During the months of July & August I spent some time playing World of Warcraft: Mist of Pandaria Remix. Basically, it replicated the 2012 expansion of the MMORPG but as a limited in-game event. It provided exactly the experience I expected. When I put some time in World of Warcraft (WoW) nowadays it’s usually just to do some old content I never experienced or finished. So this seemed like a match made in heaven. Nostalgia fueled escapism with the goal to relax in the months I’m arguably the busiest of the entire year. And food for thought as I grind my way to earning those nice looking but practically useless in-game achievements.
Playing games like WoW is very contradictory to me. On the one hand I need some mindless relaxation where my mind is completely off the other stuff that occupies my agenda. Yet it also feels like I’m actually not doing anything useful. This game especially is giving me that contradiction which sabotages (personal) progress for the sake of nostalgia. But is it correct to put such a negative staple on nostalgia? Is it not just a feeling? Or can it indeed be replicated and taken advantage of for good storytelling? Today I want to do a little investigation that hopefully gives some context to the situation.
What is nostalgia
Nostalgia seems to receive a bunch of negativity in a landscape flooded with remakes and remasters of all kinds. An easy argument called seems that companies want to make easy money1. But it’s not fair to put the word in such a negative context. The word nostalgia originates from the Greek words nóstos (return or homecoming) and álgos (pain). It is literally a feeling of pleasure and also slight sadness when you think about things that happened in the past2. Nostalgia seems to be heavily influenced by emotions and during my initial reading into the subject the theory suggests that it can be quite beneficial to give into the feeling. Nostalgia can provide relaxation; a way to forget about the state of the world. So to put this in perspective: a piece of media can provide relaxation through the feeling of nostalgia. And when you’re trying to escape from the hectic outside world; it might just be what the doctor ordered. A disconnect from the outside world and connection to something familiar.
Connections
Without going deep into the science; the statement that nostalgia is affected by connection seems valid. And connections are something I’m very interested in but still sometimes very bad at.
– A realisation which makes me feel very human as I’m writing this –
If most nostalgia is based on connection, is it the expectation that a certain place/location (like your hometown) or film or piece of music provides a feeling or similar emotion every time? The answer should be no with an asterisk, as there is a clear mention of “home” or “safe place” meaning that we as a people pursue “the safe place” when we crave nostalgia. A safe place being predictable and shut-off from the outside world. I personally have this when starting some of the Miyazaki films, or listening to specific music like Space Lion from the Cowboy Bebop soundtrack. Pieces of media that captivate me completely. So I have a personal connection which for (assumingly) a couple of reasons were created and gave the aforementioned piece a special place in my mind. For me it feels like sinking into a hot bath, riding a wave of disconnect from the world until the thing ultimately comes to a predicted end.
Attention
Being engrossed in something, even if for a limited time, is such a blessing in the current world. Every waking second things battle for our attention so a single focus when consuming media feels highly desired. Media producing companies recognised that the eyes on their products lessened due to the sheer quantity of available content3 and searched for a way to recapture lost eyeballs. And one answer was nostalgia in the form of remakes and remasters. Technology has developed massively in the last 20 years, so it seems natural that IP’s get revisited and products remade so they can be consumed at today’s technical standards.
As an added benefit to new faces looking at your product, a remake or remaster brings in theory also a lot of older, “familiar faces” back to said IP. Perhaps out of curiosity or out of a nostalgic desire as they remember what the old product meant for them. A shining example would be Disney, as the company has remade a lot of films from their own catalogue with varying success.
The marketing of these remakes tend to lean heavy on nostalgia. They often target parents who take their children to watch the new Disney film because they watched the original during their childhood and retain good memories about that experience. Which is something the creators bank on to use for their benefit. And thus we get to replication of nostalgia, where a remake tries to capture lightning in a bottle twice for (nearly) the same product.
Replication
Remastering or remaking a product with today’s technical standards has been a common practice over the last 10 years. Rereleasing music and films with a higher quality is something we’ve seen for a longer period of time. But remastering games has been a challenge gaming companies have taken on as well now and it brought with it a different kind of remaster. Because video games have the potential to be drastically iterated on during the remastering process, depending on the goal of the project and the available resources to the company. With modern design philosophies, a game could be even better than it was during its initial release.
But a product needs to handled with great care, else you could incidentally remove that one great (musical) moment or mission which gave the product such value for a lot of people4.
A happy memory
What nostalgia boils down to is, in my opinion, a happy memory. There was something in a specific product which made you remember it fondly. It’s also this memory, this connection that creators of a remake count on. They want to use that specific connection and memory to make you consume a remake5.
While it’s easier to play with a person’s memory when remaking something old; it’s very hard to do so when creating something new. A connection is needed. Luckily for creators, a connection can also be a familiar storyworld or character. Thus their appearance can contribute to creating new memories for the consumer, if executed correctly6.
I’m currently watching Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End and it excels in this playing to our collective memories. With just enough worldbuilding and useful flashbacks the viewer instantly feels familiar with the setting. It’s a standard fantasy world but the story has a twist. We learn quickly why things are important to the titular character. Even if the character Frieren seems like an emotionally distant elf we learn to see through her mannerisms and empathise with her as the show progresses. And create new memories along the way.
Conclusion
Nostalgia probably isn’t a solution to our collective issues; but it can be a profound bandage to forget about our troubles. Just a bit of relaxation and a disconnect from the hectic outside world. A moment to re-energize.
While I think we humans need to take more time away from all the outside buzz, it’s not that products layered with nostalgia are by default our enemy. They can be a useful commodity that we need to use on a timely basis to reconnect with a piece of ourselves. Which can be your love for adventures or simply watch as a group of characters solve (difficult) problems. Whatever it is, never forget you need time for yourself. Be it playing video games; watching a film or series; reading a book or something else entirely. Nostalgia can be a powerful tool to assist you to build up the mental fortitude you need to survive the next week. Just remember that nostalgia baiting is a practice used by companies. The past has gone and there’s no time like the present. Which means there’s always the choice to do something else with the time you have available right now.
Notes
- I want to add this is complete conjecture from my side.
- Source: Cambridge dictionary
- This is again conjecture from my side
- Examples of a good remaster are the Final Fantasy VII games and the poorly received Warcraft 3 remaster.
- Example of the Mulan trailer, which is filled with nostalgia inducing elements
- I mentioned this in my writing on the Cowboy Bebop live adaptation. The Rings of Power seems to suffer from this as well. A great storyworld which people have fond memories of, but a poor execution.
Sources
- On nostalgia: Wikipedia; Forbes nostalgia trend; Rocketmill on The power of nostalgia
- Nostalgia marketing: Inc.com on nostalgia branding & BBC on nostalgia marketing & Nostalgia baiting (on theconversation.com)
- Other research: GWI consumer research; APA PsycNet report
- Intentionally [Blank] podcast: Why are we nostalgic
- A list of Disney live adaptations and live acttion remakes
- The Disney renaissance explained (Wikipedia)
- My blog on The problem with adaptations
- On video game remasters: Sapphirenation.net & explanation by DX on Youtube