Movies and series from childhood evoke nostalgia in many of us. This is not only a pleasant feeling but can also help us in everyday life.
Many of you may know this situation: You’re tired in the evening, and instead of watching a new release from one of the various streaming services, you reach for something familiar.
This could be a series or a movie that you’ve seen many times, perhaps even in your childhood. When you see the familiar characters, accompany them on their adventures, laugh, cry, and feel fear with them, it evokes a warm feeling of nostalgia.
Those who see it merely as a nice side effect while watching old movies and series might underestimate the potential nostalgia holds for us humans – at least according to psychology.
Nostalgia also exists in the Scrubs revival. Here you can see the trailer:
Retreat to Familiarity
What can nostalgia achieve? Some might even feel guilty for watching all seasons of SpongeBob SquarePants or Pokémon for the 100th time instead of giving the latest Netflix series a chance.
Psychologist Krystine Batcho deals with nostalgia among other things and explains to APA the potential that lies within:
Nostalgia is an emotional experience that connects. One example is that it helps to solidify our self-understanding, our self, and our identity over time. […] By motivating us to remember the past of our own lives, nostalgia helps us connect with that authentic self, reminding us of who we once were and allowing us to compare that with how we feel today.
Thus, we can discover who we want to be in the future. Moreover, nostalgia connects us emotionally with others. In the case of movies and series, this can be a certain feeling triggered by a story, which can be similarly felt by different people.
Especially in difficult times, whether due to current crises in the world or personal changes, one can experience great stress and mental exhaustion. Nostalgia can be comforting and relieve us of burdens. Krystine Batcho summarizes this in one sentence:
Even though we do not know what the future will bring, we do know who we were and who we really are.
That nostalgia works well with audiences is also known to producers in the film and television industry. It is no coincidence that in recent years, more remakes of old franchises have been released. Just think of Scrubs or Malcolm in the Middle, two relatively new examples.
Now we are also curious about your opinion. Do you regularly indulge in nostalgia and watch your old favorites again? And does remembering earlier times help you? Feel free to share your experiences in the comments. MyMMO author Max recently indulged in nostalgia as well and made a discovery: I used to love Digimon, 25 years later I realize that I only scratched the surface
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