Nostalgia, a sentimental longing for the past, originates from the Greek words “nostos” (homecoming) and “algos” (pain).
Despite the speed of modern life, it’s interesting to see our society still clutching to memories of the past through movie remakes, music sampling and even in our fashion trends we see today.
The general consensus seems to say we’re becoming more nostalgic and crave the glamour of the nineties and early two thousands or as some call it, the “Y2K” era.
Whether l’m seeing punk piercings or retro Nike Air Max’s, it still evokes a sense of comfort to simpler times for me, when we didn’t have to inspect a photo or video twice to ensure it wasn’t artificially generated.
It’s amusing to see the younger generations today donning the baggy clothing and oversized jeans we rocked in the nineties which for me seemed such a festive and celebratory decade.
Those years Brit pop was ruling the airwaves, Manchester United dominated the Premier League, Hip-Hop and R&B were in their golden age while films like Titanic and The Matrix packed theatres to the brim.
Sadly, cinemas today seem like ghost towns unless audiences are queuing for remakes of action blockbusters like Jurassic Park, Final Destination or superhero movies and the endless sequels attached to them.
The increasing movie ticket prices aren’t helping the situation either.
Now, most movies and series seem like poor regurgitations of the past, trying to recapture the hype and fascination we once had when we saw Harry Potter as kids for the first time.
I understand, we crave stability and comfort, when we worried less about our bills, the frightening technological innovations and how our companies are managing this crippling economy, these remakes could remind us of a time when we relaxed playing video games or hanging out with friends.
In those days, when physical media still existed, our shelves were stacked with DVDs and even magazines. Back when we had music and video stories where people could hang out, rent a movie, preview an album at the store before buying it and even making a friend or two out of a shared interest.
Sadly most these stores have closed down.
I think people enjoy and yearn for a sense of community, a refuge from their stressful lives when they can congregate on a Saturday, switch off from the Internet, chat and find a friend who shares your passions.
Instead, it seems we’re becoming increasingly divided on various topics such as: politics, religion and gender. Now it seems more people are starting “fan-clubs” dedicated to hating a certain group that doesn’t share their ideologies, now it seems trendier to troll and mock people and post it as funny content.
Still, It brings me some joy to hear pop music mimicking the drums patterns of the UK Garage and Brit pop eras and seeing the younger generations embracing it. I just fear it if they could become stuck in reliving this aesthetic, instead of paving their own unique path and setting their own trends.
Interestingly, despite how many of us are using our cellphones for music, transport, reading the news, it’s nice to see book stores still thriving.
Of course, many still read books online but as you’ve heard before, it’s hard trying to replicate the comfort that paperback books ooze when it comes to the smell of the pages, the look of the font and even paging to a new chapter.
Perhaps the overstimulation and fear we experience as citizens where we’re drowning in content, traumatic news, Al-generated media, it seems we hardly have a moment to be slowed down, relax and bask in the wonder of not always rushing to be informed on a certain topic.
You could scroll endlessly looking for a movie or series to binge on Netflix these days.
Who knows, maybe physical media could slowly make a comeback like the return of vinyl’s which soared in sales in the 2020’s.
I still miss those days when you picked up an album by one of your favourite artists, gazed at the cover art and read the booklets to find out what musicians played on the record.
Back when you inserted the CD or let the needle hit the vinyl and allowed yourself to be transported by the music and even danced without having to text, be on Instagram or have multiple tabs open on your phone.
I think a quote from one of Tom Wait’s songs perfectly captures our unease for the uncertainty the future poses and our addiction for simpler times, “you wore the same kind of perfume you wore when we met, I suppose there’s something comforting in knowing what to expect”.
