Nostalgia Filter: Difference between revisions

* ''[[Viz]]'' has a running joke about how it "isn't as funny as it used to be".

* The [[Crisis Crossover]] ''[[Infinite Crisis]]'' basically revolves around this trope, which the surviving heroes of ''[[Crisis on Infinite Earths]]'' hold to with varying degrees of fanaticism; having decided that the universe that resulted from the end of the earlier crossover has gone wrong and that their more innocent worlds were 'better' than the current status quo, they have decided to change the state of affairs by any means necessary. It has been noted that this has a certain similarity to frequent fan-criticisms of the current DC Universe. In the end, while Superboy-Prime and Alexander Luthor ended up crossing the [[Moral Event Horizon]] because of this, Earth-2 Superman's belief in this trope and the 'perfection' of his universe was shaken and ultimately subverted by an observation his alternate self made about the universe he came from:

* ''[[The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers]]'' had a mid-70s story where Fat Freddy is raving over how great the 1950s were. He fondly recalls a New Years teen party that we see from Phineas's perspective - everyone converges at his parents' house over his objections, people get stupid drunk, he and Franklin get beaten up by hoods who crash the party, and the house and family car end up destroyed just before the parents get home.

* In ''[[Sandman]]'', there's a scene in the 1480s, where the immortal Hob Gadling, now about 130 or so, overhears an old man complaining about these newfangled chimneys, and reminiscing about the days when "we did have a good honest brazier in the house," when nobody suffered from "rheumes and cattarhs" and the smoke was "good medicine for the man and his family." Hob mutters to Dream about how foolish the old man is, and how back then everyone was coughing and wheezing from the smoke, and occasionally you'd find whole families that had asphyxiated in the night.

== Literature ==

* Famously lampshaded by [[Charles Dickens]] in the opening passage of ''[[A Tale of Two Cities]]'':

** Or, as it is quoted in ''The Lawyer's Handbook'', "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the New York Times."

* In the ''Satyricon'', published some time in the 1st century AD (and in the very, very strange Fellini movie), the poet Agamemnon complains about the failing quality of contemporary literature and poetry, compared to the good old days, making this at least [[Older Than Feudalism]].

* In [[Robert E. Howard]]'s [[Conan the Barbarian]] story "[[The Phoenix on the Sword]]", the last king is viewed with this, especially by Rinaldo.

* [[William Shakespeare]]'s Sonnet 106 complains that the ancients, who did not see this beauty, could have expressed it worthily, but mere current day poets aren't up to it.

** This and the example from the ''Satyricon'' above are examples of this as applied to the field of linguistics. Language was always at its best when your grandparents were speaking it. You can trace a line of bitching critics from decade to decade to the fifteenth century in English alone.

* Lampshaded in a comic strip of ''[[Zits]]'' where the Duncans take a trip to a cabin where Walt went when he was younger. Jeremy ''hates'' it, but Walt, for some reason, has all these pleasant memories of the place. Yet, Jeremy finds a tree into which Walt had carved, "I hate this %^@&% Dump!!" and Walt mentions, "Wow, time has a way of blurring things, does it?"

** In another strip, Walt gets angry at a song Jeremy is listening to, resulting in this exchange,

'''Walt''': Don't give me that! I'm sick of this new music that's [[Moral Guardians|nothing but drugs and sex]]!<br />

'''Jeremy''': You mean like, "[[Bob Dylan|Lay Lady Lay]]", "[[The Beatles|Lucy in the Sky]]", "[[Jimi Hendrix|Purple Haze]]", "[[The Rolling Stones|Brown Sugar]]"?<br />

** For those who don't speak internet; the imageboard /b/, [[Small Name, Big Ego|the source of most memes]], is full of people who have matured to the point were the rather immature, gross-out and horrible humor of /b/ no longer amuses them, and complain about the new users, claiming that they are the "cancer that is killing /b/."

* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_APoSfCYwU As SMBC points out,] nostalgia has been a staple of humanity since before it ''was'' humanity:

Don't give me that liberal bullcrap. }}

** [http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=2253#comic And again.]

* ''[[The Fairly Odd Parents]]'': In one episode, Timmy's dad constantly speaks of his fond childhood memories of spending time in an Old West town, and Timmy goes through the trouble of making sure it doesn't get torn down for his dad's sake. However, actually being there again makes Timmy's dad realize how much his childhood sucked and has the place demolished for a few bucks.

** And another episode, in when Timmy and his dad were cleaning their attic, Timmy finds his dad's tiny box of dreams. He picks it up and it breaks. Timmy's dad was OK with it though, because his dreams were crushed many years ago.

'''Mr. Turner''': How old are you? }}

* ''[[Phineas and Ferb]]'': Phineas reflects on the little kiddie rides outside of the mall, leading to an exciting scene of young Phineas flying into space and shooting lasers off with Ferb. Cut to him riding it in reality...

* This attitude is called out in one episode of ''[[The Real Ghostbusters]]'', where Ray is talking about how the fifties were a much simpler time. Egon points out that there's no inherent proof of that, as each decade has its own individual challenges.

* In the [[Be Careful What You Wish For]] episode of ''[[The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy]]'', Billy's dad wants to relive his high school days. He soon realizes it wasn't as good as he thought it was.

* Given a quick jab in the ribs from ''[[The Oblongs]]'', as Bob wonders fitfully about his children being sold drugs.

'''Bob:''' ..... No, I think you're wrong. }}

* [[Daria]] once called a guy Jane was dating out on this.

'''Daria:''' Well, yeah. But you also had the timeless style of Cold War conformity and the civilized decorum of segregation. }}

** Another example occurs when Jake finds some old home movies from back when he was a kid and is eager to see them despite Helen's failed attempts at reminding him that his childhood wasn't that great. The truth comes rushing back to him once he watches them however. Helen later lampshaded this tendency in Is It College Yet.

* In the ''[[South Park]]'' episode "You're Getting Old," as soon as Stan turns ten, he ends up hearing and seeing all the "[[Younger and Hipper|new and hip]]" stuff around him to be literally "shitty," ranging from tracks from band called "Tween Wave" featuring nothing but funky beats with fart sounds in the background to seeing turds in movie trailers and in various parts of the town.

** {{spoiler|Also a bit of a [[Deconstructed Trope|deconstruction]] because it completely alienates him from his friends.}}