Jewels from the past

Being destined for immediate and, hopefully, massive consumption, cultural products are under an undisputed influence of the sensitivity at the time they were created. Otherwise they would just not get enough acceptance to make them relevant and, therefore, reach us across time. In other words, it you heard about it, it is because it was well-liked in its own time. However, this rule is not entirely free of exceptions, particularly if, as it was the case with paintings, they were not subject to the general taste and instead it was enough it they pleased the client that paid for them. The survival of the work in spite of the lack of appreciation by its contemporaries has also forge cases like that of Vincent Van Gogh, who came to be appreciated only many years after his death.

But when we speak about audiovisual content there is no discussion that a reasonable success with the public is almost always a must, particularly in the age of streaming services, which will produce a short run of a series and subsequent seasons will only be considered after it has reaped a minimum level of success. "Cult" series and movies, with a small but ardent following, have little hope of surviving nowadays even if, in the past, they have managed to keep alive franchises of limited and even questionable success.

Photo: Steven Zucker

Luckily for all those with a taste that could be deemed "fringe", digitization has significantly lowered the cost of storing (and serving) all kind of multimedia content, so the less famous products do not "compete" for rack space as it used to be in the old video rental facilities. Furthermore, once a less-successful product has been digitized, the cost of offering it in more than one platform is almost negligible, both for the owners and for the platforms, so the viewers gain by having their tastes served without having to pay almost anything. And this is true even for movies and series that might not "age" well: whether their focus was too strongly contemporary on other external forces have come to make then less popular, they can still be offered in the platforms for the delight of those who appreciate them without much risk of retaliation by those who have a negative opinion.

On Saturday we had an unexpectedly cozy evening with Trevor, while Jason was celebrating at a friend's house, and, after some discussion, we suggested watching together the 1994 movie "The Shawshank Redemption", with Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins. Trevor was not convinced at all, particularly considering the 2 h 20 min of runtime, but we agreed to stop it at any point it he decided that it was not interesting for him. Luckily, it was and, in spite of a few troubling moments when all the three of us had a knot in our chests, we watched it to the end and he confirmed that he had enjoyed it very much.

My reflection today goes in the direction of how a thirty-year-old movie can be as interesting today to my son as it was to me back when I was his age. It is true that it lacks many of the gimmicks that are customary in more recent productions but, as long as the story is interesting and the narration is sound, there is no reason why an old movie cannot be appreciated today as it was then.

In that sense it is particularly interesting to consider stories that are not written about their present but about the pastor the future. In his web-comic XKCD, Randall Munroe has reflected on this and even created a chart: notable examples of a future that already lies in the past are "2001, a space odyssey" and the "Back to the future" saga, whereas stories like "Gone with the wind" are already older than the time difference that they intended to present. But even with the cultural distance, there are opinions and experiences to be learned, adventures to be lived, visions to be shared.

It will probably take us a long time to get completely over the kind of TV programs from the mid and late 20th century, but that does not necessarily turn it into something incomprehensible. Not only we will continue to use these practices for years, but actually their continued use will help us understand the productions of the past. I can only say that I am very glad to have had the chance to share some special time with my kids: they will soon wore out and seek their own life, so I cherish every opportunity to have time together. I hope you have a chance too. Have a nice week.