Is nostalgia the enemy of the modern consumer?

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

  1. I want to add this is complete conjecture from my side.
  2. Source: Cambridge dictionary
  3. This is again conjecture from my side
  4. Examples of a good remaster are the Final Fantasy VII games and the poorly received Warcraft 3 remaster.
  5. Example of the Mulan trailer, which is filled with nostalgia inducing elements
  6. 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

  1. On nostalgia: Wikipedia; Forbes nostalgia trend; Rocketmill on The power of nostalgia
  2. Nostalgia marketing: Inc.com on nostalgia branding & BBC on nostalgia marketing & Nostalgia baiting (on theconversation.com)
  3. Other research: GWI consumer research; APA PsycNet report
  4. Intentionally [Blank] podcast: Why are we nostalgic
  5. A list of Disney live adaptations and live acttion remakes
  6. The Disney renaissance explained (Wikipedia)
  7. My blog on The problem with adaptations
  8. On video game remasters: Sapphirenation.net & explanation by DX on Youtube

My favourite Disney Animation film when growing up & Why I stopped favoriting it Part 2 of 2

Last time month I talked about my younger self choosing a favourite Disney Animation film growing up. And why I had a hesitation to go back into that space again earlier last year.

The answer has multiple layers. The first and most obvious one is that when we grow older we tend to like other things. We choose to consume other media and evolve our taste and the way we watch films.

A next layer deals with nostalgia. And nostalgia is a dangerous thing when not handled consciously. As humans, we tend to overlook certain things when dealing with nostalgia feelings. For example: I will always recommend people to watch Avatar: The Last Airbender. But the truth is, there are some episodes in the first season that do not quite hold up to the rest of the show. A part which I may easily overlook in recommending it to others.

The same goes for the Lion King. I must admit that I sometimes have a hard time watching films because I notice certain flaws in the story or shots that could have been done better when done slightly different. At least, in my humble opinion.

So why I stopped favoriting the Lion King lies with the lessons it taught me: Ownership.

This is something I reintegrated into my life over the last 2 years. It also clearly shows that shit happens and that you cannot prevent it, only deal with it when it comes.

This is the part the film didn’t show me:the reality of our world and how it is painted in shades of grey, not in black and white.

You see, the film shows us that Simba loses everything when he flees. He caused the tragedy so no one would want him back in their lives. That’s what Scar makes him believe,  leaving the cub with an extreme sense of guilt.

So why would Simba return to the Pridelands to fix everything. Just because Nala told him to do so?

The basic answer to this question is no, but it also lies a little deeper. I will elaborate on this further below.

Before I explain we need to set the stage: The Pridelands are in a mess, and Scar’s reign caused the herds to flee, leaving nothing to eat. He apparently spiralled into a state of madness which has Zazu locked up in a cage and caused a paranoia about anything related to Mufasa. In think the madness should have been more evident to the viewer. We only get snippets of it, which is not enough to fill the gaps of the story. As nostalgic adults who have seen the film multiple times, we can fill the gaps the story leaves about Scar’s mental state and why Nala decided to look for help. But if you look at what is shown on screen, we are missing vital information. Information that would make the story much clearer to the viewer.*

This is one of the aspects of Beauty and the Beast that I personally like. It shows the story arcs of both characters. From start to finish. And it slows down to show pivotal decisions on screen. We know from the first part of the film that Belle is kind, caring and intelligent with a natural curiosity. This eventually leads her into the West Wing, where the room of the Beast is.

We also know from his expression that Beast respects Belle for taking her father’s place. And with a little help and insight given by his servants, he tries to work on their rough relationship, which fails because he has the wrong approach. Which consequently irritates him greatly about himself. I must admit I’m reading a bit between the lines here but hopefully you have followed my thoughts until now.

Both their attitudes and choices start a chain of events which leads us to the wolf attack.

