It's not, though. I'm not saying "damn kids these days" about any of this. I am lamenting the inevitable tide of change in all things, as that change broadly moves away from my preferences, particularly my aesthetic preferences. it has nothing to do with "damn kids these days" and the number of people trying to characterize it that way aren't actually paying attention to what I wrote.
But, then, threads these days are mostly rorschach tests. People see what they want to see and comment on THAT, rather than whatever the actual subject is.
In part... that's because of how you've changed and society has changed over the decades.
PLAYING the game back in the 80s and early 90s was practically Taboo, particularly in the South, lest you be called a Satanist. And that transgressiveness went the way of the dodo while I was still new to the game. But it was still deep in "Nerd Culture" where lots of people had heard of it, but most never played it or thought about it. So you still had some transgressiveness of choosing this Nerdy Dorky Fun passtime that others "Didn't Understand".
But in the 90s and early 2000s you know what was -actually- transgressive in D&D? Being Gay. Or Bisexual. Geeks could largely overlook physical disabilities in their friends and encouraged D&D as a way to "Escape" that kind of thing (without realizing how intensely ableist it was) but having a Queer person, of any stripe, at the table was generally taboo because you didn't wanna be around the (Insert your choice of slur here).
But then that barrier broke down as well, as LGBTQIA people gained more acceptance. And now it's hardly transgressive at all to play D&D under any auspice whatsoever.
As to art styles and aesthetics: That's just time, Hon. Art changes rapidly and what people like or don't like becomes the new standard or identity. Whether it's 3e's "No Symmetry Allowed!" Pathfinder's "Cram all the Details in!" style or D&D's new kind of mildly cartoonish style. Just like music has progressed in the past 30 years to the point where "Kids these days" don't know the music I used to listen to when I was their age and nothing on the radio has that specific flavor.
We are D&D Hipsters. And that's not a bad thing.
Besides. Give it some more time and the swing of things will roll back toward your preferences for Aesthetics at least. Like fashion, art is cyclical. Someone who was inspired by Frazetta and Elmore is working their way up to getting hired by WotC, eventually. And they'll do an entire "Retro Style" aesthetic edition to cash in on our Nostalgia.
