Nostalgia yanks us from reality. The only meaningful world is the one we currently inhabit. We deal with the stimuli bombarding us in the present. Nostalgia becomes a make-believe world. It attracts us, I would suggest, because we filter out the unpleasant aspects of the past. We are reminded of things that make us happy. In reality, the past was really not such an enchanted place.
I remember watching NBC's Today Show when the Beatles first burst on the scene. It was interesting but did not bowl me over. Our reflections on the Beatles push nostalgia into overdrive. People have seriously reasoned how history would have progressed if the Beatles had never existed. There is a presumption that the four guys were immensely talented. But commercial music has never had any shortage of aspiring stars with great talent, all driven to reach the summit.
I could suggest that young people's taste with music and all pop culture would have evolved in basically the same way, even without the four Liverpool guys. The music industry worked tirelessly, as it always did in pre-digital times, seeking to anticipate popular taste. That world had an underbelly where talent could be chewed up and discarded. But it had the irresistible motive of reading the public's tastes.
I specify "pre-digital" because everything was different then. Commercial music still exists, don't get me wrong. But there has been a huge democratization or egalitarian effect. We much prefer the new way of life.
The Internet has existed long enough that it is generating its own nostalgia. It takes time of course, just as it took time to realize that rock 'n' roll was taking on a "retro" air (i.e. the likes of Fats Domino). We scarcely knew the potential for how the digital world was going to re-shape our lives, back when the early building blocks were placed.
Normally I'm the type who is late getting on board with new trends. But, working at the Morris newspaper thrust me into the position of having to delve in the "Internet."
It seems we don't even hear the term "Internet" much anymore. That term belonged to when the whole thing still seemed a novelty, pre-Facebook, Instagram and other such stuff.
Like being in Chicago
I was given a substandard hand-me-down computer at the paper. That was ridiculous. Still, I could plod along and make discoveries. I found I could communicate with a columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times! Unheard-of previously. Mark Brown wrote a column about "Babes of our youth." Seems cringeworthy today as there's a misogynistic suggestion. We often let our guard down back then, a la Joe Biden.
Anyway, Brown wrote a column inspired by a colleague who made a water cooler comment, a comment in which he compared an attractive female friend to actress Julie Christie. Brown realized the actress in question had become rather old. This colleague was thinking of the actress in her younger prime, as if she was frozen with her earlier appearance. So Brown wrote the column about how men have this natural inclination of citing "babes" from their memory as if no aging had occurred. Hence, "Babes of our youth never fade away."
I know this premise would be edgy to write about today. The column was probably in the glorious pixellated 1990s. Email! What a thrill! What a novelty! So I emailed Mr. Brown and informed him he had misspelled a name, that of actress Hayley Mills. He spelled it "Haley," a good guess if your memory failed you. I felt a rush as I clicked on "send." My it seemed magical - the immediacy of it all.
Then I got an answer! Mr. Brown said "I knew I should have checked the spelling." He thanked me. Turns out he got a lot of feedback on that column. So he sent a mass community email to those who had corresponded, sharing review thoughts and appreciation over a journalistic project which today would seem to project misogyny.
You think that's bad? You may not be old enough to remember the Dean Martin Variety Show on TV in the 1960s.
Remember Frank Sinatra narrating for the movie "That's Entertainment?" It was a looking-back about Hollywood, its supposed glory days, and early-on he points out that the "chorus girls" from an early "Singin' in the Rain" were "chubby." Hell's bells. Watching that clip, the women looked most ordinary with their bodies. Objectifying, indeed, on the part of Mr. Sinatra who was totally in the Dean Martin mold.
Groundbreaking creation
I am proud to say I paid considerable attention to "Wear Sunscreen." I printed out that faux "commencement speech" - and no it was not by Kurt Vonnegut - and tacked it to my bulletin board at the old Sun Tribune. It seemed interesting although I would not have considered it a timeless jewel at the time. The forces of nostalgia took over. Or, is it that we truly appreciate the wisdom in the "speech" now more than ever?
Schmich wrote that your body is "the greatest instrument you'll ever own." Now that I'm 64, I more than ever appreciate the blessing of a reasonably healthy body.
The "greatest instrument" line re-entered my mind as I discovered my old 8x10 high school and college graduation photos, as part of cleaning and re-organizing our household after Mom died. The pictures were no big deal for me at the time they were current. Today I look at them and realize the health and potential as a human being they projected. Maybe a great deal of the potential went unfulfilled. I don't know, but a feeling of warmth grips me as I observe them, awareness of the raw enjoyment of life when young and before the complications of adulthood.
So much wisdom in Schmich's piece. She wrote "enjoy the power and beauty of your youth. Oh, never mind. You will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they've faded." Another gem: "The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind."
How many of us thought this "speech" would have such staying power, or might even grow in its reach? We did not instantly realize the Beatles were going to be so impactful either.
Remember the "Alta Vista" search engine?
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
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