The Big Picture: In Defense of Nostalgia

sublight

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May 18, 2011
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Great video this week. What bugs me, though, is that I recognized Turner D. Century, and I have no idea how. I've read maybe 3 superhero comics in my entire life (that's 3 issues, not series), so I'm hardly a repository of geek culture ephemera. Oh well, must have n across him over at Superdickery or one of those sites.

Oh, and America is hardly alone in its fringe groups clamoring for cultural nostalgia. Here in Tokyo we've got a governor (Shintaro Ishihara, if you want to look him up)who was born early enough to experience the war, but too late to serve, and has been trying to assuage his survivor's guilt ever since through hyper-patriotic demands that Japan return to its former glory, drive out anyone who's not pure Nihonjin, put the women back in the kitchens and brothels, and get all the damn sexy homos off TV so they'll stop tempting him.
 

nobodysoldier25

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Sep 24, 2008
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I always thought that this was one of those topics that people just sort of glossed over or ignored; one of those topics that just never really gets discussed because, let's be realistic, the amount of people succumbing to nostalgia has been getting higher and higher as people have been getting older and older. Now it's to the point that no one wants to even talk about it, and we all just accept it as a norm, because no one wants to admit that, in all reality, we're afraid of the future, and we just want to keep on clinging to the past where things were better simply because we already know that the past worked. We don't know what the future holds. All we know is that it's uncertain, very different, apparently scary, and a lot of people just aren't ready to deal with that. American culture as a whole is stagnating because of this whether it be through video games, films, television, politics, and no one is willing to talk about it.

So I thank you Bob for at least bringing up this very serious topic. Someone has to and more people should, because this is something that really needs to be examined. More so the political than the creative obviously but still. Serious stuff.

TokenRupee said:
Well, I was enjoying your point of view. At least until that awkward segue. Keep the politics out of the video. Especially in this one, even the reasoning for bringing politics into the discussion was as flimsy as, well, people's reasoning for buying Call of Duty every 2 years and complaining about Mario. Just keep the discussion to the actual nostalgia you were talking about and not political ideas. I don't watch this for "American Bob" to insert itself in it, especially since I don't watch "American Bob" to begin with.
The name of this series is "The Big Picture." Bob is American, at least I assume he is, and, politics or not, this most definitely falls into the big picture. As such he should talk about it. Also there was a warning at the beginning of the video so...
 

0megaZer0

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Jun 26, 2009
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aegix drakan said:
0megaZer0 said:
I think PROGRESS is the most important thing EVER.
Isn't it, though?

If you don't make progress, you're not advancing. You're just gonna stagnate on outdated tech and social norms! Progress is GOOD! It means more efficiency and equality.

Without progress, we'd all be squatting on holes to poop instead of having plumbing, and fighting war with phalanxes while hoping not to get sick from infections we don't know how to cure!

At least, this is the general idea being the civilization games, so it should be at least partially accurate. :p
first: In short, no. A better example would have been modern medicine. but still no; there are things even more important than this.

second: "progress" is not strictly a linear affair. The world works in 3 dimensions. What people like Bob fail to grasp is that "forward" is not always what is directly in front of them.
~~

For all of our modern conveniences and expanded life expectancy we have become weak. modern technology has become the new age "opiate of the masses". people sit by in their quaint houses, content to sit back and watch Jersey Shore and "American Idol" getting fatter and dumber and stagnating; all hope of valor or honor or philosophical thoughts of the human condition not yet gone out but fleeing the world all the time.
We have forgotten our roots, forgotten the greatness that we used to have, what we used to BE. Evolution is LITERALLY working in REVERSE people {did you know we still have remnant of a second pair of eyelids which could be utilized for protection underwater? we've just lost the muscles to control them because we have not used them in so long}
And yet, by diction of this being the the linear "latest" we are to believe that this has all been "progress". That it has ALL been GOOD, and anything even CONSIDERING that of the past as anything other than an entirely BAD entity to be improved upon, as unintelligible primitive ideas, not only to not be CONSIDERED, but to be shunned completely...

a future based on these ideals, I do not want to e a part of. To forget the past is to forfeit our future.
 

spazzzz100

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Oct 14, 2010
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i totally agree with you, but tron legacy had nothing to do with tron (the character). also wat are your thoughts on gay marriage?
 

