The Power of Memories

Nostalgia is defined as a wistful or excessively sentimental yearning for return to or of some past period or irrecoverable condition. It is a yearning for a past memory. It is a yearning for a past experience. It is a yearning for a past feeling. For decades, nostalgia has ruled the throne of culture. The creation of new cultural ideas has revolved around individuals dependent on the past. Film is the most popular outlet in which produces of culture master the future, while reinventing the past. Nostalgia in films has become popular within popular movies and tv-shows, but why? How do producers effectively use past memories to the emotions of viewers and why is this trend so significant in past, present and future lives?

With the rapid, dramatic consequences of social and political upheaval, with technological advances that have radically transformed our daily lives – some might find themselves longing for a time when troubles were few. Constantly being plugged into the internet and social media is thought to be associated with higher rates of anxiety and depression. A majority of Americans think that America’s culture and way of life have mostly changed for the worse, but what effect does this longing have? In life, change is the default, not the exception. Novelty, on the other hand is used an antidote boredom and satiation. Nonetheless, people long for stability. Change can threaten well-being, especially when it requires a new set of skills to meet new demands. (Batcho,1)

When faced with instability, the mind wanders to positive memories of the past. Research used to show that anything involving nostalgia was negative. It was seen as a retreat in the face of uncertainty, depression, and sadness. Nostalgia is a powerful emotion that can be conjured from anything ranging from smell, conversations, and even music. Nostalgic experiences stimulate metabolic activity and blood flow in several regions of the brain, particularly the frontal, limbic, paralimbic, and midbrain areas. People who listen to music that evokes nostalgia experience greater activity in the inferior frontal gyrus, substantia nigra, cerebellum, and insula than they do when listening to music that does not induce nostalgia.(Moawad,2) Nostalgia itself is not linked with depression or any other affective disorder. In fact, one study linked nostalgia to an overall trait of resilience and comfort. It has been shown to strengthen an individual's sense of personal continuity, reminding people who they are and how memories are intertwined to an identity. (Batcho,1)

Nostalgia is not always about the past; it can be retrospective and also prospective. The fantasies of the past are directly correlated with those of the future and what a person wants out of a person, relationship, opportunity or situation. Consideration of the future makes us take responsibility for our nostalgic tales.(Boyom, XVII)

For decades, filmmakers have continued to make large lump sums of cash from one thing: nostalgia. The internet has concentrated our perception of what’s new, but it’s also given us countless ways to revisit the old. No longer is nostalgia something that catches us by surprise. Now it’s something we consciously seek out in movies, music and art.(Lyne, 1) Susan Stewart writes that “ nostalgia is the repetition that mourns the inauthenticity of all repetitions and denies the repitition’s capacity to define identity.” There are two distinguished types of nostalgia: the restorative and the reflective. Restorative nostalgia views a moment in history, such as the Sistine Chapel, as it was in that moment. While hoping to recreate that moment in time as it was. On the other hand, reflective nostalgia looks back on the memory. Through nostalgia, films are recreated, films connect to the audience, and films reinvent the sense of self many loose throughout the years.

There has always been a fascination for what we refer to as, “ the good old times.” Social media sites advertise vintage styles and things that were popular in the 90’s such as polaroids. Why in this day in age are things of the past of such importance? Films like “Sense and Sensibility”, “The Artist”, and “Pride and Prejudice”, explore the aesthetics and social life of past decades and fall under the nostalgic category. One can observe further past music, fashion, furniture, food, drinks and other everyday objects.(Niemeyer,2) Those are the things that are superficially observed, but there are also many hidden things within these longings. Nostalgia is not always a trend, but more often a hint towards something positive or negative.

The movie Forrest Gump, takes viewers on a ride through the 1950s, 60s and 70s right into the mid 1980s. Along the way, Forrest and Jenny represent two different paths that white Americans traveled during the time period. While Forrest is in the army fighting in Vietnam during the 60s and 70s, Jenny is going out protesting, doing drugs, and being a hippie. They show the two extreme examples of what an average life was during that time. Forrest also briefly mentions things like JFK’s assassination, the watergate scandal and the presidency of Nixon. Forest personified the major events of the era while also putting an order to the chaotic story that is US history. He was able to tell his story, because he was nostalgic. His mind was in a place where he was sad, missing his mom, Jenny and all of the people he lost during the Vietnam War. “History isn’t the thing itself, but rather a story we tell, and the story changes, new elements are added, others forgotten, myths invented, causes imagined, facts debunked. History is a process of imposing order on a chaotic process, inventing causality and finding meaning.” Grease is another film that is the epitome of nostalgia for both adolescence and the 1950’s. Every scene of Grease displays a candy-coated image of the era and youth. It gives us a 1950s that is pure, bright, and colorful. The Rydell high schoolers have enduring friendships and long-lasting romance.(Fisch,1) In his article “Cin© Paranoia: Conspiracy Unmasked, 1973-75” J. Hoberman cites the mid 1970s as a time of economic and social turmoil. The economy had slowed down, gas prices had risen, and Hollywood was still feeling the aftermath of the Manson murders...Not once does Grease acknowledge the American government or social ills. Rather, the audience is distracted from reality and forced to focus on the simplistic themes and development of romance and friendships between the characters. Because Grease was made when the 1970s was drawing to a close, it represents a desire to return to simpler times. The desire to return to simpler times is exactly how films continue to be successful decade after decade. Movies and television shows offer a alternate reality, allowing people to escape the pain and sadness they may be facing from real-life problems. They present a very idealized image of what high school is. The pastel colors, old-fashioned costumes and dance moves represent a nostalgic look at adolescence. This last day of high-school is dreamy and upbeat, while the last day of high-school in most cases is sad or like any other day. And let’s not forget the blissful ending of the movie, in which the flying “Grease Lightning” lifts Danny and Sandy into the clouds. Movies like these are created in order to fill a void of any type of negative emotion, in order to provide a momentary sense of fulfillment.

