Nostalgia
Sorry to write about nostalgia with a brand-new set of words, but that’s how it works around here. O do I recall fondly the days when one could just bust out a set of old words to say anything you felt like saying. But that was then and this is now.
Ah, then! How grand it was!
Nostalgia is not valued highly in the artistic community. It’s a second-class citizen in the world of esthetic values. I ran across that perception again recently when I went online to read reviews of the movie Across the Universe. All the reviews put what I considered an astonishing masterpiece into the “nostalgia” category. As if, yeah, it’s really beautiful, but only when viewed through the lens of nostalgia. Ah me…. And that makes it less than high art.
What’s wrong with nostalgia?
I do realize the movie might carry less emotional punch for those who weren’t there. But for people of a certain age and experience, like me, Across the Universe is a revelation. Finally, I do remember the sixties!
I forgot how beautiful the music was, how uplifting and magical, the soundtrack to hope with a rhythm of awe. And the way she wove those songs into the action of the movie…wow, it was so groovy. I was blown away. It was stud, and boss.
And it couldn’t have happened without nostalgia, at least as I understand the term. I guess it is kind of a squishy feeling, a vague impression, kind of special, in the derogatory sense of the word. Like a little cottage by the lane or a bow tied just so or a velvety kitten from childhood. There’s something childish about nostalgia.
Since when is childlike unartistic? I think it probably happened when the first critic arrived on the scene, and art became a playground for grownups only. Or maybe nostalgia was downgraded because it’s so easy. Evoke a wish from the past. Easy sneezy.
But my esthetic is one of pleasurable feelings, and the feeling of nostalgia is way high on the pleasure scale for me. It’s so bittersweet and complex, good and bad mixed into a yummy slurpy stew. Joy and regret doing a squaredance to a dirge. Yearning can never be bad, can it? It’s the source of many sorrows, but is much of what makes us so deliciously human. Yearning for the past is just another quest.
Anyway, here’s to all those good old days that never happened! God I love ‘em.
Your ancient correspondent,
LWIII
Hey Tom,
I watched the movie too, and I wasn’t there; too young. Across the Universe is not nostalgic for me, I’m not looking backwards. I’m looking forwards instead, across the universe, and it’s a prayer of hope.
Peace and love and daisies in rifle barrels.
David
Hey David, good to know it wasn’t just nostalgia that made that movie good.
Positive daisyage, riflewise, barrel.
Tom