“Nostalgia: noun – a sentimental longing or wistful affection for the past, typically for a period or place with happy personal associations.”
What comes to your mind first when this word pops up in your head? What year? What era? Who and what is apart of the memory?
In my case, my nostalgia crops up just prior to the 2010s. Taking place with my interests springing up in more recent years, whether it’s a remake or a continuation of something I loved that I didn’t realize had continued to update.
For me, my nostalgia is resting with my revitalized love of the Nintendo DS game “The World Ends With You.” At this time, there have been two remasters of it since its initial release in 2008.
However, seeing as I don’t feel the need to buy the phone version nor do I have a Switch, I only have the old.
This game is new for several people as it now has a wider audience. While it straddles the line between recent and old, it gives me a sense of nostalgia as the earliest recorded date I played it was when I was around 11 years old. It creates that warm and happy feeling of enjoying a wonderful creation.
So… why do I find myself so annoyed when people detail their own nostalgic experiences at times?
It comes down to how a person presents it. I’ve spoken plenty of what makes me remember the past and how much I enjoy items from that time in the simpler years of life when my most prominent emotion was excitement over the latest Pokemon cards or something in that vein.
Scrolling Facebook has led to my irritation most of all, I think. All of those memes that say things like “like this if you remember what these are” while pointing at a creation from the ‘90s and waving the knowledge around like some strange badge.
There’s a certain disconnect between that type of person and the current generation in some sense aside from the obvious gap of ages.
The “you wouldn’t get it” argument is a two-way street: older people can say it to the younger kids regarding discontinued home commodities like the rotary or wired landlines while the youth of today can bring up the latest children’s series that the older generation wouldn’t know of.
Coming from someone born in the late 1990s, I can’t find myself understanding why it’s such a source of pride to… know things? Anyone can find information about anything nowadays with the information age in full-swing and the internet right here in front of us.
Young kids could find images of rotary phones, perhaps even a simulator at this point with all the strange, free simulation games nowadays.
Mainly, I suppose my point comes in with the sense of superiority I tend to see. If someone is 12-years-old and being condescended by a 23-year-old for not knowing certain objects, there’s an extreme problem.
It can discourage growth and curiosity; personally, if someone told me I “wouldn’t get it” when it comes to items before my years, I wouldn’t bother to search since it apparently wouldn’t make a difference.
To wrap this up, I want to say this: nostalgia is not inherently a negative thing. Reminiscing is one of life’s greatest pleasures when you have something wonderful to look back on and immortalize in your mind.
However, when it gets to the point of talking down to those that don’t have the same feelings, that’s when a step back is needed to re-evaluate why the item is special to you and see why it could hold the same sentimental value to another if they are encouraged to try.
Erika Brandenburg
Arts and Entertainment Editor