FoundersGirl) September 4, 2026
Milli Vanilli! History's greatest monsters!
Ironically, were both members of the band still with us today, they would likely be HUGE YouTube or TikTok stars, and no one would care that they weren't singing their own songs.
You kids don’t remember but the worst part about living through the 80s was the residual trauma from the Lincoln assassination.
— Jarvis (@jarvis_best) September 3, 2026
LOL.
Seriously. Could Reynolds have reached back a little farther than the Kennedy administration for his example of 80s trauma?
How about Tammany Hall or even the Whiskey Rebellion?
Ryan Reynolds: “The 80s were brutal and traumatic.”
— The Drunk Republican (@DrunkRepub) September 3, 2026
Gen Xers covered in scars from bike wrecks and firecrackers who long for the paradise that was their youth: pic.twitter.com/aI71ojAq4V
Whatever culture someone is from, who doesn't love the 80s ... we don't like it.
I grew up in the '80s. No one gave a f--k about the Cuban Missile Crisis & it was a great decade for Pro Wrestling! https://t.co/92EgvSXAwL
— Sean Waltman (@TheRealXPac) September 4, 2026
Brother, how could anyone forget the great American military victories of Hulk Hogan defeating the Iron Sheik and Nikolai Volkoff?
Whatcha gonna do, you Russkies and America-hating Islamists!
Undeniable evidence that TV shows had the best intro music in the 1980s#synth #80s #classic80s pic.twitter.com/pWeUQKlg78
— D r e a m k i d (@dreamkid83) September 3, 2026
Even the TV theme show music was light-years better than whatever it is that Billie Eilish is whining about today in her ... ahem ... "songs."
Music and MTV in the 80s, compared to today? Fuggedaboutit.
When someone tries to tell me the 80s were traumatic. pic.twitter.com/lrYzk0Y1My
— Casey Mattox (@CaseyMattox_) September 3, 2026
Susanna Hoffs could stop a million men dead in their tracks with those eyes alone.
THE ’80s WERE BUILT DIFFERENT.
— Gunther Eagleman™ (@GuntherEagleman) September 3, 2026
No smartphones. No social media. No nonstop outrage machine.
Just loud music, fast cars, arcades, Saturday morning cartoons, neighborhood kids outside until dark, and everybody actually living instead of documenting every second of it.
The movies… pic.twitter.com/qveSNMO2aq
... were better. The music was legendary. Life felt bigger.
If you got to grow up in the ’80s, you caught one of the greatest eras America ever had.
You can say that again. And again. And again.
One of the best videos about how great the 80s were was actually posted right before Reynolds made his unfortunate comments about the decade.
But the timing couldn't have been more perfect.
It came as a question from someone who, like Reynolds, didn't really grow up until the 80s were over.
I was born in the ’90s, so I need someone to confirm:
— Cam.™ (@_CameronLane) August 31, 2026
Was the ’80s actually this much fun, or is this propaganda? pic.twitter.com/KPphls3OKV
It's not propaganda.
That WAS the 1980s.
What made the 80s special was that almost NO ONE -- except some teachers who still thought it was the 60s -- was uptight.
— John Ocasio-Rodham Nolte (@NolteNC) September 1, 2026
Everyone was cool. Everyone could take a joke. You never had to walk on eggshells. The girls were cool. Race relations were cool. We all had part-time jobs.…
... We all had beater cars. We all drank beer, smoked cigs, went to the movies, watched MTV, and only wanted to have fun, not prove we were good people.
You had to be there.
We were there. The 1980s in America ROCKED.
What a pity for Ryan Reynolds that he wasn't.
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