nightazday

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Apr 5, 2009
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I liked this video
you tend to divulge into bias often in some of your videos (especially with FPS, seriously saying that all FPSs are Halo is like saying all Platforms are Super Mario bros.)
but unlike most people, you actually admit most of them
tends to give you better standing
but yeah there is not really a "good ol days" in American history and tradition wasn't the biggest part of American (in fact America mostly built to reject the stagnant "traditional" systems that Europe originally had)
 

Imperator-Zor

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Nov 18, 2009
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Women
0megaZer0 said:
For all of our modern conveniences and expanded life expectancy we have become weak. modern technology has become the new age "opiate of the masses". people sit by in their quaint houses, content to sit back and watch Jersey Shore and "American Idol" getting fatter and dumber and stagnating; all hope of valor or honor or philosophical thoughts of the human condition not yet gone out but fleeing the world all the time.
Meh, thats what Cybernetics and Genetic Engineering is for. Transhumanism FTW!

Zor
 

Ickorus

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Mar 9, 2009
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Nope, you're wrong this week, I have to go out now but if I remember I will expand on my opinion later.

Ad I mean wrong about gaming nostalgia, not politial, I stopped the video at that point becauseI figured out his tactic of trying to get people discussing politics so he doesn't have people using reasoning against him and forcing him to actually argue his point beyond a single good IP resurrection.
 

Calbeck

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Jul 13, 2008
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Given that Bob has a habit of "veering into politics" regardless of the actual subject of any given episode...nah, it wasn't a ploy with any suspense at all. It was kind of like saying "the following bowl of cereal may contain milk".

But given the specific warning, it was no surprise when Bob decided to shift from pop-culture nostalgia into an off-the-wall claim that being supportive of such specific things as the United States Constitution is "nostalgic". I'm sure he's aware the thing has an amendment process so it CAN be changed...but if he's not satisfied with that, one has to wonder how he would go about "refreshing" it without simply ignoring the parts of the law he doesn't like --- you know, like the Montana Freemen did.

I suppose it's sufficient to point out the obvious and leave it there: Bob doesn't like a given segment of American political views and thinks anyone who holds them is somehow holding America back. Which is pretty much the exact same view held by the extremists on the other side of that particular coin, the types who scream that President Obama is a "socialist".

Folks like Bob, and their opposite numbers, are a big reason why it's so difficult in this country to actually have a, say, dialogue on the issues, rather than a Pick-Your-Rant-Fest.
 

SiskoBlue

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Aug 11, 2010
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Part of me wonders if this "nostalgia" notion is a bit ego-centric to today's internet culture. If you're a bit older (cough* like me) you realise there's a point in every one's life where they start to look around and feel like there's nothing new. As you approach 40 you start to see the cycles of fashions and politics and therefore movies and games.

Bob is completely right that there are much more serious problems with nostalgia=conservatism in politics but how many people here can speak about it with the confidence of a broad knowledge of the subject? And I mean really knowledgable, not reiterating media excerpts. But how many here can confidently identify Decepticons from Autobots and name all the Robin's that have existed? There's your proportional response.
 

Magmarock

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Sep 1, 2011
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Hello there. I'm not sure what group I fit into, but I'm the kind of person that likes nostalgia as well as new things and also likes it when the two are mixed well. Like take Mortal Kombat 9 for example, they really did an amazing job on that combing new technology with oldschool gameplay. However, I'm not a big fan of the Zelda's and Marios?. I think Major's mask was the best Zelda not many agree but I loved it and I think it should've ended there. And I was never a big fan of Mario I preferred Sonic and Spyros. And no I do not acknowledge any Sonic game past the Genesis
 

BrotherRool

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Oct 31, 2008
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That was particularly cohesive or unhypocritical, it wasn't really a very good use of the nostalgia word or even of the slightly more cyclic nature of history that we tend to ignore (for instance society has been flipping between prudish and outgoing since about as long as we're able to look back and so the chances are we aren't actually part of some great new cultural renaissance (and are indeed saying the same things they said, during the renaissance hundreds and hundreds of years ago)

And I'd like to think that even on some of the more vile aspects you were highlighting people would have better reasons.

But no, I don't think it's even nostalgia, just plain old prejudice and I'm not going to complain when anyone says it's time to take a stand against it.

I'd even support the dissolution of the term marriage. Then the people who attach significance to it can have that significance back and the people who don't can carry on doing what they want to do without ending up in conflict with the other people
 

Jobbie

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Aug 14, 2010
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I think the idea of a strong family is a good thing. I'm not the least bit religious and I don't agree with the gay marriage stance that the tea party has taken, but the rest of the core values I do agree with. I personally don't put much faith in the federal gov't and wish it would scale back a bit. I don't see how the lack of common sense...IE red tape has any benefit at all to anyone's lives.

