Just Keep Swimming
PC: imdb.com
Nicflix
It’s the time of year we generally put our heads down, grit our teeth and power through the last few weeks of the semester. Everything becomes a blur of deadlines and all-nighters with one goal in site: summer vacation—or for some, graduation.
I want to take a second to slow down and re-prioritize (if you’re reading this you’re probably taking a break and are already on the right track.)
People often say, “college will be the best years of your life,” and while I don’t fully believe that because there’s SO MANY years after college that may be the best, I DO believe the years you spend in college/school are some pretty DANG-good years and shouldn’t be taken for granted.
One day, we’re going to look back on these years (or even these last few weeks) and wonder why we wasted them trying to get out of here so fast.
There’s something about nostalgia—a longing for a time you remember fondly yet know you’ll never be able to revisit—that’s both incredibly somber and comforting at the same time. While I don’t think you can really force it, there are plenty of ways to trigger nostalgia: a place, a song, a smell or … a movie.
Disney has always been able to add that special touch of nostalgia to their work and if you’ve been paying attention, they continue to do so— not just for kids, but for US. If you were born in the ‘90s especially, you grew up on Disney (whether you admit it or not.)
You know the stories, you sing the songs and it “takes you back,” right? Well, Disney made those animated movies using the nostalgia of stories that have been told for generations already and they’re doing it again with their live-action renditions. They have enough going for them everywhere else—Marvel, Star Wars, ESPN—they don’t necessarily NEED to create new content on the Disney front. Instead they’re choosing to capitalize on the nostalgia of their stories, reaching multiple generations of audiences at once.
Their recreations of “Maleficent”, “Jungle Book”, “Beauty and the Beast” and “Christopher Robin” have brought parents AND their kids into the theaters, filling seats next to full-grown college students (all being equally entertained.)
And in the next year or two “Dumbo”, “Lion King”, “Aladdin” and “Mulan” will do the same, probably even more so, because these are the stories we love and even though they’re “new,” they remind us of a time when everything was simpler, and right now that feels pretty important.
As life goes on, there’s more and more to remember, revisit and/or cling to as one only can to memories, which makes those nostalgic places, songs or moments that much more sweet. Take some time in these last few weeks to make memories you’ll look back on and smile. You never know when you’ll need them.
For the last time,
—Your Friendly Neighborhood Movie Guy
Nicholas Morrison is a senior studying graphic design.