Youth bridge generation gap in retro style
THE POLAROID HAS BROUGHT INSTAGRAM OUT OF THE VIRTUAL WORLD. THE NOKIA 3310 IS PRESENT AMONG SMARTPHONES. THE CHARACTERS FROM ARCHIE COMICS ARE ON TV
Youngsters probably abhor the popular phrase, ‘When I was your age…’, but they’re now doing everything their parents did ‘at their age’. They’re reviving old-school music tools, photography equipment and styles, and games. They’re consuming repackaged and revamped vintage choices. The youth is slowly, but surely leaning towards the childhood experiences and products from their parents’ youth.
The thrill of ‘that one shot’
When Polaroid, the classic instant print camera was revived, it shifted the focus from DSLR and smartphone cameras. “I’ve always been very fascinated with Polaroid because of the concept of an image being printed instantly. I’d really like to see the film cameras back in the market. Although they were around when I was little, as a photographer, I never really got to enjoy the whole process of shooting on film. The thing with film is that you need to plan a shot before taking it. You can’t just click ten times and then review it to see the best one,” says Kanchan Megchiani, 21, photographer.
A techie throwback
Cartridges, old gaming consoles, arcades and iconic games such as Donkey Kong and Super Mario Bros are back. Old-school gaming arcades have returned onto the gaming scene in Dubai. Half pub, half club, Stereo Arcade at Double Tree by Hilton Hotel, JBR and gaming zone Hub Zero at CityWalk Dubai are two popular examples.
“Back then, games were simple; creators focused more on the enjoyable gaming experience rather than graphics. I think that’s a major reason these games and consoles are reclaiming their once dominant place in pop culture,” 17-year-old Dubai gamer Bradley Ismail says.
It isn’t about plain nostalgia, though — the demand seems to be for relevant products marketed for their nostalgia. ‘Not-sosmart’, yet iconic phones such as the Nokia 3310 and the flip screen Motorola RAZR died a slow unnoticed death when Apple was born. Banking heavily on nostalgia as a selling point, both the phones were relaunched this year. The Motorola RAZR has been reintroduced as the Binatone Blade and the reviews seem mixed.
“Nokia 3310 relies too much on the nostalgic value. Take away that value, and the phone itself is not much. It’s just being commercialised. It will be cool for a while, but ultimately will die down,” says Diyab Basheer, 21, Dubai resident.
Old-school music options, anyone?
Call it lack of originality or nostalgia marketing, but the Bollywood film industry repeatedly revisits old songs and rehashes them to cater to the youth. The generation gap is now bridged with the help of a threeminute song that both you and your grandparent can bond over.
“Bollywood needs to cut that out! It’s awful to hear really good songs being turned into trash. Music composers seem to use the same old vocals, add more techno, a “modern” background track, and recycle it into a new song! It’s insulting and terrible,” says Mehak Srivastava, 21, Dubai-based Bollywood buff.
Audio cassettes have managed to stay somewhat relevant as seen by the reappearance of jukeboxes and vinyl records at popular eateries and retail stores.
Revisiting movies and TV series
A far cry from the original comics, the TV series Riverdale has been welcomed as an interesting spin on yet another vintage product. Much talked about and bingewatched series, Stranger Things, rides high on nostalgia with constant references to pop culture of the period that the show is set in (1983).
Collectibles sell well across all ages and generations. Fans of The Lord of The Rings and Harry Potter franchises can amass iconic memorabilia at The Noble Collection at The Dubai Mall.
Disney’s recent tweet, ‘#TheLionKing2019’, saw the Twitterati go berserk — 1994’s Hollywood classic The Lion King will be reintroduced to an entirely new audience in 2019 with a live action remake. Beyoncé has been cast as Nala, Donald Glover as Simba and James Earl Jones as Mufasa.
Mahabb Parwaiz, 21, Dubai resident, who swears by the classic, says: “While I think that classics shouldn’t be remade, I am quite impressed with the casting of the remake and will definitely be checking it out. What I’d like to see is Disney investing more time on original stories rather than capitalising on nostalgia. The Disney Renaissance (period between 1989 and 1999) was an era marked with creativity. Instead of rehashing those movies, they should try another renaissance.”
Once upon a time
Your favourite Enid Blyton stories have now crawled their way onto a downloadable app for children, The Famous Five Adventure Game. The way we read may have changed over the years with the advent of e-books, audio books and web series. But, we’re still raving about classics such as Hardy Boys, Secret Seven, Nancy Drew, Famous Five, and Goosebumps.
“My mother loved reading the works of Carolyn Keene, and she introduced me to Nancy Drew. Of course, I devoured each of the detective’s adventures,” says Joanna Justin, 22, Dubai resident.
According to Sharjah resident Sayema Wasi, 22, Douglas Adam’s The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy is a book that deserves a comeback. “I don’t think the book got the kind of treatment it deserves, although it’s a widely popular book series,” she says.
The fancy ‘machine’ that’s either thrown away or is probably collecting dust in a corner in your grandfather’s room is also making a comeback — the typewriter.
Abu Dhabi-based writer and reader, Dyuthi Prakash, 22, wants the typewriter to make its way onto office desks. “Typewriters evoke a sense of romance in me. It would be really interesting to see how they could be incorporated digitally into our cloud-based workspace.”
UAE has gone retro, too
A quick stop at Dubai’s Last Exit, a trim at the barber shops at Dubai Design District, a movie night at Roxy Cinemas’ The Roxy followed by a meal at classic car themed Le Trésor, Boxpark is enough to prove our unending love affair with everything vintage, and in turn, everything Instagram-worthy.
What do you think is one vintage product that deserves a comeback?
disha@khaleejtimes.com
Retro games are better given that they’ve stood the test of time and people are finally ‘re-realising’ how good they are. They have a far better ‘re-playability’ than most new games.
Bradley Ismail Dubai-based teen gamer
Vintage products have a lot more soul. You can feel the love that went into making them. The limited nature of movie collectibles also makes them quite valuable.
Arafaat Ali Khan, co-founder, Middle East Film & Comic Con