There is a contemporary Russian claiming that the past has become much more unpredictable than the future. Nostalgia depends on a very strange unpredictability. In fact, many who have experienced nostalgia say they are unsure of what they are yearning for. The ambivalent sentiment permeates twentieth century popular culture, where technological advances and special effects are subsequently used to recreate visions of the past, from the sinking Titanic to gladiators and extinct dinosaurs. Somehow progress did not cure nostalgia, but exacerbated it.(Boym,xiv) Nostalgia inevitably reappears as a defense mechanism in a time of accelerated rhythms of life and historical upheavals. The word nostalgia is frequently used in a negative connotation. For example, Boym tells his experience of emigrating from the Soviet Union to the United States in 1981 and how he was told he would never be able to return across the border again. So, he thought that nostalgia was a waste of his time. Eventually nostalgia caught up to him in unexpected ways, once returning to his native country ten years after his departure. Boyom retells his experience returning to his home explaining how “ phantoms of familiar faces and facades, the smell of frying cutlets in the cluttered kitchen, a scent of urine and swamps in the decadent hallways, a gray drizzle over the Neva River, the rubble of recognition- it all touched me and left me numb… it felt like traveline into another temporal zone where everybody was late but somehow there was always time.” Nostalgia goes beyond yearning for a place in time, in reality it is the longing for a different time. Most often, that place is our childhood;where everything was simple and slow.

Many believe that nostalgia is paradoxical, meaning that the sense of longing an individual experiences will allow them to be more empathetic toward fellow humans. By breaking down the term “nostalgia”. Consistent with its Greek word roots meaning ""homecoming"" and ""pain,"" nostalgia was for centuries considered a potentially debilitating and sometimes fatal medical condition expressing extreme homesickness. Algia- meaning longing- is what is shared, yet nostos means the return home. Nostalgia can be dangerous, by confusing the actual home and the imaginary one that a person may create.

Currently, it seems as if current trends are bringing the 80’s back. The decade may have once been branded as a tacky, aerobics video, and unfortunate shoulder pads loving period; it is now considered worthy of genuine artistic examination. For example, the recent success of the television shows and movies like GLOW, Stranger Things, and IT. All of which examine different 80’s cultural phenomena. Both Stranger Things and the 2017 IT remake place supernatural horrors in imaginary towns, while drawing on the period’s broader cultural context. Examples include the irrational fear of child abduction. As video essayist Lindsay Ellis points out, nostalgia is by no means an unprecedented pop cultural phenomenon – some of the 80s’ most iconic films, like 1985’s Back to the Future and 1987’s Dirty Dancing, took place within idealized versions of the 1950s and ’60s respectively. However, Ellis also acknowledges that these concepts of “restorative” or “reflective” nostalgia, which portray the past as a source of past greatness or escapism (as opposed to the mundane reality of the present) isn’t the only model we have to understand the ’80s boom.(Dolinh,2).

What is fueling this blast from the past? The most obvious and cynical answer is that America is terrifyingly susceptible to “late capitalism’s soulless excavation of nostalgia”. Or that America is stuck in a period of adolescence. People are yearning for any other time, except for right now. Research indicates that this habit isn’t just rational. It’s healthy. “Nostalgia has been shown to counteract loneliness, boredom and anxiety for decades.” Bombarded by bad news and disillusioned by the prospect of a bleak future, it makes sense that we’re constantly looking to the past for comfort, hope, and answers. Now that so many of our childhood experiences are digitized, it’s easier than ever to fall down the rabbit hole of nostalgia. (Siegel,1) Recently, year after year this trend continues and it does not seem like it is going to die out anytime soon.

One question still remains unanswered-why do we feel nostalgic? What causes this feeling? Usually, we connect feelings of nostalgia as memories of the past. What it was like to be a kid, no care in the world and free of responsibilities. The perfect carnival rides, disney movies, and visits to the playground. Those perfect days, which were followed by perfect nights when nothing ever went wrong and the only emotion we ever felt was happiness. The way we remember memories is constantly distorted. By recalling a memory of the past, your brain is remembering it as it chose to. Not by the actuality of its events. However, as it turns out nostalgia is not about remembering memories at all. It is more about an emotional state. For many years, those experiencing nostalgia were diagnosed with depression. Indulging in the memories of the past was seen as a sign of homesickness and refusal to enjoy the present. It was seen as lack of commitment to the future and a burdening attachment to the past.The positive responses evoked by nostalgia can help protect people from the emotional burden of situational disappointment and even from anxiety. When used as a coping strategy, a person can deliberately trigger feelings of nostalgia by listening to familiar music, looking at old photos, or visiting comforting environments of the past.(Moawad,1)These good feelings are generally a common response to past reminders whether the experiences in the former environment were considered positive or largely neutral, but not if those experiences were unpleasant or personally hurtful.

The past is as elusive as the future. Always distorted, always yearned for, and always seen as better days. Films keep us from the truths of the present and the pain of reality. However, the past is seen as an idealized version of something a person desires it to be, not what we know it as. Nostalgia has played a major role in the development in films for decades, providing an outlet from reality, emotions and a gateway to reinvent the past.

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