For a few minutes there, I was tempted to write something about the inauguration of Donald "Trump" Trump as president of the United States earlier today. Obviously making a political or social statement isn't unprecedented on this blog, but you know what? I'm a little sick of politics.
So I'm going to resist the temptation to write something political (far easier than you might imagine, considering the state of the interwebs these days), and instead we're going to talk about Power Rangers. You can feel free to argue with me about Power Rangers as much as you want.
First, some perspective. Or, well, my perspective. See, I loved Power Rangers as a kid (not one of those weird sequels, either, the original Mighty Morphin kind). But that was due to social pressure, and not any particular familiarity with a show that was admittedly intended as a weekly half-hour commercial for kids. I had a few toys, I watched a few episodes of the show, and I knew kinda generally what a megazord was.
Somehow, though, I always considered myself a huge fan. Intellectually I recognize now that I was a little crazy. And yet I watched this video and just about wizzed in child-like glee.
Even if you know nothing about Power Rangers, you've got to admit, that looks like a pretty cool movie. I mean, it's just a trailer, so obviously the movie could wind up being an enormous pile of garbage, but if nothing else we got a really good trailer out of the deal, so there's that. And there is a part of me thinking I should go try and watch a few seasons of the show before this movie comes out.
Then there's the part of me who got tired of feeling like a poser-fan a few years ago and already tried that. I watched the first episode. Turns out that show was really, REALLY campy. And like, not in a good way.
Anyway, the point is that while the movie looks like an entertaining summer blockbuster, there's no real reason for me to get particularly eager for it beyond nostalgia. But it's nostalgia for a fanbase that I was never really a part of, if we're honest. And it's not like I get nostalgic about everything that existed when I was a kid. Like, hearing Spice Girls, Backstreet Boys, or Korn songs doesn't make me nostalgic, it makes me nauseous. So what gives? Why the heck would hearing the word "go" repeated twice and three power chords make me want to go watch a terrible 90's toy commercial badly disguised as a TV show?
That's a good question, me, I'm glad I asked! One of these days I'm going to do a meta-analysis about what's been written concerning nostalgia, but today is not that day. Today I'm just going to point out that I think nostalgia isn't really a function of how much you knew about something, or how invested you were in it, but rather how you felt about it. I thought the rangers were cool because all my friends thought they were cool. There was a social and emotional component to it, and I think it's that component that makes me really want to see this movie.
It's a meaningless social construction, is what I'm saying. And you'd think that recognizing that would render it somewhat ineffectual, but after four Transformers movies made by Michael Bay and two frankly unbelievably terrible Ninja Turtles movies, I guess that's not the case. We're social creatures, and it's somewhat remarkable just exactly how much we need these bizarre and inexplicable social constructs to function as a species. Is this sort of collective insanity a biological imperative or something else entirely?
Yeah, I have no idea. But hey, the movie looks cool! I'm excited for it! How about you? Getting pumped? No?
Well, your loss.
So I'm going to resist the temptation to write something political (far easier than you might imagine, considering the state of the interwebs these days), and instead we're going to talk about Power Rangers. You can feel free to argue with me about Power Rangers as much as you want.
First, some perspective. Or, well, my perspective. See, I loved Power Rangers as a kid (not one of those weird sequels, either, the original Mighty Morphin kind). But that was due to social pressure, and not any particular familiarity with a show that was admittedly intended as a weekly half-hour commercial for kids. I had a few toys, I watched a few episodes of the show, and I knew kinda generally what a megazord was.
Somehow, though, I always considered myself a huge fan. Intellectually I recognize now that I was a little crazy. And yet I watched this video and just about wizzed in child-like glee.
Then there's the part of me who got tired of feeling like a poser-fan a few years ago and already tried that. I watched the first episode. Turns out that show was really, REALLY campy. And like, not in a good way.
Anyway, the point is that while the movie looks like an entertaining summer blockbuster, there's no real reason for me to get particularly eager for it beyond nostalgia. But it's nostalgia for a fanbase that I was never really a part of, if we're honest. And it's not like I get nostalgic about everything that existed when I was a kid. Like, hearing Spice Girls, Backstreet Boys, or Korn songs doesn't make me nostalgic, it makes me nauseous. So what gives? Why the heck would hearing the word "go" repeated twice and three power chords make me want to go watch a terrible 90's toy commercial badly disguised as a TV show?
That's a good question, me, I'm glad I asked! One of these days I'm going to do a meta-analysis about what's been written concerning nostalgia, but today is not that day. Today I'm just going to point out that I think nostalgia isn't really a function of how much you knew about something, or how invested you were in it, but rather how you felt about it. I thought the rangers were cool because all my friends thought they were cool. There was a social and emotional component to it, and I think it's that component that makes me really want to see this movie.
It's a meaningless social construction, is what I'm saying. And you'd think that recognizing that would render it somewhat ineffectual, but after four Transformers movies made by Michael Bay and two frankly unbelievably terrible Ninja Turtles movies, I guess that's not the case. We're social creatures, and it's somewhat remarkable just exactly how much we need these bizarre and inexplicable social constructs to function as a species. Is this sort of collective insanity a biological imperative or something else entirely?
Yeah, I have no idea. But hey, the movie looks cool! I'm excited for it! How about you? Getting pumped? No?
Well, your loss.
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