Nostalgia Critical

Some of you might be old and nerdy enough to remember the excellent Batman of The Future [or Batman Beyond as it was known elsewhere]. The opening sequence was really hard hitting for an animation aimed at teenagers. "Apathy. Greed. Corruption. Power. Hope" flashes across the title screen as a pumping techno-rock soundtrack set the tone for the show.

It often feels as if that is the world I live in now. A world of falseness and negativity. We all seem to be striving for something that once was - our last hope - yet we're blindly accepting of tired of pop-culture nostalgia and political insanity.

When apathy meets nostalgia, things get dangerously close to stagnation. Where is our cultural and societal progress? Our political parties are in disarray in the West, and extremist rhetoric seems to hold greater appeal to many frustrated individuals. If history is going to repeat itself once again, will our tired world allow charismatic fascists to gain ground as they have done before? 

So then, with social and political culture in a mess, can't we can rely on pop-culture for some escapism? Sure. That is if you're happy with reboots, remakes and revisiting old ground.
In music, covers and sample tracks are just old sounds searching for reminders of the good old days. Videogames present sequel after sequel and remakes or remasters. In the cinema, you can enjoy the same superhero movie a hundred times over. Television is undoubtedly a bastion of originality, but so much of it is gritty, pessimistic and violent - a worrying reflection of the zeitgeist. People are unhappy.

It feels as though hope and promise have gone, replaced with monotony, disdain and disappointment. It's possible that this is just age-related cynicism catching up to me. As a 31 year old man-child, there's a chance I'm finally letting go of the 'child' bit, only to see the world beyond the fantasy. It just so happens that it's a dark world overwhelmed by noisy stupidity and defeated intellectuals. 
I want some optimism, if you please. Something to hope for and some goodness in my pop-culture. We celebrate flawed characters for their humanity, but moral and decent folks are shot down, decried as boring or one-dimensional, despite demonstrating the best traits of humanity. 

Hollywood and the videogame industry are both now dominated by people my age, looking for the better life in their past. But I don't need to see the world we had. The past is gone forever, and wonderful as some of it may have been, we can never get it back. Instead, show me your hopes, your dreams! Show a world we should aspire to live in, not a reflection of what we have now, or another post-apocalyptic wasteland to warn us of our wrongdoings! When did we all decide to give up on the future?

I spend a great deal of my time absorbing stories in videogames, movies, books and theatre, but I distinctly remember a childhood filled with the possibilities of the future! The promise of new technology, an equal society and people working together to overcome their struggles! Now, everything feels narcissistic and nihilist.
The world outside of popular culture is an amazing one. I have machines to wash my clothes, machines to wash my dishes and several different devices that present thousands of hours of entertainment to me instantly! I can immediately access clean water, I am in good health, I have an education and a car. Yet despite being surrounded by these wonders, something is so clearly lacking. I can learn anything I'd wish to with the device I'm using now and yet I am somehow bored and disinterested. How is that possible?!

Undoubtedly, humans still need to be challenged. I still have many challenges in my life. If comfort and ease are apparently so dissatisfying, then surely I need a little more adversity? Yet I have plenty. The struggle to earn enough money to buy a place of my own. The quest to find a girlfriend and settle down, whilst simultaneously not caving to the societal pressure to do so and also to "be myself." I'm striving to not let this pessimistic outlook consume me and remain mentally healthy. My own challenges have always been internal. I, like many others, find myself battling to keep up appearances, to not give in to anxiety and depression, yet when I look for escapism, I'm presented precisely that. This in turn leads to many feeling so much more conflicted than they already do. 

You may in fact be surpised to learn that I do consider myself an optimist, albeit one that feels utterly bogged down by our current cultural climate. Perhaps there is a bright future, where all people can co-exist in peace and prosperity? With luck, this nostalgic obsession will prove itself to be just another passing trend. If we wind the clock forward ten or twenty years will we still be retreading old ground, or will we finally be exploring new territory, confronting new problems with a renewed sense of purpose and forward thinking? I hope it's the latter. But I feel overwhelmed by the former.

To build on this, Star Trek Beyond recently marked fiftieth anniversary of the quintessentially optimistic sci-fi show. The new characters were great, the cast were again fantastic (particularly Karl Urban's Bones McCoy), there were wondrous set designs and the usual cgi spectacles, but it lacked heart. It absolutely missed the soul of Star Trek. 

There were allusions to unity and nobility, self sacrifice and humility, but it was all too brief. I think Gene Rodenberry would be deeply upset that his vision of a harmonious, more insightful future was sacrificed for yet another special effects demo.

Star Trek is supposed to show us what we could be if we moved past war, poverty, famine and disease. Star Trek Beyond is all "fighty-fighty pew-pew!" This kind of dumbing down is irresponsible, and highlights how making money has become more important than sending a message. I don't want to forget the hope for a better future for my species; nor I don't think it is a safe or sensible thing for us to give up on. 

You could rightly tell me to shut up and just have fun, that the original Trek series achieved what they set out to do, and you might be right. But I think we need that shining light at the end of the tunnel. Because the tunnel is currently full of mass shootings, far-right politics, racism, xenophobia, ignorance, terrorism and all the woes of the world. I'm tired of this. Show humanity at its best. Give me something to aspire to for once!

Idealism is not the same as naivety, and we'd do well to stop looking to superheros and special effects to save us.