The Rise of Nostalgia Bait

Graphic by Emma Novy

You’ve probably heard of the upcoming reboot of “Scrubs,” the sequel to “The Devil Wears Prada,” or the four-episode revival of “Malcolm in the Middle.” All of these upcoming projects are spin-offs or readaptations of iconic late ‘90s–early 2000s, and while they may feel familiar and even nostalgic, it’s also really starting to seem like Hollywood has run out of original ideas.

But even though this “nostalgia” may be more prominent today, this isn’t a new phenomenon.

Even in the 1980s–1990s, the period most of us consider peak culture today, filmmakers and characters yearned for the past. Take “Back to the Future,” where the famous Marty McFly travels back to the ‘50s, where everything is shown to be simpler and more innocent, almost as if life is filtered through a romanticized view. 

However, the difference is that McFly’s adventure created something new out of that reminiscence. It took the ‘50s aesthetic and pop culture, but introduced a different way to spin the narrative. Nowadays, studios just copy and paste old scripts that worked and hope the remakes will be just as successful. I feel like every time I go to the movies, it’s just another Disney princess story retold horribly or a remake of a film my mom liked growing up, starring McKenna Grace or something. 

According to Christopher Stevens in The Daily Mail, “in the past decade 90% of the most popular films have been based on earlier movies, comic books or novels.” So, really, everyone in every generation wants to return to the oldies, where things seemed so much simpler. Can you believe that one day, in like 2037, teenagers are going to watch films and wish they had the vintage iPhone 14 and retro AirPods? Bleugh!

The simple explanation for this is profit. Studios are much more at risk now, mainly due to the decline in physical media sales and the rapid rise of streaming services. If “13 Going on 30” is still a major hit today, of course, people are going to go and watch the adaptation. Why would studios bother creating a fresh storyline with new characters when we already know what we love? 

And while, yes, I cannot wait to see Meryl Streep return to wear even more Prada, I am also hoping to watch new, original content in the upcoming years. Maybe I’m just not that knowledgeable about movies, but it feels like it's been forever since I’ve seen a movie that really blew me away with its singularity. There are definitely good movies out there, but in one way or another, they all derive themes or plot points from preexisting media. 

I don’t know, though, maybe our VPA students will save Hollywood’s originality.