Second-Hand Nostalgia

A little while ago, my roommate Nicky and I wanted to host a movie night at our apartment. He wanted to watch Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and I agreed, having never seen any of the Harry Potter movies (I know). We invited our friends, made dinner, and prepared homemade butterbeer to fit the occasion. I quickly learned that everyone else had already seen Harry Potter, which made sense given its popularity. Somehow, the franchise never made it into my childhood — despite my dad owning the entire book series. Nevertheless, I was excited to watch the movie. 

Watching a nostalgic movie for the first time in your 20s – as someone with no emotional attachment or childhood memories associated with it – makes for an entirely different experience. Everyone around me already knew the story and felt connected to the characters, while I knew nothing apart from the names of a few main ones. On the sidelines, I was able to take in the movie for the first time, while simultaneously learning more about the characters and their roles through commentary by my friends. I spent equal time watching the movie as I did the reactions of my friends, observing their overt nostalgia.

As soon as the movie started, all of my friends had verbal reactions to seeing young Daniel Radcliffe on the screen, commenting on how small and cute he was. Meanwhile, I sat quietly on the couch taking in the scene and learning about Harry’s life with his aunt, uncle, and cousin. Even though I was still figuring out the movie, I could feel my friends’ excitement. As the movie played, I became more interested in the story and was impressed by the quality of the special effects (seeing as the movie was released in 2001). My friends continued to comment on each of the young characters and what their actors looked like now – often by showing me photo references. Knowing the major points of the movie, my friends would say certain lines along with the characters such as: “You’re a wizard, Harry.” (A line that even I knew – I just didn’t know when it was said.) 

Unlike everyone else, I had to give the movie my full attention to understand what was going on. When hanging out with a group of friends, this can be a difficult mission to accomplish. Every now and then my friends would get distracted and start conversations unrelated to the movie – conversations that I would participate in. Once these conversations were over, though, my friends were able to resume their focus on and follow the movie easily. On the other hand, I would be confused as to what had just happened. I would do my best to figure out what I missed, but sometimes I would simply be too lost and have to ask someone to fill me in. 

Watching such an iconic and nostalgic movie as a 20-year-old makes the movie more exciting, especially when accompanied by a group of people who have already seen the movie and love it. In a way, I could feel their nostalgia and excitement from being connected to the movie and its characters. It made me feel as though I had seen the movie before and had some sort of attachment to it. It's interesting to think about how certain movies have such a large impact on our childhoods – and how those movies may have never been seen by others our age. My roommate has a close connection to the Harry Potter series, but has never seen movies like High School Musical. As shocking as it was to him to learn that I had never seen Harry Potter, I was equally shocked to learn that Disney movies (both princesses and Disney Channel) were not a major part of his childhood. Luckily, we get to experience these movies together, learning more about what was important to each other as children. 

I find that nostalgia's greatest effect is in the way we remember things. I had made my roommate watch Lemonade Mouth, another Disney Channel classic that he had never seen. While I really like the movie and can sing along with its songs, my roommate rated the movie a 2/10. His explanation was that it was just another cliched and predictable Disney Channel movie. This point is one that I, as a 20-year-old, can agree on, but it doesn’t change how 9-year-old Diana felt about the movie when watching it for the first time. Despite certain things being objectively childish and outright silly, we are still able to find them enjoyable at later stages in our lives, because of the memories we associate with them. Nostalgia is a powerful emotion that I don’t often think about actively, but I have found that being aware of it enhances the experiences I have as a young adult. Many people, including myself, focus a lot on the future and what it will look like, but we should take time to step back and find joy in things from our childhood— whether it be movies, TV shows, or other activities.