It’s 2008. I’m back-to-school shopping with my mom, my aunt, and my grandmother before we head to the movie theatre to watch what will later become one of my go-to feel-good movies: Mamma Mia. During the movie, I recognize some of the songs from what my mom and aunt play in the car. I already have all the lyrics to Dancing Queen memorized thanks to family karaoke nights.
It’s 2020. I finally decide to watch Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again while the kids that I babysit are asleep. I’ve been resisting watching the sequel in fear of ruining my attachment to the first movie. Now, I acknowledge that Mamma Mia is not a movie you watch for the cinematography or plot. The cliché, carefree feel of the film is what makes it such a good movie to watch when I’m sad. The sequel, though, was surprisingly enjoyable for me. It also got me thinking about my attachment to other movies and tv shows from my childhood.
With the release of Disney+, many people have been re-watching their childhood favourites. From the Suite Life of Zack and Cody to Lizzie McGuire and the High School Musical Series, the streaming service gives us the ability to relive a small aspect of our childhoods through these shows and movies. Perhaps we do it to temporarily distract ourselves from the constant passing of time. Maybe we do it to feel genuine childlike happiness again. Maybe we do it just because we simply want to. What I have (painfully) realized, though, (and feel free to disagree with me) is that some of the things we used to watch just weren’t very good. The acting, the dramatic transitions, the constant laugh tracks – I never realized how cringeworthy all of it was at the time. Don’t get me wrong, I loved most of the old-school Disney shows and have fond memories of watching them. Looking at them now, though (as well as non-Disney favorites such as Mamma Mia), I realize the power of nostalgia. The way we cling onto our past and the media that represents it blinds us from the realities of what they really are.
To me, Hannah Montana is bacon as an after-school snack, sitting on the couch with my cousin and singing along to the riffing transitions. Suite Life of Zack and Cody is me standing on my parents’ bed, singing along to the Jesse McCartney episode in their vanity mirror. Mamma Mia is that day at the grocery store; it is a cineplex kids meal and mini M&M’s. High School Musical is my bedsheets, garbage can, hamper, and walls plastered with Zac Efron’s face. They all have a meaning to me beyond the acting and artificial laughs. When I talked to my parents about my somewhat disappointment with re-watching the shows, they expressed how the shows were always “bad” to them. They just let me watch them because it made me happy.
So, here’s to “bad” cinema. Here’s to the shows that our parents still don’t understand and the critics think are not worth our time. Here’s to the memories that they hold and the happiness they bring us. Here’s to whatever your Mamma Mia is.
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