Nostalgia Death

There comes a time in everybody's life where they think "hey, I really enjoyed x when I was a kid. I think I'll revisit x as an adult."

For me x represents everything from cartoons like the 90s X-Men Animated Series, to music like Evanescence. (I owned an Evanescence CD when I was younger. Feel free to shun me with the power of a million sons suns. Goddamn it autocorrect.)

No, seriously, I feel ill admitting that.
I gotta go shower or something. Ugh.

Inevitably, however, you will discover one of  the things you used to enjoy as a child is, in fact, a big pile of poo.

I call this feeling "nostalgia death" and it is both a terrible and wonderful thing.

I first started thinking about this feeling a couple of years back, after watching Muppet Treasure Island on a hungover Sunday morning with some friends.

There were about five or six of us and we all loved the film. When we started watching it again, though, all the parts that I remember being hilarious were just trite, cliche, and kind of tired.

When you experience nostalgia death, there are a number of emotions. Most of them are unpleasant. Like stepping on a dog, which is unpleasant. 

The first emotion is usually disappointment. The Neverending Story II was so awesome when I was growing up! The X-Men Animated Series used to be a staple of my Saturday morning! This person I used to hang out with was so cool when I was in high-school! This band inspired me to buy my first CD... 

Obnoxious humour was great...WHEN WE WERE THIRTEEN.

That first emotion can go on ad infinitum, so I'll move on to the next. 

The second emotion is usually revulsion. This dialogue is terrible! Why is everything fluorescent? This song that I thought was amazing is actually the most annoying thing ever. How was my taste ever this bad?

This. What the fuck is this? What is going on? Who cares?

Emotion number three is usually regret. You'll immediately wish you hadn't indulged your desires to reconnect with your childhood. I know that because I was an obnoxiously stupid and stupidly obnoxious kid. If you'd only left those memories where they belong, you'd still be happy...

Tell 'em, Ron.

However, it usually provides you with an insight to the person you've become. You remember all the terrible things you used to like when you were a kid, and then you think about the stuff you like now. How much have you changed? Probably quite a bit, you idiot. I hope you're not the same as you were when you were 12.

Giant chicken men/women helped me grow as a person.

Chances are you'll look back on 2013 in a decade, possibly two, and think of the stuff you like now...and possibly hate it. Hopefully one of those things you hate is dubstep. Or maybe  they'll weaponsise shitty things. Who knows?

The only reason I went particularly hard on Muppet Treasure Island is because it was the catalyst for me thinking about this particular emotion.

I was playing "who should I kill" in my head during this sequence.
My first option was "me." The rest was "the cast of this movie." 

|Of course, this changes from person to person. You all know this. It's not like I have to explain that taste is a subjective...thing. But I think the feeling of nostalgia death is a universal feeling. And it sucks. But it's also good at the same time. But it actually sucks.

Two stars.

Two facepalm-y stars.