There's a new/old fad that's circling everything within our culture now: Nostalgia. Whether it's purely for money reasons, or for other reasons, many companies are depending on the growing want of old things becoming new. While I agree with some of the projects that are being worked on, like "Will and Grace,"for example, some of the greed is showing in some of the bigger companies.

Let's talk about something that might not be as present as film and television, video games. There's a bunch of different projects in the works with characters that were thought to have been past their time. For example, "Crash Bandicoot," "Ratchet and Clank," "Jak and Daxter," as well as many others that have had successful relaunches thought the last couple of years. All of these games have had great commercial success and critical success as well. I can tell you from experience that "Ratchet and Clank" look the best they've ever looked and played the best they've ever played. One might ask if this is purely because of the technology upgrades we've had over the years, and I think that there's a valid argument for that as well. Until, however, you look at a game recently released digitally for the Xbox called "Cuphead."

"Cuphead" is the main character and his name tells all about him, he's a cartoony man with a cup, decked out with a straw, for a head. The characters here are not a part of what makes this game filled with nostalgia. It's not until we take a look at its design that we can deduce why this game was made now. It's nothing special technology-wise, it's actually a retro style game designed to look as if it leaped right out of a classic Mickey Mouse cartoon. Complete with crackling audio and black specs on the screen. This isn't the only nostalgia-filled thing to happen in gaming, one should look no further than prices of older systems and games. An old copy of "Super Smash Bros. Melee" for the Gamecube sells for the same price as a brand new copy of "Call of Duty WWII" for PS4. There's nothing else but demand that has set that price.

Now let's jump to television. Just as "Cuphead" has brought us back to 1930s animation, popular television shows such as "Stranger Things" have brought us back into the 1980s. Though a commercial and critical success, one can see that judging by the merchandise for the show demonstrates a key part of it's popularity: nostalgia. This could be seen in the retro style Eggo Waffle boxes, the 8-bit Funko Pop!'s, the VHS box for the DVD box set, and the super 80s graphic tees that have come out for the show. There's a clear want for this nostalgia craze.

Just before 2018 started it was (sort of) announced that NBC was looking to start a reboot of "The Office." I'll say it flat out, this is not a good idea and Steve Carell made the right choice saying he won't come back. This to me just smells of greed. What other reason is there? Nothing in our culture says it's time to do this except for them saying, "Hey, remember that TV show you all loved? It's coming back! Buy a T-shirt!" I am such a big fan of this show, but what other stories could they possibly have left to tell? What haven't these characters already done? Their stories are complete, I don't need to see Ryan and Kelly again.

We can also see the nostalgia trend in film with a whole slew of movies that have come out just recently: "Blade Runner 2049," "Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle," "The Mummy," "It," and many others. The biggest juggernaut of this nostalgia trend is the recent Star Wars films that have come out. Although, personally, I'm worried for the day when people say, "I don't need another Star Wars movie," that day may very well come (I don't think soon at all, but it might come at some point). The films have been all around successes so far, but how long until we get the one that's just not good? Hopefully never, but they can't keep these stories going on forever, we can't have Star Wars Episode LXXIII: Revenge of the Return of the Sith's Awakening Strikes Back.

In the end, we'll know for sure whether this nostalgia trend was a good or a bad thing, but for now, we can only hope.