Have smartphones brought about a period of reflection?
Mar 5, 2021 21:08:02 GMT 10
Post by SharksFan99 on Mar 5, 2021 21:08:02 GMT 10
I was watching my favourite morning news show today as I normally would. When the “entertainment” segment came on, I happened to overhear that a new documentary biopic on Janet Jackson is currently in the works. Instead of being surprised by the announcement of what would have been in the past a front-page story, it triggered the same response from within me as hearing about a new COVID-19 or #MeToo case would. It has become passé. It isn’t ‘un-normal’. She has essentially become a statistic among the now countless number of celebrity figures who have had this same sort of treatment in recent years, all of which can largely be traced back to the success of Bohemian Rhapsody back in 2018; the movie that resulted in Queen having Top-40 chart hits 30-something odd years since they were putting out new music with Freddie Mercury. Unusual? No. Fleetwood Mac are charting within the Top-40 right now as I speak. The best-selling song of last year was a homage to ‘80s synthpop. Did I mention the newly released sequel to the 33-year old movie, Coming to America?
The fact that we’re at the point where announcements like this have become the ‘norm’, so to speak, really emphasises just how ‘backwards-thinking’ our general ways of thinking have become. We can’t blame this on the pandemic. Sure, we’ve been locked inside our homes and that is naturally causing us to reflect on better times, but our obsessive favouritism towards anything that is “retro” has been going on for several years now. Never has our attention on the past been this extreme.
I want to know why exactly this is? The internet has been at our disposal for close to three decades, but the ‘90s and 2000s were never so overwhelmed by the sheer number of sequels, reboots and ‘revivals’ that have defined the past 5-10 years. I just don’t understand what is behind this recent obsession we clearly have as a society of bringing back the past. Nostalgia has always been around of course, and even film reboots are far from being a new phenomenon. Look at how many “Godzilla” and “Superman” movies have been made for instance. But why has the number of sequels and reboots increased so much? Is it a lack of original ideas? Is social media resulting in more people remembering things from their past which they otherwise would have forgotten about? Is it fear of being ‘cancelled’ (*cough “Cancel Culture”)? Have we simply achieved what we want out of society and no longer see the future as being better than the past?
I can’t help but think that part of the reason for it has been the greater accessibility of information brought on by the widespread adoption rates of smartphones around the start of the 2010s. The growing popularity of streaming services have likely accelerated the increasing attitudes of nostalgia for the past. It’s harder to tune things out from years gone by when its all right there in front of you, whether it be in your pocket or on your TV screen. That includes everything. It could be movies, old songs, television shows, even family photos. Nostalgia can be so easily brought on when the things that remind you of your past are so easily accessible.
If that is the case, what is the end point? Will this nostalgia phase ever go away, or will we continue to revive even more things from the past as each year passes? We can't keep refusing to move forward forever. Yet, I honestly don't see a way out from it, especially now that streaming services have become so entrenched into our daily viewing and listening habits.
The fact that we’re at the point where announcements like this have become the ‘norm’, so to speak, really emphasises just how ‘backwards-thinking’ our general ways of thinking have become. We can’t blame this on the pandemic. Sure, we’ve been locked inside our homes and that is naturally causing us to reflect on better times, but our obsessive favouritism towards anything that is “retro” has been going on for several years now. Never has our attention on the past been this extreme.
I want to know why exactly this is? The internet has been at our disposal for close to three decades, but the ‘90s and 2000s were never so overwhelmed by the sheer number of sequels, reboots and ‘revivals’ that have defined the past 5-10 years. I just don’t understand what is behind this recent obsession we clearly have as a society of bringing back the past. Nostalgia has always been around of course, and even film reboots are far from being a new phenomenon. Look at how many “Godzilla” and “Superman” movies have been made for instance. But why has the number of sequels and reboots increased so much? Is it a lack of original ideas? Is social media resulting in more people remembering things from their past which they otherwise would have forgotten about? Is it fear of being ‘cancelled’ (*cough “Cancel Culture”)? Have we simply achieved what we want out of society and no longer see the future as being better than the past?
I can’t help but think that part of the reason for it has been the greater accessibility of information brought on by the widespread adoption rates of smartphones around the start of the 2010s. The growing popularity of streaming services have likely accelerated the increasing attitudes of nostalgia for the past. It’s harder to tune things out from years gone by when its all right there in front of you, whether it be in your pocket or on your TV screen. That includes everything. It could be movies, old songs, television shows, even family photos. Nostalgia can be so easily brought on when the things that remind you of your past are so easily accessible.
If that is the case, what is the end point? Will this nostalgia phase ever go away, or will we continue to revive even more things from the past as each year passes? We can't keep refusing to move forward forever. Yet, I honestly don't see a way out from it, especially now that streaming services have become so entrenched into our daily viewing and listening habits.