All '90s Kids Could Relate To These Movies

,Being a '90s kid could sometimes be a deeply isolating experience. I mean, between playing on the latest game consoles for hours on end, watching the same VHS movies over and over again on a weekly basis and listening to Backstreet Boys albums on repeat whilst daydreaming about Nick Carter in your bedroom, there wasn't always much room left for friends. Whilst all children have widely differing experiences growing up, there's still a great amount of shared experiences too, and as such there's a surprising amount of '90s movies that all kids could relate to.

The hobbies of a '90s kid meant that we weren't always as social as we possibly should have been, and that could sometimes make it difficult to feel like anyone truly understood us. But many of us had our own methods of discovering something which made us feel understood, and a lot of the time that thing was movies. The plots might not have been complex, they might not have even always been the smartest or most thoughtful, but they definitely spoke to us in a way that made us feel totally understood.

These were the movies that we'd watch again and again. The ones that we'd rent out of the video store every weekend or watch whenever we had a chance to take over the family TV. And it's hardly surprising — these films knew how it felt to be a '90s kid, what was important to us, what was happening to us, and how we felt about everything.

1. Matilda

What kids didn't fantasize about sticking up to their teachers and saving their friends from bullies? The telekinesis and whole child genius thing might not have been relatable, but Matilda's determination to look after everyone that she loved definitely was.

2. The Mighty Ducks

Especially if you were part of a gang of friends who were total goofballs that always got picked last in gym class. But damn, girl, you had fun, right? And that's what The Mighty Ducks is all about. Well, that and the fact that sometimes, goofballs also become winners. And that's a sentiment all kids could get behind.

3. My Girl

Every tomboy of the '90s could identify with Vada's resilience against all things supremely girly. And they could more than relate with accidentally developing a major crush on their best friend, too.

4. Drop Dead Fred

For all the times that dishes would mysteriously smash, expensive vases would get destroyed, and paint would get spilled on the new carpet, everyone had a friend like Fred who they could pit the blame on. And no, it didn't make any difference that you didn't believe those "friends" were real, Mom.

5. Hook

Creating invisible food, pretending to eat it, and totally being able to taste it was something that all kids with a gigantic imagination (and an endless hunger) knew all about.

6. Home Alone

The one film which seemed to understand all those things you'd shout at your parents in the midst of a childish argument and immediately regret. Like, please don't actually leave me alone, Mom and Dad.

7. Harriet The Spy

This one goes out to all the misunderstood, budding writer kids who put all of their deepest, darkest, most secret observations down into a secret diary. You might not have been a spy, but you were just as scared of your diary ending up in the wrong hands.

8. The Pagemaster

As a kid, all book lovers truly believed that their favorite books could totally talk to them (and like, yeah, in a way I guess they did), but The Pagemaster confirmed our suspicions that books were utterly magical and put our love for reading up on screen.

9. The Addams Family

The holy grail of family films for every morbid, goth kid who was repeatedly told to stop being so damn weird. The Addams Family suggested that yeah, you might be a little odd, but it's also perfectly cool to own that oddness. You're my hero, Wednesday Addams.

10. Jumanji

Because between the tantrums, cheating accusations ,and eventual tears over what was supposed to be a fun game of Monopoly, family board game night could get completely out of hand. There might have not have been a treacherous jungle, poisonous plants or charging rhinos to contend with, but getting told off by your parents for throwing board game pieces at your brother could feel just as bad.

11. Now And Then

There was no other film which understood exactly what you were going through as a pre-pubescent girl than Now And Then. It felt painful and real.

12. Camp Nowhere

All right, so there's nothing even vaguely relatable about the way that the kids were able to run their own summer camp in Camp Nowhere, but the film nailed that restless feeling of wanting to be free and independent of adults as a kid.

13. Jingle All The Way

No other film understood just how much you wanted that certain, special toy at Christmas. It's just a shame that we didn't all have the powers of Arnie on our side to help us get it.

14. Problem Child

Wild, trouble making, and unapologetic. Every kid had a least a tiny bit of the utterly monstrous Junior from Problem Child within them waiting to be unleashed for a tantrum. It was an absolute riot to see those rebellious sides of ourselves up on screen — even if we weren't ever quite as horrendous as he was.

I'm not going to lie, I still relate to a lot of these films. Some might say that should be a sign for me to grow up, but I strongly disagree. You never grow out of wanting your freedom, developing unwanted crushes on friends or feeling the tumultuous pains of growing up, no matter what age you are.

Images: Paramount Pictures