I'm james and that's my opinion.
 

Machine Man 1992

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Jul 4, 2011
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And here we see that Bob continues to be a blatant nintendo fanboy, and throws us off with a political discussion.

Call Of Duty is the exact same thing over and over, just as every nintendo franchise from the past twenty years is the exact same thing over and over again. COD introduces new modes and new story, weapons, characters etc. I ask you when was the last time Zelda had a new story, or didn't make you pick up the same gadgets every freaking game? And yet people still ***** about COD being unoriginal, while Nintendo's hasn't had an original idea for twenty damn years.

Another thing is that the anti-nostalgia group decry the recent nostalgic movies and games because they are made to pander to the people who liked the originals.

It astounds me how people just blindly agree with Bob like the good little sycophants they are. Newsflash people: Bob is not "right" he's a troll who managed to luck his way into a job that lets him spew bullshit for money, and is rendered irrelevant since the escapist hired Jim Sterling of the Jimquisition and the Extra Credits guys, who can do Bob's job only a thousand times better.
 

TokenRupee

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Oct 2, 2010
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nobodysoldier25 said:
I always thought that this was one of those topics that people just sort of glossed over or ignored; one of those topics that just never really gets discussed because, let's be realistic, the amount of people succumbing to nostalgia has been getting higher and higher as people have been getting older and older. Now it's to the point that no one wants to even talk about it, and we all just accept it as a norm, because no one wants to admit that, in all reality, we're afraid of the future, and we just want to keep on clinging to the past where things were better simply because we already know that the past worked. We don't know what the future holds. All we know is that it's uncertain, very different, apparently scary, and a lot of people just aren't ready to deal with that. American culture as a whole is stagnating because of this whether it be through video games, films, television, politics, and no one is willing to talk about it.

So I thank you Bob for at least bringing up this very serious topic. Someone has to and more people should, because this is something that really needs to be examined. More so the political than the creative obviously but still. Serious stuff.

TokenRupee said:
Well, I was enjoying your point of view. At least until that awkward segue. Keep the politics out of the video. Especially in this one, even the reasoning for bringing politics into the discussion was as flimsy as, well, people's reasoning for buying Call of Duty every 2 years and complaining about Mario. Just keep the discussion to the actual nostalgia you were talking about and not political ideas. I don't watch this for "American Bob" to insert itself in it, especially since I don't watch "American Bob" to begin with.
The name of this series is "The Big Picture." Bob is American, at least I assume he is, and, politics or not, this most definitely falls into the big picture. As such he should talk about it. Also there was a warning at the beginning of the video so...
Then he could have just mentioned politics in general. As much as I agree with the two points he made, he already has a show dedicated to politics.

And it most definitely does not fall into the big picture. It's a rather jarring and dubious connection to link people who complain about nostalgic games to Glenn Beck. If he had wanted to make the jump from games to politics, he could have just made the video longer and made it more natural. As it is, he should have just made a broad, sweeping statement like, "There are bigger issues, such as those in politics." Even though we're all aware of that anyway.
 

CosmicCommander

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Apr 11, 2009
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Oh look, a piece of content in this place attacking the right-wing.

Great job, it'll be so hard to sway and assert your opinion over the diverse political, economic, and social camps that are on the Escapi-...

...AHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAAAAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHA.

I forgot, everyone here is either a centrist or to the left of centre, atheist, liberal, and espouse the view that everyone is entitled to other views (yet react oh-so shocked when they hear other people actually have diverging views).

It's not so much your message, it's the fact you're just endorsing the intellectual homogeneity that exists here.

And your argument on changing the US constitution could use some work rather than "it's old, man".
 

Varya

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Nov 23, 2009
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mikespoff said:
Varya said:
To be opposed to Gay Marriage is, when you get down to it, someone giving a fuck where there should be no fucks given.
...so marriage is a completely irrelevant social institution? In that case, why does it matter whether gays can get married? And if that's not the case, then surely (as you put it), fucks should be given?

OT, Nostalgia is not always a bad thing, and change for the sake of it is not always a good thing. Sometimes, traditions and institutions exist because they acknowledge that the best way of doing things is the way that we've been doing them for the past few thousand years...
No it's not irrelevant. That doesn't mean other people should have any say in whether it's a valid relationship. If I want to marry a man instead of a woman, as long as we both are allowed to marry others, why should we not marry each other?
 

