By Tatsuya King
Cover yourself in green paint, shave your head, wear a rugged potato sack shirt with a gritty brown vest and go up to any stranger. Say soothingly, “That’ll do Donkey, that’ll do.” BAM! You’ve just triggered a nostalgic response. Everybody remembers that classic line spoken by the loveable green ogre Shrek from the 2001 kid’s film Shrek. After you’ve introduced yourself with a fondly remembered shared experience, the conversation can go anywhere! Much better than just going up and saying hi. That right there is the ultimate power of nostalgia. No matter who you are or where you come from, memories like Shrek’s smiling face can ignite a gleeful childlike joy to spring forth in an instant. And Shrek isn’t the only thing that can cause this reaction. Oftentimes it seems that the list of nostalgic memories is endless. Every Phineas and Ferb, Lightning McQueen and Simpson episode reminds us of the wonderful moments we spent slurping up content from the flashy screens and TV’s of our childhood homes. Sometimes, it even seems we live more joyously through nostalgia than we do in our current lives.
But what is nostalgia? Whom does it affect? Neuroscience teacher Daniel Li said, “I would assume that nostalgia comes from the neuron circuitry that associates pleasure and happiness with specific memories, and when those memories come up they are linked to that feeling of happiness… maybe.” Although uncertain, this answer gives a clear baseline for what nostalgia is. Nostalgia is simply remembering the good ol’ days.
But what if we could be tricked into feeling nostalgia? Into thinking that we remember something fondly from our past that we never actually experienced? That is the question of this article. Where does nostalgia come from, and how do we exploit it?
People love TV shows! Ask anybody and they’ll give a whole list of shows they’ve watched and loved, using them to cope with their boring and sad childhood. Whether they were out watching classic baby shows like The Backyardigans, The Wire, or Dora the Explorer, almost everybody has a nostalgic show from their formative years. Even some of the oldest members of the school remember watching TV. “I watched so many dang cartoons as a kid! You couldn’t ever talk to me because I was watching so many cartoons,” said Jonathan Segal, before naming off a few of his favorite shows. In addition to other boring nostalgic moments like playing in piles of leaves during the fall or the first snow of winter, almost everybody named television as a fundamental source of nostalgia in their lives. The broad effect that TV has had on people combined with its continued prevalence in our lives today makes it the perfect nostalgia source to exploit. Furthermore, remembering TV shows did not seem to make people nearly as sad as remembering their brief moments of innocence before the pressures of the world killed any dreams they ever had.
So how can the nostalgia of childhood shows be exploited? Though the feelings and emotions of nostalgia are strong, evidence shows that the actual memories sparking the nostalgia are as fickle as french fries. If presented with an authentic looking show, perhaps subjects would feel a false sense of nostalgia, tricking themselves into thinking that the show was real and that they remember watching it as a kid.
In this experiment, a vast number of test subjects(40+) were presented with four completely fabricated children’s shows and one real show (Yo Gabba Gabba) that acted as both a control for the experiment and a way to add legitimacy to the other shows. The subjects were presented with the shows one by one, along with a description and the show’s intro theme song, and were asked if they remembered it from their past. If the answer was yes, subjects were asked to share their impressions of the show, as well as specific moments that they remembered. The following texts are the descriptions for the fabricated shows as well as the reactions from the subjects:
Boinko and the Beans: A whimsical kids show about a family of bean people and their pet Boinko. Boinko and Beans explored factionalism and the multi-faceted expression of ethics by pitting the similarly motivated Boinko against the family of Beans to which he belonged. When presented with different ethical dilemmas, how will Boinko’s gritty and logical approach to conflict resolution clash with the soft-spoken and compassionate methods of the Beans? In many cases, neither side is wrong nor right, but their ever present rivalry forces children to confront the fact that opposition, in reality, is often not black and white.
“I love the episode when Boinko got into an argument with the Beans, and then they got abducted by aliens into a battle royale and they had to work together to get out. In the end, they became even closer friends,” said Finn Barden. Clearly, the fake nostalgia made its mark on Barden’s feeble mind, brutally tricking him into remembering a completely fake memory. In all, Barden was one of 10 other people (32%) who fell for the trick and said that they remembered Boinko and the Beans. “My favorite episode has to be the series premiere where Boinko went to the moon and tried to sell moon rocks for a profit back on earth,” said Tim Hyun, another victim. Perhaps the childlike mystery of the fictitious show awakened an illogical creativity and glee in subjects that bypassed their natural logic. “We want to believe in a more Boinko-ful world, even if it might not be true,” adds Joshua Garrison, clearly in pain after realizing that the show never existed. “That’s so stupid. Why would anyone believe that this is a real show? It’s ridiculous! They’re all idiots,” said Remi Ingerman. Perhaps the childlike wonder and happiness that allows one to be fooled so easily by fake nostalgia only exists in a lucky few. Others without souls like Ingerman may be left to doubt the legitimacy of these wonderful shows.
