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| A perfect moment from 1966 captured forever. |
Is nostalgia any good for us? Yes and no. Here are my thoughts on it...
It's quite common, especially amongst people with a passion for pop culture items, to be nostalgic about the past. After all, our interests in comics, film, music, or whatever tends to stem from our early experiences when we were children.
Other people are very rarely nostalgic, considering the past to be something to always move away from without any sentimental attachment. They consider nostalgia to be an uneccesary burden that should be left in the past.
Are they right? Is it unhealthy and time-wasting to be nostalgic? As with everything I think it's about moderation.
If one is yearning to be back in the past again on an obsessive level then I think that's unhealty. We can never return to childhood, or any point in our pasts, so hankering for that impossibility is absolutely pointless and a waste of the precious time we have remaining. However, I think most of us reflect on the past at times because it brings us comfort and happiness. We're still very focused on the present and the future but the past is what made us who we are, so it's important because it's part of us.
In terms of pop culture, I see no harm in enjoying a song, film, or comic from the past on an entertainment level or to appreciate the craft. In fact a lot of comics and movies I like are from *before* I was born, so that's not nostalgia. It's an appreciation of style. Besides, anything we haven't absorbed before is "new" to us, whether it be a day old or from 70 years ago.
We've all encountered the types who become so fixated on the past that they become embittered about modern culture being "not like it used to be". However, nothing was *ever* like it used to be. Pop culture has *always* evolved, and I think if we understand that we can appreciate it in its own historical context and learn from it instead of being angry that it no longer exists in that form.
Thoughts?
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20 comments:
It’s an interesting one. Nostalgia can be about discovery - about learning something new about the things you loved in the past. On that level, I think it’s perfectly acceptable to want to see joy in the old. It’s a reason I loved your Blimey blog so much: a glimpse at comic history on a level I never appreciate at the time because I was too young. Incidentally, have you seen that Comic Scene is on Kickstarter with a proposal for a new historic series. I know you’ve written for this mag before - will you be doing so again?
Things are always evolving as you say. However not everything evolves for the better though some things do. Some things evolve into something different though just as good, other things evolve into something worse. Maybe the people you describe as embittered are only lamenting the last category. Everybody right now is nostalgic for pre-Covid-19 times. That doesn't make them embittered. It depends on what you see as change for the good or bad.
That's not quite what I meant, Steve. I'm talking about the few who have long-held obsessions about the past and want to be 7 years old again. That's not healthy. Wanting life to return to the way it was before Covid-19 is of course entirely appreciated, but that's not nostalgia.
Anon, I doubt I'll be writing anything for the revamped Comic Scene. No writers have been mentioned yet so I've no idea who's doing it.
The good old day were better.
Gutted you won’t be writing for Comic Scene. Do you think it will be a good, welcome addition?
I’m toying with which tier to back but, like you, it would be good to see who is contributing. Has it become an important part of the comic community? Looking forward to reading more comic history.
Do they mean it literally though? Do they really want to be 7 years old again or do they only wish for the innocence and sense of wonder and lack of stress they had at that age? Unless we walk in their shoes we can't know what their circumstances are now that makes them long for what they see as happier times. Maybe for them they were. As for pre-Covid-19 days, I'd say that yearning for how things were fits the description of nostalgia. Or it will if the current state of affairs goes on much longer.
Wanting a healthier, better world isn't the same as being nostalgic. As for pining for childhood, I don't think that's healthy at all. That's the path to self destruction. As I said in my post, reflecting on the past in order to bring us happiness seems a good thing to me, but if it becomes an obsession it only leads to misery.
Anon, you probably know as much about the new Comicscene as I do. Hopefully more details will emerge soon.
You must be mad if you prefer the present to the days before COVID and riots. I wish I was a child again all the time.
That's not even remotely anything like what I said.
Can't help but think that everyone commenting missed your point entirely. Also interesting how defensive people get about this.
Yes, I'm not sure how my defence of nostalgia has been perceived as an attack on nostalgia but there we are.
Hi, Lew.
To me, nostalgia if done in moderation is a good thing.
I admit, I do reflect back. I would love to go back to visit my now deceased parents/grandparents and spend time with them. Or go into a shop (1970s) and buy a comic, annual or Action Man or relive some other past event. That is one of the reasons why I love comics and like watching old Blankety Blank.
But would I like to stay there? No. I have a lovely wife and life in 2020.
I do think that nostalgia could be a problem if your present life is not so good and you start pining for it.
You got it, Sid.
I'll admit I was happier 25 years ago and life was better than it is now but it is what it is and there's no point in wishing to be in the past because it just can't happen. Nostalgia is a nice distraction but if it begins to dominate then if only leads to more misery and regret.
25 years ago? That's like yesterday! I think I enjoy revisting old comics, old TV shows etc is because I didn't have the responsibilities I've had since, I was young and carefree and had parents to pay for bills,food, new roofs etc,
I'd agree with you about wishing for healthier and better times not being nostalgia under normal circumstances, but context here is everything. Wanting things to be as they were in the past, even the recent past, is the very definition of nostalgia. A yearning for how things were is to be nostalgic. You don't see things that way, that's fine, you're entitled, but I take a wider view.
May I ask on what you base your statement that being dominated by nostalgia leads to misery and regret? Were you once like that or do you have a specific example in mind that would confirm your claim? Maybe people who immerse themselves in nostalgia are quite happy living in the past. I think you might be taking people too literally when they say they want to be a child again, they may only mean they'd like things to be as they were when they were a child, which isn't exactly the same thing.
Lew how can you turn against nostalgia when you used to write a blog about old comics!!
For the final time:
I was actually defending nostalgia.
Now regetting I'd even bothered.
That's all folks.
I feel sorry for you... Looks like a lot was misunderstood.. I.. can't give much on the subject without going into some things which are kinda personal and I'm sad to say, I do no wish to talk about in public.. but reading your intial post made one thing come to mind... something I haven't watched in quite some time, but I know a tv channel (which shows a lot of good stuff) is starting to show it again..
"All irregularities will be handled by the forces controlling each dimension. Transuranic heavy elements may not be used where there is life".. something about the past being used to brake into the present..
No need to feel sorry for me Manic. Obviously I didn't put my point across very well for it to be so misunderstood. So it goes.
This is a good piece. Nostalgia is okay in moderation... as are most things. People who do not entertain nostalgia at all really have a problem.
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