Mookowicz

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May 1, 2011
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Nostalgia [http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=nostalgia&allowed_in_frame=0] was a term coined in 1770 to mean 'severe homesickness', from the Greek nostos ('homecoming') and algos ('grief'). Though we now use it to mean 'wistful yearning', I think the origin is telling -- when we suffer nostalgia we're grieving for the loss of times past.

Nostalgia is a natural part of getting older. Left to our own devices we can get over it. But when people start marketing to it, they're doing more than just selling memory or even peddling fantasy. They're trying to feed us a cynically-crafted delusion.

What's the difference? Simple.

Memory: this was good in its day
Fantasy: this was better than anything that ever came after it
Delusion: this is so great that we should never want anything else

I don't think it matters whether the delusion-peddler is the entertainment industry, a religious institution or a political group. It's cynical, disingenuous and wrong to sell such pap, and deserves criticism.

But sure, there's also a matter of degree.
 

Baresark

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Dec 19, 2010
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Great episode. I get so tired of hearing about Nostalgia from people. I was maybe 4 when the original Thundercats aired on TV. And it was awesome, but then i watched it again in 1996, and it was awful.

As a side note, Glen Beck is a neocon, and the constitution he is talking about never existed. He is just mad the left is in office and not the right. They still got to smack down gay marriage, good for them. But don't confuse Glen Beck and his ilk with hard working Libertarian folks such as myself. He has the wrong value set for the roll.
 

Gizen

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Nov 17, 2009
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ReiverCorrupter said:
The marriage institution in America is a product of Christianity, plain and simple. We don't have arranged marriages like in current India and most of the world for most of history. Nor do we recognize polygamous marriage. "Marriage" is not a secular institution, in virtually ever circumstance it is accompanied by religion. It doesn't matter if it spans multiple religions, that doesn't make it secular.
No, marriage in the US is not a product of Christianity, as you acknolwedge yourself that there are multiple religions who utilize it. Not to mention, it's not as if Atheists never get married. Also, you know, seperation of church and state and all that.

[qupte]This would all go away if they stopped giving out "marriage licenses" and just had "civil union forms" instead. It's not the benefits that people care about, it's the word. The entire debate is basically just meaningless semantics.[/quote]
No, it IS the benefits most people care about, because some of those benefits, like hospital visitation rights, are pretty damned important.

The liberals are just as much to blame because they ultimately want to force values down people's throats. Sorry, but if you're a gay Catholic, you aren't entitled to get married in a Catholic Church. The religion considers you a sinner. Tough. The government cannot and should not try to change the doctrines of the Church. Maybe you should pick one or the other, because the two are mutually exclusive.
I agree, the government shouldn't have a say in Church doctrine. Which means if the Church agrees to perform a gay marriage ceremony (because again, not every church out there opposes it), then the government shouldn't be able to stop them. Likewise, the church shouldn't have a say in government or law, which means that marriages which take place in a court instead of a church should be fair game for homosexuals as well.

What ever happened to people minding their own f-ing business? That goes for both sides.
If people would mind their own business, then there'd be no reason gay to reject gay marriage.
 

Raioken18

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Dec 18, 2009
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Thank God! I thought maybe I was going insane.
You see I bought Call of Duty Modern Warefare 2 when it came out as the first FPS I had gotten in a long time (We are talking about since... Unreal Tournament 2?) Anyway whilst being thoroughly underwhelmed by the difficulty of connecting to a decent server, I was impressed with the graphics and customisations. Then enter Battlefield BC 2, this game, Blew Me Away! It seemed like such a marked imporovement over MW2 I uninstalled MW2 that day and haven't bothered playing it since. My friends however are the mid 20 money to burn types, so they came around to wanting to buy CoD Black Ops. After playing it on a friends console... the online component was no different from MW2... It took my friends a week and a half to go back to Battlefield BC 2.

I then played an earlier CoD game, to my suprise it was also the exact same style... and what's more is there were so few online maps, especially compared to the small size of each map... each time there was a DLC pack, it just felt like they had given you half a game and were then charging you periodically to buy the other half...

anyway getting away from my point, I was considered insane for saying that if you got a relatively new gamer and had them play the different games in the CoD series, they would be unable to tell you any major difference between them.

And really... I could keep playing Battlefield BC 2 for years... not that interested in the new one. Not unless they put some work into alleviating the stalemates caused by bottlenecks and a few of the OP weapons.