Are We All Nostalgic For Better Times?

Modern media aesthetics and cultural nostalgia reflect a growing sense of societal malaise. Contemporary films suffer from poor lighting and desaturated color palettes, a byproduct of digital production choices that prioritize a "moody" cinematic look over visual clarity. Simultaneously, cigarette smoking has regained cultural cachet among younger generations, serving as a form of "gleeful nihilism" in an era defined by economic instability and climate anxiety. These trends intersect in Jessica M. Goldstein’s novel *Retro*, which uses time-travel tourism to examine how nostalgia is weaponized to distract from future-oriented progress. While these shifts toward blandness and escapism suggest a collective retreat from reality, they also reveal a deep-seated human hunger for authentic connection and vibrant beauty that persists despite the algorithmically driven sameness of modern life.