Welcome to the Upside Down: Living in a Present Stuck in the Past

Remember "Stranger Things"? The Netflix original show has become a cornerstone of contemporary culture ever since it premiered in 2016. Capturing the attention of 14 million adults during its first month, "Stranger Things" has brought with it a sweeping wave of nostalgia for the 1980s. Fashion, music and movies associated with the era experienced a significant resurgence in popularity. However, contemporary culture has become heavily influenced, if not entirely defined, by nostalgia ever since Will Byers was rescued from the Upside Down. With Hollywood's commercialization of nostalgia through countless sequels and remakes, alongside other industries that have benefited from this boom, contemporary culture has become a snake that eats its own tail. Revisiting aesthetics and cultures of decades past is not inherently a bad thing, but nostalgia becomes a slippery slope when it dominates one’s way of thinking. 

When nostalgia is described, it is often cited as a warm feeling, providing the same sensation as a freshly washed blanket or a cup of tea; perhaps, a sunny memory of a song sung by a mother that breaks through a son’s cloudy day. A study done by the Human Flourishing Lab in 2023 shows that 77% of Americans use nostalgia as a source of comfort during tough times, and given that stress levels amongst American adults continue to increase, this nostalgic blanket makes sense. According to the American Psychological Association in 2023, 34% of American adults (aged 18-34) answered between 8 and 10 when asked to rate their stress on a scale of 1 to 10, an eight percent increase from 2019. With stress feeling overwhelming, it makes sense that nostalgia would act as a coping mechanism, explaining why shows like "Stranger Things" have succeeded. 

Yes, nostalgia may remind us of when times were simpler, but the grip it has over one’s mind should still be moderated. Yearning for a prior time in excess not only creates a detachment from reality but also results in the past being viewed solely through rose-colored glasses. Dr. Chris Ferguson, a professor of psychology at Stetson University, claims that nostalgia often breeds "cognitive bias," stating that "we tend to remember a lot of the good elements of the past more than we remember the negative, so that can cause us to remember the past more positively than it actually was." Needless to say, this line of thinking erases the blemishes that make the past less comfortable to think about. We cannot learn from history if we pick and choose what we remember based on our desired feelings. 

Viewing a decade merely by its greatest aspects has resulted in a phenomenon where people claim they were born in the wrong generation. I myself am not exempt, as I have a great affinity for the 1990s despite being born in 2005. Yet, it is still interesting how we can carry a pseudo-nostalgia for an era they never experienced. Amongst similar stress-related reasons as regular nostalgia, Dr. Ferguson says, "Past decades get presented in [oftentimes] a Disneyified kind of way." When pieces of media rely on nostalgia for previous eras, it results in a romanticization that omits the worst of said era. The desire to live in a different era stems from this oversimplification, given the ease for this desire to flourish when one is exclusively presented with the positives of overglorification.

A particularly bad offender of this romanticization, if maybe an obvious example for this point, is none other than cultural darling "Stranger Things." The degree to which the show glamorizes the zeitgeist of the 1980s is almost absurd. Whether it be a plot that hinges on a catchy Kate Bush track or a final battle that takes place in a ridiculously neon-lit mall, every reference to the '80s is coated in a flashy shine. Beyond a satanic panic subplot in Season 4, "Stranger Things" goes out of its way to omit the less-than-pleasant aspects of its beloved decade, like the AIDs epidemic or the War on Drugs. Therefore, when showrunners Matt and Ross Duffer use their show to indulge in pseudo-nostalgia (given that they were both born in '84), it is then deflected onto the audience. 

Take it from Dr. Ferguson, "There's nothing inherently wrong with enjoying memories of the past. As long as it doesn't prevent you from enjoying the present and looking forward to the future as well." There is nothing wrong with a little nostalgia-driven escapism. As much as I’ve harped on it, I am a big fan of "Stranger Things," and I will be tuning into the new season. That being said, nostalgia should still be treated with moderation, like all things. When older generations speak about their childhood decades, these times are quite often described as 'simpler.' However, it is not the times that were simpler, but rather, the childhood itself.