Though it is not shown on screen when Beast decides to follow Belle, we see his reaction of regret and shame when he chases her away. This is clever tension building, because we do not know he probably chased after her when he heard the wolf’s howl.

The release of this tension comes when Beast saves Belle. And the next pay-off for the viewer is that we actually see the realisation on Belle’s face that Beast saved her and that she can’t leave him there, wounded. It is a long build up between these characters which comes to this moment of pay-off where her decision to tend to his wounds turns their relationship around, towards a more kinder and loving situation with the big pay-off at the end of the film.

This detailed character development is something that is missed in the Lion King. And it probably has to do with runtime and choices made along the way to tell the story. If the creators went full Hamlett mode (which the Lion King is based on) it would have been a better told story. But probably also a much darker one with a longer runtime. Now we are left to watch it carefully and read between the lines to see what’s going on beneath the surface which leads to Simba’s return.

The next header: Stages of Return is the part where I further elaborate on this. Please note this is completely optional to read.


Stages of Return

To make it easier, I will divide this into three stages and try to explain as best as I can. Bear in mind, that much of the things I will mention below are probably not seen by a casual viewer of the film*.

  1. Star scene with Timon and Pumbaa.

This is the scene with question of what the stars are. Simba’s reluctance to share his father’s lessons and the fact Timon makes a joke about it might make you forget that Timon’s comment is quite below the belt because Simba just shared something from his past. Something really personal. Things these guys probably don’t talk about. Probably because it hurts to much and they want to stay in their self induced state of happiness and not care about anything.

Now I previously interpreted Simba’s reaction on a casual watch as sadness and shame.

Upon closer look, I see also guilt and the shame towards his father of what he has become and how he chooses to live his life.

We don’t know if he has similar moments in his life with Timon and Pumbaa, but I might expect so. Situations where he didn’t share his father’s wisdom because he was afraid of what they would say. I assume now he felt comfortably enough to share, but was backstabbed by his friends for it. Leaving him sad, guilty and shamed of what he’d become.

2. Nala’s re introduction into Simba’s life.

This starts when Nala wins the fight with Simba.

Though this entire chain of events speeds up the story, it doesn’t show the emotions as clear as they could. To be honest, this part really feels as rushed character development. We see the internal conflict, but only if you look hard enough you see all the emotions running: regret, shame, happiness and the kid who is scared to take responsibility because he doesn’t exactly know how or what to do (indecisiveness). He has nothing to show for himself and the long term empty feeling of his lifestyle can be deduced only briefly in his conversation with Nala.

If you want more in-depth analysis on what’s going on beneath the surface, please watch this video.** Psychologist Jordan Peterson is far more versed in this and I support his stance on the character’s mental state. But because there is so much going on from the fight over Pumbaa until their argument which leaves Simba alone, so much information displayed through emotions, I argue again that this entire segment is rushed.

3. Mufasa sky scene.

This starts just after Simba’s argument with Nala. He left her and is alone in the grass. We again see the indecisiveness and finally in his darkest moment asks for help. Note we don’t exactly see Simba cry, we don’t see him go through the full wave of pain he’s experiencing. Which is a miss in my opinion, because it is an integral part in opening his heart and mind to suggestions from others.***

Those others being Rafiki and Mufasa. After the chase, which is a trope to work for something you want badly, he is asked to return to take his place as king by remembering who he is. Simba responds that he is not the same he used to be. Which is actually a good thing, since he learned how to handle himself in tough situations. Again, something not shown in the film, but probably a lesson taught by Timon and Pumbaa during their period together. He also learned to care and stand for his friends, as shown when blindly jumping into the fight with Nala.

But this experience and growth is not mentioned. He doesn’t have to be who he was when he was young, he has to be himself. With all the lessons learned along the way.

This is another miss and a severely underrated and under-showed lesson of the film. Al least, in my opinion.

This last stage should be the last push, but I feel that there are still some things that this character needs to work out before he can make the decision or collects his courage to return and stand for what he believes in to care and protect others. Especially this guy with the trauma he’s experienced.

