A New Epidemic: Nostalgia
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“Wistful affection for the past.” The quick flash of a memory can arise from a song, smell, or even a person. Such an instance can feel like a complete blur of happiness, unable to pinpoint why you get this fuzzy feeling. Reflecting on what once was can consume the brain with a sensation of pure bliss. Even when times may not have been so good, these triggers make humans reminisce about what once was.
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Our natural instinct as humans is to focus on the good, and that’s precisely what nostalgia does. Nostalgia has rewarding benefits; it is proven that when struck with this feeling the brain activates reward pathways, leaving you craving more of that same feeling. It also creates a calming effect, like a safeguard by clinging onto something so wonderful. With a world so anxiety-stricken, it only makes sense that our pop culture is obsessed with what the past has to offer—especially on our TVs.
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The Hollywood scene has found a driving force in nostalgic films by romanticizing not only old TV shows and movies, but creating new films with inspiration from the 70s, 80s, and 90s. There has been a boom in young adults becoming one with the “old” movie scene. Indulging in these films can make you seem cool or different. Some enjoy the aesthetic of it all. There is much more depth to it than this, however. In these TV shows and movies, we see a depiction of simpler times, which helps us deal with the commotion of youth. As young adults and teenagers, we experience tremendous change: navigating college, leaving home, finding a job. This full charge into adulthood can make one question the purpose of living. When we watch these old films (or new films that look like old films) there is a spark in the brain that this complicated life is simple. It can be compared to a drug, the way your nervous system gets hooked on the feeling of what you have already been through.
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We have seen this nostalgic euphoria geared towards older adults as well. Pertaining to the trends and style of older generations. Shows like Stranger Things and That 70’s Show, depict life in the 80s and 70s, making references that only our parents may get. Being young can be the most blissful thing in the world, and most times it is gone before we get to soak it in. By the time we have wished our life away, a feeling of wanting the innocence and simplicity of being an adolescent haunts us. These cinematic masterpieces bring us back down from the stress of navigating adulthood.
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Nostalgia gives us something to relate to and creates a feeling of safety. On a deeper note, we see ourselves as these people. A great contribution to this idea of nostalgia is the film Call Me by Your Name, which not only takes place in the 1980s but encapsulates what it feels like to have your first experience with love. This film tells of a romantic summer in Italy between two young men who fall in love over an extremely rocky timeline. One second they are desperately devoted to each other, the next they are questioning if their feelings are real. Watching it brings back the comfort of being so innocently in love for the first time.
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The world swoons for nostalgic movies because we get to see our past come to life again. It brings back what we used to love so much, and it can apply to any generation. In 2022, we will see the new Batman movie, a new Scream, Fast and Furious, The Matrix, and more. These personal connections to happiness are fueling the cinematic industry, and the world could not be more addicted to it.
Strike Out,
Writer: Ella Selph
Editor: Roxy Rico
Graphic Designer: Andrea Wolfe
Tallahassee