Nostalgia - and why it’s so profitable

The word itself is so soothing and relaxing, as if a lost child suddenly found his parents or mother - in particular. The meaning of this word as taken from Merriam-Webster is - “pleasure and sadness that is caused by remembering something from the past and wishing that you could experience it again”.

According to Erica Hepper, a psychologist at the University of Surrey in England, the usefulness of nostalgia varies with age, with young adults participating in it most. There is then a decline in nostalgic thoughts and tendencies towards middle age and even old age.

However, it makes sense that those in the most turbulent and unsettled time of their lives would yearn for the simplicity and safety of childhood. In your twenties and thirties, you are lost in the upheaval of everything you once knew to complete isolation and independence.

Take Hollywood - for example, 2 of the biggest blockbusters ever were released last year, I’m sure everyone reading this knows which ones I’m talking about. They were “Jurassic Park” and “Star Wars - Force Awakens”, the expression which comes to mind is - “Old wine in a new bottle”.

According to Alan R. Hirsch in his report, “Nostalgia: A Neuropsychiatric Understanding,” nostalgia is a yearning for an idealized past — “a longing for a sanitized impression of the past, what in psychoanalysis is referred to as a screen memory — not a true recreation of the past, but rather a combination of many different memories, all integrated together, and in the process all negative emotions filtered out.”

How many times have you heard from people on the wrong side of 40 “that you kids have everything so easy and it was much tougher when we were growing up”.

Fact of the matter is that our grandparents said the same thing to our parents when they were in their teens. So who are we supposed to believe, the answer is that the challenges and difficulties you face keeps changing as the world evolves.

Going back to Hollywood or the entertainment industry in general, take music as another example where old artists(i mean “deceased/dead/finito”) more often than not generate more sales(money) - think Tupac, Elvis Presley, Bob Marley - you get the picture(see below - no pun intended).

Here’s an article from 2014 which talks about movies released that year and their connection with the past - http://www.theverge.com/2014/7/24/5935311/wil-wheaton-literally-everything-from-your-childhood-movie-trailer

P.S.: This is my first post on “Medium” and if you like my writing, check out my blog - https://bombaydude.wordpress.com/