I recently watched Creed, the seventh film in the Rocky series. It reminded me a great deal of The Force Awakens, the seventh film in the Star Wars series. There will be no major spoilers below, but if you really want to see either movie knowing as little as possible, you may want to stop reading.
Rocky came out in 1976 and Star Wars came out in 1977. Both movies are beloved crowd pleasers that have spawned many sequels (or prequels), with #7 of each hitting theatres in 2015. Watching Creed, a film a thoroughly enjoyed, I was reminded of how it felt watching The Force Awakens.
Both are essentially remixes of the original in the series. Rocky? He's now Micky. Luke? he's now Obi Wan. Along the way you'll get the same beloved story with a score that instantly takes you back. And whether it's an appearance by the Millennium Falcon or Apollo Creed's boxing shorts, it's a time machine that gets your heart pumping.
It's the drug nostalgia and it makes you feel good.
Nostalgia - it's delicate, but potent. Teddy told me that in Greek, "nostalgia" literally means "the pain from an old wound." It's a twinge in your heart far more powerful than memory alone. This device isn't a spaceship, it's a time machine. It goes backwards, and forwards... it takes us to a place where we ache to go again. It's not called the wheel, it's called the carousel. It let's us travel the way a child travels - around and around, and back home again, to a place where we know are loved.
~ Don Draper, Mad Men