Again, we don’t go all the way and don’t fully see this in the Lion King. Parts are there, and if you watch the events of the story unfold the decision to return is understandable. But if you watched enough movies with emphasis on characters and their decisions, you’ll probably miss a couple of these mental stages too.


A new favourite?

So now you know. A very elaborate text about why I stopped favoriting my favorite film growing up.

That leaves the question if I have found a new favourite Disney Animation film during this process.

I think I’ve made it clear my preference goes to a film with solid character development which continues in the last part/act of the film. And I’ve seen a lot of good character development in Disney films.

I like Treasure Planet’s Jim, a lot, and found Mulan to be a beautiful entry for taking things into your own hands. #notadisneyprincess

But ultimately the answer to the posed question is no. I’m slowly going down the Disney Animation film list and I’ve certainly found some fun ones, but none really stood out for me.

I also think that this doesn’t matter. We live in a wonderful time with access to media from across the world. And I intend to dig deeper into the animation field, to see what it has to offer. I’ve seen gems from other studios then Disney that really appeal to my love for animation, and even more to my love for good characters.

So favoriting is not necessary. Only enjoying good stories and try to capture their lessons for use in real life. Enjoy animation, it is a beautiful craft performed by dedicated people who love to share stories with us.

Notes

*What the film actually does is take your attention and bombard you with audiovisual magnificence so you have no time to think about these story gaps. You just take this for granted because of the pace of the story.

**Please note that I have not seen the entire lecture, which can be found here (part 1) and here (part 2). I found these only when finishing this blog.

*** I understand that the shown image is Simba left alone in the world. That should be the viewers takeaway from that shot.


My favourite Disney Animation film when growing up & Why I stopped favoriting it. Part 1 of 2

When I think of Disney Animation films I think of films that are targeted towards children. Those that we (mostly) watch during our childhood. Most of us have seen a Disney Animation film during their childhood. And we usually end up favoring one. Because of… reasons.

Ask a child why Frozen is his or her favorite film and try to find out if there is a solid reasoning behind their favoritism or that it was just that Disney film that happened to be released at the time. Or the one with that catchy song.

Favoritism is about context. In this case: the context of accessibility to the medium and specifically Disney Animation when growing up. When I was little VHS was the king of home media. And with parents who were no regular theatre visitors and were restrictive with the time I could watch tv my accessibility to the medium was limited.

When I grew up Disney Animation released 14 films from 1988 (Oliver & Company) until late 2000 (Emperor’s New Groove). And when you consider the probable target audience of 7 or 8+ years children* I can narrow it down to 9 films that could be my childhood favourite. This is because I aged 13 in the year 2000. A proper age where many boys considered themselves ‘too old’ for a Disney Animation film.

Also, the films released the next two years that could be interesting to me weren’t that big hits respectively (Atlantis: The Lost Empire, Treasure Planet and Brother Bear**). So there was nothing that could lure me back into watching Disney films.

From this list of 9 I can leave out a couple more because of my interests at the time.

This leaves us with: Lion King, Pocahontas, Hunchback of the Notre Dame, Hercules, Mulan and Tarzan.

But there is another gateway element present here: parents and social environment. While the Disney accessibility is nowadays far greater due to services like Netflix, that wasn’t the case in the (early) nineties.

While Beauty and the Beast wiggles itself in this list because we had the VHS. The rest on the current list of 6 are all possible favourites due to release.

Only this last mentioned gateway into Disney content proves the biggest, since we only had the VHS of Beauty and the Beast, Lion King and Hunchback. We also had the VHS of Cinderella and Dumbo, but these are too old and I didn’t watch them enough when growing up. They are possible candidates because of accessibility. But please note that Cinderella is, like Beauty and the Beast a proper fairytale, but with less scarier elements which would fascinate my younger self. Dumbo is just plain trippy at times besides being a product of its time. So I rule those two out because of above reasons and the lack of proper role models in those films. Not to mention that the themes probably didn’t resonate with me as much***.

