PHOTO COURTESY OF THE NEW YORK TIMES

Graphic depicting a woman feeling nostalgia for a previous time in her life.

The decade following the COVID-19 pandemic has been defined by the phrase “remember when”. Of course, nostalgia being the basis for pretty much everything had been building up during the 2010s. But now, it is in full effect. 

I think it’s time for you people to move on and grow up.

First of all, it seems like I can’t watch a single show or movie without something popping up to remind me that they did something cool like 30 years ago. This is especially true when a movie has nothing actually written. It’s remarkably effective for movie theater audiences. 

I remember when I watched Deadpool and Wolverine last year in the movie theater, I had a good time. Have you ever tried rewatching it? I couldn’t even make it through the first thirty minutes without wanting to blow my brains out. That was one of the better nostalgia-driven things I’ve seen, too.

We’ve been given countless remakes in every format. There are now sequels of stand-alone movies from 40 years ago, and I’ve yet to see even one of these movies be anything more than mid.

What’s worse is that people are okay with this without realizing it. How many times have you heard people say, “Well, they just don’t make them like they used to back in the day?” 

Have you ever wondered why that is? 

Yes, there were great things happening in the 1980s and 1990s. Yes, things might have been cool back then. But what is stopping you from making new greatness now? Why don’t you just move on and try to make something new? Make a new memory, and you won’t have to dwell on the way things used to be.

I think nostalgia is also the problem with this country. People are so obsessed with getting back to the glory days (without specifying what the glory days actually were) that when something good happens they aren’t as satisfied, because nothing can be as good anymore apparently. They say comparison breeds contempt, and that is especially true of nostalgia.

I’m tired of seeing refried leftovers everywhere. Our music is all the same. Our books are rehashes of books already written. Our movies and TV shows are all the same. Even our president is a re-run of an old episode.

There’s new and original ideas out there of course. This isn’t addressing that because pursuing that is the goal. What this is addressing is the large number of people who have become so content with the same ol’ same old that nothing is fun or exciting anymore, all because some of us want to relive our childhood with rose-colored glasses. It’s time to move on with our lives.

Nostalgia is nice but only to an extent. When is it time for us to put the hat down and start to enjoy the present? Be hopeful for upcoming events rather than comparing how they fall short to the experiences we had before. Nostalgia can be a beautiful thing, only if we stop letting it be the thief of what can be, starting to enjoy life at face value. For what it is, not for what it was.

Categories: Opinion