What is the Opposite of Nostalgia?
As of late, there’s a trend on social media.
People are making fun of iconic characters of the past.
The first up was Michael Jordan.
The internet age has not been kind to Michael Jordan.
There was the crying Jordan meme, the countless number of stories about how Jordan was a bad guy, and…
We are done with the 90s!!
There’s this trend online called “we are done with the 90s” where the public posts lowlights of 90s basketball.
The reason they are doing this is to marginalize Jordan’s competition so they can settle the GOAT debate.
Another guy who has been shredded by the public is Justin Timberlake.
His backlash and Jennifer Lopez’s backlash are similar.
They both dropped projects recently.
Rather than their projects getting attacked, their CAREERS are getting attacked.
The public is saying they are culture vultures, lack talent, and refuse to evolve.
What’s going on?
Why is the public turning against beloved characters of the past?
Anti-Nostalgia
Nostalgia is when you have powerful emotions of the past, while anti-nostalgia is the opposite.
Anti-nostalgia makes you look at memorable moments of the past with a brand-new lens:
- A disgusted lens.
Imagine that you thought your mom and dad had an amazing relationship.
Growing up, all you remember were the happy moments.
In your 30s, suddenly, your parents get a divorce.
You ask why?
They tell you that they stopped loving each other decades ago, and the only reason they stayed together was because of you.
They didn’t want you to grow up in a broken home.
You suddenly begin looking at the past in a questionable manner.
That small spat that your parents had in Disneyworld no longer looks like just a small spat.
It seems like something much more sinister.
Suddenly, your memory of Disneyworld is tainted.
And your perception of your parents’ marriage is filled with anti-nostalgia.
What Causes Anti-Nostalgia?
The #1 thing that causes anti-nostalgia is more information.
Let’s think about Michael Jordan for a second.
I remember in 2011, LeBron James had an epic choke job in the finals against the Dallas Mavericks.
After that final’s loss, the public decided:
‘Lebron will never be the GOAT. It’ll forever be Michael Jordan.’
Then Lebron continued with his career…
He won 1 ring.
2 rings.
3 rings.
Currently has 4 rings.
Has 40,000 career points.
Is the only player who is a part of the 10k/10k/10k club.
More information is being presented.
With more information, the public now thinks:
‘Wait, the GOAT debate wasn’t so cut and dry all along.’
With Justin Timberlake, more information came from Britney Spears’s autobiography.
She talked about how Justin wasn’t a good partner and used her to capitalize on his own career.
In 2000s, that may have gone by smoothly.
But now?
In 2024, where there is women’s empowerment, equal rights, Me Too movement…
A man putting down a woman to rise is seen as awful.
That new information shades Justin’s newest project.
For the people who actually listened to his new album, they say it’s amazing.
However, many are forming their opinions of Justin’s new album without listening it to it.
They are judging him for things he did 20 years ago.
Is There Any Fix for Anti-Nostalgia?
The main fix for anti-nostalgia is to understand that your memory is not as strong as you think it is.
Here’s how the memory works:
- Experience a lot of data.
- Recall the data that you connected with the most.
We live 24 hours a day.
But how much of the 24 hours can you actually recall?
Very few!
The main things we recall are the things that engaged our narrative brain.
Do your best to leave the past as the past.
A lot of people are posting lowlights of 90s basketball and trashing how the game was played.
My question is:
‘If there was no 90s ball, how the heck would we have 2000s ball?’
The 90s laid the fertile ground for current basketball to exist.
Sometimes, the past is so sinister, that you have to accept reality for what it is.
The new thing that is going to get hit with anti-nostalgia is Nickelodeon.
Nickelodeon was a children’s entertainment network that created a lot of classics.
- All That, Drake & Josh, and The Amanda Show.
Recently, there was a documentary that dropped called “Quiet on Set.”
The documentary talked about how a couple of Nickelodeon executives were pedophiles.
One of the stories talked about how Drake Bell was molested.
Nowadays, I can’t watch Nickelodeon with my mind going to the gutters.
A lot of lines seem way more sexualized than I noticed as a kid.
Good Emotions & Bad Emotions
Both nostalgia and anti-nostalgia have one thing in common:
- It makes us feel.
If you can make someone feel, then you will be golden.
The main thing that turns your stories from a series of words to things that grip people is how much people relate to them.
Being able to evoke joy OR disgust are powerful skills.
Practice recalling your past.
See how anti-nostalgia works on you.
What is one thing that you used to admire in the past, but nowadays, you’re like:
‘I have no clue what I was thinking?’
It’ll take you some time to think of this.
Once you do, you’ll see how even you can get hit with anti-nostalgia without noticing.
Evaluating the Past
Unless we have content on the matter, we are using our memory or someone else’s memory.
As I grow up, I see the value of taking pictures and videos more.
My memory isn’t as strong as my ego wants me to believe.
Things that I thought were amazing had bad moments sprinkled in and moments that I thought were awful had great moments that I was blind to.
Realize the flaws of your memory.
And realize the flaws of humans.
A lot of people back then did what they knew best.
Rather than judging them as your current knowledgeable self, judge them as their flawed self.
For more insights into storytelling, check out the Art & Science of Storytelling Book
✨Ebook
✨Paperback/Kindle
✨Audiobook
– ArmaniTalks 
