@MasterEdi
I'm not pooh-poohing anybody for liking anything; they can do as they please. But, there is nothing new to "nostalgia". That is the very antithesis of what nostalgia is. Nostalgia is the reminiscence of something old and past. As it were in Lucas' sense, he was actually able to take what he had liked previously and learned from them; what made it exciting, what made it "work" in the first place, and used that as a foundation to capture that sense of wonder he felt then in his own narrative, in his own way. Coupled with his own skill and talents, and his own ideas, he created something new and exciting that resonated with many people. And when something from the past is drawn on to inspire something new, that isn't "nostalgia", that's learning. That's progression; learning from the old to make something new. The same case is also applicable to Indiana Jones.
The difference between then and now that I take immense umbrage with is that fact that "nostalgia" is now a crutch to not try anymore. Using one's experience as a springboard to create something else is one thing, but trying to recreate the old thing again without pushing it forward is just pandering. It's not unlike tossing trained circus seals a fish, really. Just flash something that people can recognize and they'll lap it up. And, unfortunately, that's what most things I find are now. Stranger Things was the ultimate example of this recently for me before TFA. While I don't hold it against anybody for liking it, I do wish people were more critical as to what it was: a mixtape. And a haphazard mixtape of previously released "Best of" albums, at that.
While some may like it, and that's fine, what isn't fine is that it's become generally acceptable for something to be just that. I find that unacceptable. It's an insult to the intellect of a great many people, I think. I can sympathize with the temptation of embracing something familiar, but equally, I think that's a dangerous temptation to have. I think it leads to stagnation and stagnation, in one way or another, is death. To put it politely, it's like defecating where one eats.
I'm not pooh-poohing anybody for liking anything; they can do as they please. But, there is nothing new to "nostalgia". That is the very antithesis of what nostalgia is. Nostalgia is the reminiscence of something old and past. As it were in Lucas' sense, he was actually able to take what he had liked previously and learned from them; what made it exciting, what made it "work" in the first place, and used that as a foundation to capture that sense of wonder he felt then in his own narrative, in his own way. Coupled with his own skill and talents, and his own ideas, he created something new and exciting that resonated with many people. And when something from the past is drawn on to inspire something new, that isn't "nostalgia", that's learning. That's progression; learning from the old to make something new. The same case is also applicable to Indiana Jones.
The difference between then and now that I take immense umbrage with is that fact that "nostalgia" is now a crutch to not try anymore. Using one's experience as a springboard to create something else is one thing, but trying to recreate the old thing again without pushing it forward is just pandering. It's not unlike tossing trained circus seals a fish, really. Just flash something that people can recognize and they'll lap it up. And, unfortunately, that's what most things I find are now. Stranger Things was the ultimate example of this recently for me before TFA. While I don't hold it against anybody for liking it, I do wish people were more critical as to what it was: a mixtape. And a haphazard mixtape of previously released "Best of" albums, at that.
While some may like it, and that's fine, what isn't fine is that it's become generally acceptable for something to be just that. I find that unacceptable. It's an insult to the intellect of a great many people, I think. I can sympathize with the temptation of embracing something familiar, but equally, I think that's a dangerous temptation to have. I think it leads to stagnation and stagnation, in one way or another, is death. To put it politely, it's like defecating where one eats.
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