Oscar Sanchez in the South: Started in January of 2002, Oscar Sanchez in the South featured a charming Southern banjoist of Spanish heritage. In the show, Sanchez explored the beautiful landscapes and natural charm of America’s South. From Texas to Virginia, Sanchez traveled across the South, meeting a variety of wacky characters who each provided fun and exciting lessons for viewers of the show. With constant controversies circling old Southern ideals, Sanchez was never afraid to confront the dark past of the South, becoming an ever present beacon of social justice and progressivism until the show was canceled on evidence of money laundering.
“I like how it’s funny and represents the coming together of all the people in America that deserve to be together,” said Joshua Garrison, once again a victim to the deceit. Also in the room, Noelle Raffo said, “I liked when he went to Texas and talked to a lot of Texans, he was so well-spoken.” Perhaps due to the smiling and comforting face of Oscar Sanchez, or maybe the pressure of seeming cool and relatable, many seemingly reasonable people had no hesitation casting aside their moral beliefs to enclasp Oscar Sanchez in the warm embrace of false memory. “There is no way Oscar Sanchez in the South is a real show. Who would believe that a fellow as Southern as Oscar Sanchez would be such a compassionate and loving man?!” demanded Andrei Stewart-Chapman. 30% of the people interviewed had open hearts and were willing to accept the beauty of the world, even risking that that beauty might be completely fake.
Chuckleberry Fritz: Chuckleberry Fritz was an animated children’s cartoon show from the 90’s, re-released in 2005 due to its forward thinking messages on critical race theory and the empowerment of minority groups. With wacky and colorful characters such as Beez-nus and Do-Bamo, children of both the 90’s and early 2000’s were captivated, eager to learn. Along with average math and science themed songs, Chuckleberry Fritz also produced several cleverly veiled socialist agenda anthems, ingraining in children ideas of sharing.
“My favorite part was when Do-bamo and Beez-nus had to go rescue their pet fish from the ocean, but they didn’t know how to swim, so they had to get a submarine into the ocean,” said Barden, clearly someone whose feeble mind is very susceptible to fake nostalgia. But more than random false memories, some people were even tricked into remembering larger real-world experiences that influenced their perception of the show. “My parents wouldn’t let me watch Chuckleberry Fritz because of its commentary on critical race theory,” said Emmanuel Olusheki, another one of the 32% of people who remembered the show. Could it really be possible that this fake show was so believable that Olusheki remembers not only that it existed, but that his parents did not let him watch it as well? “This is fake. The characters’ names are clearly based on Deez Nuts and Obama. And the font on the poster is heinous and clearly just put on there. And the look of the characters just makes me feel unwell, they are very unsettling, and you wouldn’t want to do that to children,” said Anna Veronis, a soulless hater. Once again, the majority of people who object to the legitimacy of the shows display a continued lack of childlike wonder and love for the world. Truly, a miserable fate for the 68% of subjects who did not remember this show.
Farm Time: Farm Time was a loveable kids farm show first released in the early 2000’s. Farm Time sought to convey similar messages and themes from George Orwell’s Animal Farm in a more kid-friendly format. It failed. Farm Time horrified much of its audience and accidentally radicalized an entire generation against farm animals and socialism. Even still, a small collection of Farm Time fans remain out in the world, getting up to who knows what.
“That was one of my favorite shows as a kid. My parents wouldn’t let me watch it so I had to sneak downstairs to watch it when they were asleep. It only ran at 11pm-12am and it always gave me nightmares. But I was a tough kid so I kept watching,” said Diego Bey. Surprisingly, Farm Time was the most effective show in tricking subjects into feeling fake nostalgia. 60% of people interviewed said they remembered the show, a whopping increase compared to the other shows. “This was a really great show that made me feel very passionate about life,” adds Raffo, naively following the dopamine rush of feeling nostalgia over a fake show. But with such an overwhelming majority believing that the show existed, what do the haters say? “This show is made up, if you believe it you are falling for propaganda and lies. You are weak sheeple who are falling for obvious and petty gaslighting. Shame on you. Shame on you,” said George Lupinacci, a hater of childhood glee.
Through this experiment, it is clear that the construct of nostalgia is a powerful, but easily manipulated, force. If an average of 40% of people can be horribly fooled into believing a completely fake television show actually existed, what other memories can be exploited? Though this experiment is an innocent exploitation of emotion and memory, there is the possibility that the flaws in human nostalgia can be used for nefarious and dubious purposes as well like tricking people into buying products. Surely, in any situation the legitimacy of what is presented, as well as the intent of the presenter, should be questioned. But can one really be blamed for a careless grasp at a happy nostalgic moment? In a world where some are so devoid of cheerfulness and good times, remembering better days provides a valuable escape. And if the better days being remembered were fake all along, the good feeling of remembering them does not diminish. In the end, those who allowed themselves to feel the joy of nostalgia came out of the experience happier and more physically delighted than those who would not open their hearts to joy. Those who chose to let logic rule their emotions were left just as sad and soulless as they were found. Perhaps the prevalence of fake news in our modern culture and its “harmful effects” has made society less accepting of the innocent kind of lie, the kind that brings only happiness and good memories. Although changing how happy our reality is can be daunting, lying to ourselves so that we believe we were once much more gleeful is a far easier form of coping.