Nostalgia is a used condom
Photo owned by not persephone (cc)
Ever find yourself listening to rhetoric or reading posts that eschew modern conveniences at every turn in favour of half-remembered fluffy ideals? The more media I consume, the more I see it. It’s not a case of people stopping to catch breath with their pasts, but more like a cynical device to tune into a collective brainspace.
Don’t believe me? Listen to early morning National radio any weekday. Books good, internet bad. What do mean good old bread and butter pudding isn’t sexy any more? A pox on inside toilets. On the last one, I jest but you get the idea.
In Ireland when introducing oneself, we all do that little dance that involves describing one’s origin in terms of their village. Village is such a powerful indicator of family, place and time. It’s an instant flare for introducing oneself and a catalyst for kicking off conversations. “Oh really, do you remember such and such?”
Expanding this and turning the theory on it’s side, we all really come from fuzzy villages anyway. We originate from villages of shared pop culture DNA. Growing up in Ireland of the 1980’s, how many of us bought Dib Dabs, watched Mary Fitzgerald in “How Do You Do”, read The Four Marys, bought sky-hoppers or saved to buy pirated cassette tapes every Saturday. We all share endless experiences that link us together, binding an invisible web of identity and cultural recognition. Send triggers about music, television or the literature of our youth and we’re bound to tune in. Quite possibly respond in kind too.
I’m beginning to see this on the fringes of blogs too. Yes, a blog is part expression, part vanity – but the growing trend to greasily include cardboard posts on nostalgic themes to boost page views and comments is disappointing. By cardboard posts I mean, posts that have no message or central argument. They ramble aimlessly through pop culture references without resting on a single idea. Nostalgic posts like these are as useful as used condoms. Joycean streams of nonsense wrapped in cosy cultural references that demand comment hugs. No sir, you won’t be getting any hugs from me or any clearthinking reader, for that matter.
Hehe. Wonder if we’re thinking of the same person!
Great post.
You’re not suggesting people are posting some content simply to attract traffic? God that’s appalling, what can be done about such an outrage…
@Dan Do you have a point here? I’m a little confused.
I like Joycean streams of nonsense!
@roosta
Only that it seemed tad over the top to critique people for nostalgia posts that you believe are just looking for comfort comments and traffic when it would seem many people blogging have posts that would fall under the same heading even though they wouldn’t be nostalgic. Anyway, I think part of the work of a useful nostalgia post is to reveal something of the personal, for every post about Blake’s 7, there is one about punk in the 70s, or the ‘78 World cup. Not everyone’s nostalgia is the same, people may have lived through the same time period but not in the same way. To each their own.
Are the new ways better than the old ways. Maybe certain aspects were better, but not the whole.
While the internet offer entire libraries of stories, a book is easier to read (on the train especially).
Blake’s 7 had an excellent script, but the wobbly sets were a thing of parody. (But I’m interested in the proposed remake)
And a well made bread and butter pudding is a thing of beauty. And waistline expansion.