The older I get, the more I love nostalgic things. “The good ol' days” weren’t really that long ago, but they are gone. It’s the worst part of life, that all things must pass, as the George Harrison album goes. But it is a part of life, and an important part – that our lives end and life goes on forces us to appreciate it more than we otherwise would (or at least it hopefully does). Going on with life, however, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t look back. You should, often.
Nostalgia helps us remember, both times that have gone by and the people we’ve lost. The human brain is an amazing thing. We’re the only species acutely aware of our mortality, yet it doesn’t cripple us. Even with faith in God, the idea that one day, and we’ll never know when, we will cease to be alive in this world is a scary one. We all have family and friends we don’t want to lose and don’t want to leave, but we will.
And yet we function with this knowledge. It could consume all our time and energy, but it does not. Because we look forward and move forward. Ironically, we move forward toward our not existing without becoming consumed with that fact.
A large part of what helps us avoid that all-consuming thought is nostalgia. Memories of good times gone by are foreshadowing of the prospect of better times to come. That’s why we are flooded with good memories in times of sorrow, why people laugh and tell funny stories at funerals.
Few things can evoke a time from our past stronger than smell, taste, or music. Smells and tastes can trigger the brain to remember exactly a place or meal – your mother’s recipe for meatloaf or the smell of your grandparents' living room. And how many songs can transport you to an exact moment from your youth? A high school dance, driving with friends, or a first kiss?
It’s all in your head, whether you know it or not, or can summon it at will or not.
What made me think of all this, and bother to type it out, was nothing profound, not in the least. My wife and I just watched “Coming to America 2,” the new Eddie Murphy movie. While movies aren’t on my list of things that can automatically trigger memories, they can do it. And this one did.
It’s not a great movie, but it is a good one. If you enjoyed the first one, you’ll likely appreciate the second. It does get a little “woke,” which I assumed it would before watching it, however not nearly as much as I feared it would. Almost everyone still alive from the first one reprises their roles from the original, and they all do a fine job.
I won’t bother you with the details,. You’ll either watch it or you won’t. The plot is mostly predictable and the laughs are more chuckles than out loud, but it is worth your time.
The best part of "Coming to America 2" is it is comfort food done well. Whether you saw the original in theaters or on cable long after, it reminds you of that first time. It takes you back to the world in the movie, which takes you back to the world you lived in at the time. And anything that, even for a while, takes you out of this government-imposed house arrest to a better place mentally, is a good thing.
It is a major part of why the show Cobra Kai is so good (much better than "Coming to America 2"). It brings back a time long gone and the feelings you had then. The characters are great and it is executed perfectly.
Both of these projects could have gone for the cheap, easy way Hollywood tends to do things – only be about nostalgia, exploiting the good feelings from the originals – but they don’t. They bring back to life characters in a way that feels real, like you’re catching up with them rather than them cashing in on it.
Everyone needs an escape, and until liberal states take their boots off the necks of the economy and our liberty, and businesses reopen and life is allowed to resume, these trips down memory lane are important distractions and escapes that will help keep us sane by returning us to a better time, if only for a while. So don’t write them off as exploitative or cashing in, they’re much better and more important than that.
Derek Hunter is the host of a free daily podcast (subscribe!), host of a daily radio show on WCBM in Maryland, and author of the book, Outrage, INC., which exposes how liberals use fear and hatred to manipulate the masses. Follow him on Twitter at @DerekAHunter.