What pop cultural items do you revisit and how has your relationship with this content changed over time?
I’ve watched Home Alone and Home Alone 2 at least once a year for over a decade. I have never really thought about how this viewing experience has changed over time, as it’s something I go to in order to find some sense of nostalgia. So I guess in that sense, similar feelings arise each time.
However, of course my relationship with this content is bound to change somehow. For one, when I first watched Home Alone, I was around the same age as the protagonist, Kevin. Watching it then it was just a cool movie – a kid my age doing all these crazy traps, being the underdog at eight years old. Now though, I of course laugh at some of the plot points. I mean, how do you manage to forget your child not once, but twice?! There are also a few references and moments in the film which have a very different meaning today. For example – a cameo from the current President of the U.S when he was just a New York businessman.
Additionally, there is technology in these films which in 2017 have become novel – like the VHS tape Kevin watches, the tape recorder, the T.V’s … there may be something to these that seem more “simple” to me now. Especially since I’ve gone from watching these movies on DVD (rented them!) to streaming them on Netflix and the like. Technology has changed significantly in the time since I started my Home Alone obsession so that’s definitely something to reflect on.
I’m going to include some screenshots from these films which capture the technological age of the 90’s ~
I thought this tape recorder was so cool, even in 2002. pic source