Norman Rockwell is Full of Baloney

I’ve long used the phrase Norman Rockwell nostalgia as a way to describe those yearnings for simpler times that, in truth, never existed. We watch reruns of Leave it to Beaver or Lassie and imagine how great it would have been to have lived during those depicted times, times when war meant girls and the biggest threat to our national heath was undercooked vegetables. Because these hyper-polished versions of reality were standard TV fare, they became following generations’ standard understanding of better times. But again, this type of harmony never existed. Is it escapism that causes us to willfully absorb into obvious fictions (along with the 1950’s audience who would have seen these shows during their original runs)? I think so.

Can this concept of escaping to a fading past continue in a time when everything is recorded and youtubed? Will we ever have the opportunity to be fooled by perceived past better days?

Luckily (for you and me), I’m not burdened to find a solution. Instead, I can just write about the problem. My story, aptly titled “Norman Rockwell Nostalgia,” is now live at the October Full of Crow. Read it. Absorb it. Fear the future.