Children's Media: Play and Nostalgia

Where Are You Scooby-Doo?

What comes to mind when play is said? Toy trucks, dolls, baseball, cops and robbers, or maybe even a favorite television show? Did any hobbies or what you do on your free time come to mind? The word play is so easily associated with childhood. During childhood, play time is where one can learn more about rules of games, competition, mutual respect with others, and simply being able to experiment without fears of failing. Children's playtime also includes playing in children's stories from any sort of media. An adult can travel back to childhood playtime by reading or watching those stories that helped them have fun and to feel apart of the story. One of the modes of transportation on that time machine for adults can be a fan fiction story. Fan fiction stories are an artistic outlet where the reader, child or not, can meet with the author and play together in one of their favorite stories. For example, the fan fiction chapters of Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated: In Fear of the Phantom!

When did the playtime begin between my younger self and the Scooby-Doo Series? Welcome to 2002, where a young boy jumps out of his seat and runs off of the bus towards his home. His backpack bounces on his back as his red hair shines in the sun. He enters the kitchen, grabs some popcorn, and flips on the television. The boy leans closer to the TV to join in song with the opening credits of What's New Scooby Doo (2002). His fantasy of being Shaggy and being a part of the gang comes to life as the little boy watches the new episode. A large of part of his playtime involved the friendly glutton and companion, Scooby-Doo. Adults can recall their favorite play times when they were younger regarding their favorite TV shows or books. Fan fiction can bring back those past play times to life. They help the adult remember how to have fun. As an adult, how easy it is to get caught up in all of the mundane tasks and work responsibilities that one forgets to simply play. Do you want to play like you used to? Not constantly thinking of your surroundings and who’s watching? Read a fan fiction. 

Regarding the choice of fan fiction to read, one must understand that not all will be engaging or morally appropriate to read. Read the headline to see if that author's version will be worth the time and the version isn't trying to advocate for the other adult "play time". After choosing the right story, read it and have fun with it. Let yourself play again. Imagine yourself like you used to as a kid, standing right next to Shaggy and Velma, thinking how the heck are we going to solve this case. In society, there is a social stigma where adults can't truly relax or can't play like a child again. Fan fictions are catalysts for that very thing, a working catalyst where an adult can play with the writer and with their childhood selves at the same time.

A playtime where the mind is engaged, literary skills are used, and imagination is invited is found in one’s engagement with a fan fiction story. I found myself smiling as I read how Shaggy and Scooby dress up as janitors in a tour bus to hide from the suspected criminal similar to what I would read as child. The author of fan fiction stories enjoys the story and characters too and wants to experiment in playing with the characters in a different situation. The author has playtime in the writing and the reader joins the play time a little later and the fun commences. 

The ticket is not expensive for play time with a fan fiction story. It takes some time and some browsing but that is the only fee. In return, enjoyment with beloved characters and wonderful nostalgic memories from the past are joined as one reads the words of a new storyline to your cherished series. Use the fan fiction tool that has been given for true play time. 

*The link to read the fan fiction story of Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated: In Fear of the Phantom! https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12297628/1/D3-Scooby-Doo-Mystery-Incorporated-In-Fear-of-the-Phantom

Some More of What? Nostalgia?

A father and son sit together at the dinner table eating their dinner. The father asks his son, "What would be a perfect summer for you?" The son smiles and answers, "a summer where I just play with my best friends every day and all day. What about you, Dad?" Putting down his glass of water, he replies, "I would probably say the same thing. I have done that very thing and it was one of the best summers of my life." A film that travels back to the best summer dream of playing with your friends all summer long is one that all can acknowledge. This film is the glorious, nostalgic,  The Sandlot (1993). Try watching this film and to not think of your own childhood, good luck. This film is filled with nostalgia, for example for the narrator but for also the viewer. The film includes in its exposition a narrator's voice sharing and reflecting of a time where he was stuck in "the biggest pickle of his life". Nostalgia can help people experience the similar joy and successes from the past they have experienced, but if not careful, nostalgia can destroy the person's present life or situation.

Nostalgia is a word that most people know but how many know where the word comes from. The New Latin, from Greek nostos means return home and the New Latin algia, similar to Greek neisthai means to return (According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nostalgia). Also from the Greek meaning of álgos is pain or ache. The discussion from our course to break down the word's meaning is insightful. There is talk of a homecoming or a return but then accompanied with that is pain or ache. While viewing The Sandlot, the audience can feel both of the homecoming feeling and also the emotion of pain. The viewer hears the narrator's voice, whom is the protagonist, share how stupid he felt when he was trying to play baseball not only with his friends but his step dad for the first time. There is the pain there as he reflects and returns to his past home. The viewer can think of the pain that they have had from the past regarding their struggles at home or struggles with childhood friends. Yet, that doesn't mean there is also joy in letting your mind return to your past home and childhood successes. The viewer shares the joy with Smalls, the protagonist, when he makes his first pop fly catch or when he is officially apart of the group of friends. 

Nostalgic feelings are powerful. Nostalgia can do more hurt than help if one isn't careful. This film portrays how being nostalgic can be insightful and can help you remember the great times of childhood and falling in love with a sport. Yet, this film doesn't remind the viewer that if one dwells too much on the past, then their present can be affected in a negative way. If one dwells too much in the past, then one will not think of their current choices and those consequences. Relationships can be damaged if one person still lives in the past and doesn't learn to move forward in life. In media, there are some examples of nostalgia's potential harm in Bruce Wayne from The Batman Series, Uncle Rico from Napoleon Dynamite (2004), and Carl Fredricksen from Up (2009). People can't forget that the pain with nostalga can enslave onself to the past if one cannot remember to live in the present and to move forward to a hopeful, brighter future.  

Viewing this film as an adult, one will reflect on their own childhood summers and friendships. One will compare the shenanigans, campouts, swimming pools, and play time from the film to their own past. Remembering this film as a child, one would dream to have that summer and to play with friends all day and to try to make that dream a reality. Personally, I know I was pretty close in accomplishing the best summer with my friends. Right from the exposition of the film, the viewer knows we are traveling back in time to the narrator's childhood memories. 

Have you moved to a different town? Have you struggled to make friends in a new setting? Have you wanted to play with friends but felt like you couldn't because you didn't know the rules of the game? The Sandlot covers all of these questions and suggests some answers to the viewer. The viewer can relate to at least one of these conflicts so that they can feel a sense of sympathy for the character, Smalls, or they can relate to being more of the Benny character who has tried to befriend the new guy.  Nostalgia is a real feeling that all people can encounter. It is how people treat those returning home emotions of the bitter sweet, the joy and the pain that matters.