So this leaves us with three candidates: Lion King, Hunchback of Notre Dame and Beauty and the Beast. If you would’ve asked me to rank these when I was younger my guess now would be: 1 Lion King, 2 Beauty and the Beast and 3 Hunchback of Notre Dame. Here’s why:

Lion King

The Lion King is a cinematic epic. From  it’s opening to closing shots we are treated by the rich and colourful palette of the African continent. It is a film that still is visually stunning to watch. The sheer amount of movement created by early computer technology and the artistry in this film remains a beautiful sight. Not to mention the clever way big story elements are introduced with visuals and the beautiful soundtrack. It all fits together. Combined with a story about growing up and you have a guaranteed entry into this little boys heart.

I was bananas about this film. For all of the reasons above including the way Simba made the best out of a depressing situation. For my younger self the best part of it all was: it turned out alright. The land healed like the Circle of Life mentioned. What else would you want?

Beauty and the Beast

I’m not sure about this, but I guess Beauty and the Beast was my little secret. My guilty pleasure if you will. I recently rewatched it, and I think it’s a timeless classic. Besides the classic fairy tale setting and scenery, it also boasts some great and worthwhile songs on the soundtrack. Even at my younger age, it probably was an out of this world love story which was understandable at a basic level while knowing there was more that I didn’t understand. Only now, after rewatching it I see that it somehow never left me. It has message of curiosity and openness to other people, no matter how different they look. And it builds the characters so cleverly towards small victories and to the final, big pay-off. In hindsight, this remarkable film is is something I always carried with me.

Hunchback of Notre Dame

After rewatching it I think Hunchback is not really a film for younger kids. It is dark: People are obviously getting killed; the music is bombastic and the people are just very, very real. Which is also the appeal of the film. It is a well told story about real people. It has all the elements of a A-list animation film: beautiful animation, a stunning soundtrack but most of all: a sense of urgency. Even my younger self could understand why some characters did what they did, and why it was important to them. It also has a great balance of beautiful light and dark moments in the film to make it more watchable for the audience. But because of it’s timeless dark story, still a film which I do not recommend fully for younger kids to watch. So in conclusion a bit of an off pick for a young kid to watch due to the dark and realistic story, but a very good film to watch nonetheless.

What Animation Taught Us.

When we grow up we always have a bias towards certain media. With limited access to video, because I was a lot outside and the earlier mentioned social context, I also read a lot of books. So it is natural I would pick the thing that would be the most inspiring and beautiful to watch when I would watch a Disney film: The Lion King. A beautiful film that I believe is a big part of the groundwork of my deep rooted love for animation.

When Mikey Neumann released his essay: “What Animation taught us” earlier this year it got me thinking. His question on what animation taught me send me on an exploration through many different series and films of my youth. And I still feel Disney was a big part of it.

The Lion King taught me to have ownership and that you can find beautiful things where you don’t expect it. Beauty and the Beast taught me curiosity and openness and Hunchback of Notre Dame taught me to stand for your friends, and for the things you love. Powerful lessons that I still carry with me today.

But when I started asking myself these questions I also asked: what changed?

You see, a different question that came up when exploring what animation taught us was: why did I stop watching the Lion King but more importantly: “why do I have hesitation to rewatch it?”

You’ll find the answer in part 2. Because this post is already long enough. What was your favorite Disney film when growing up? And what are the lessons that animation taught you?

Notes

* (this is my personal estimation because you want a basic comprehension of the things that happen on screen)

**As a personal recommendation: please go watch Treasure Planet, since this is a beautiful film. If you are not sure, please watch this video first. I haven’t seen Atlantis yet, so I don’t know about that one.

*** There is a lot of bullying in both films, so I’m not sure why we were exposed to these when we were young.