Tik Tok Romanticism
The COVID-19 Pandemic at its height was a time of anxiety, uneasiness, and an overall sense of apprehensiveness for good reason. It is (hopefully) the closest we will ever get to a real-life apocalypse in our lifetime. So, why are people feeling nostalgic? Lately, it has become a trend to do “Early Quarantine POV’s,” looking back on such a tumultuous time from a romanticized standpoint. When looking up the hashtag #quarantinenostalgia, there are over 76 thousand videos with the tag.
What is Nostalgia?
In order to dissect why we may feel nostalgic over this period of time, one must define nostalgia. Nostalgia is loosely defined as a time in life that one looks back on fondly. Why would we ever look back on this time fondly? According to psychologist David Newman, nostalgia takes place oftentimes when they are feeling lonely or isolated. He also notes that nostalgia is a natural feeling to combat uncertainty. While we are not out of the woods yet regarding COVID, Monkey-Pox, political and social turmoil, remembering the whipped coffee, Tiger King binges, and bread baking of it all, back when life was at a standstill is a way to escape the reality we are currently in, where things are not normal, but as normal as they will be for a while. It is worth noting the romanticism of early quarantine is only romantic if you lived on Tik Tok. At the time of Super Lonely and Say So trending on TikTok, the positivity rate for COVID was 15k a week with a 12% mortality rate, and still no vaccine.
Bo Burnham’s Gritty Take on Isolation
While Tik Tok did and continues to romanticize the idea of being inside, comedian Bo Burnham shows a more raw depiction. Burnham created INSIDE, a Netflix comedy special throughout the year of isolation, airing on the streaming platform on May 30, 2021. The special was written, directed, and shot by Burnham without the help of a crew and no audience. It was a look inside the mind of a person delving deeper into madness during the pandemic, tackling social, mental, and world issues. The song, “That Funny Feeling,” from the special goes into depth talking about the toll isolation can have on a persons’ mental well being, and how being inside alone is not something to be glamourized. Burnham talks about developing a fear of crowds due to the virus, and not being able to place his finger on what feeling he is feeling inside.
Throughout the special, Burnham’s house goes from a semi-organized work space, to complete and utter chaos. By the end of the special, Burnham is shown with papers everywhere, clothes on the floor, technical equipment scattered everywhere, essentially bringing the chaos from the outside world into his supposed “safe space,” but while struggling with isolation and mental illness, is it truly safe?
Final Thoughts
While I do not believe that either take is completely correct in its entirety, both will be shown in history books in the future. I do believe the truth lies in the balance between whipped coffee and mental illness struggles (coming from personal experience). Throughout this entire conversation however, we must remember that while everyone had different experiences, getting through this tumultuous time period would not have been possible without the help and bravery of the first responders that saved lives, and had to deal with the immense amount of grief and stress. I didn’t think it would be fair to talk about this topic, and not acknowledge all the work and trauma they went through.
Questions
- Have you seen the Pandemic Nostalgia Tik Toks? How do they make you feel?
- Do you believe enough time has passed for nostalgia to be apparent for COVID? Is it appropriate?
- Which portrayal of quarantine life resonates with you more? The TikTok or Inside point of view?
- What TikTok trend do you think of when you think of Early Pandemic Life
- Can the romanticism of and the realism of early pandemic life coexist?
Sources
Mediated Pop 
I found your presentation very interesting and really enjoyed it. Starting off your presentation with “Supalonley” song already had me shaking in my seat because of how quickly I matched the song to quarantine. I haven’t been on Tik Tok lately and I was shocked to hear that there are people romanticizing the time of quarantine when in reality there was chaos going on in the world. This kind of relates back to other presentations from today where instead of remembering the bad of situations, certain individuals find it easier to almost make it seem as if nothing bad was going on during this time. Even when you showed the “pandemic” Tik Tok throwbacks, it had nothing to do with Covid-19 which is shocking. Great job, and your presentation really got me thinking on how certain things are handled and flipped.
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Hi Sofia!
I have seen a lot of these nostalgic TikToks and I definitely do feel something when I hear the songs or see dances to certain songs. Although I feel nostalgic I know that this is not a time I would ever want to go back to. These are not necessarily fond memories but it was a time when I was around my family and that is usually what the songs remind me off. I feel like people are romanticizing quarantine rather than feel nostalgic. Maybe these feelings go hand in hand but they need to realize that although this might have been a happy time for them, many people in the country were either sick or dying or living in fear. It was interesting because these TikToks had nothing to with the actual Covid-19 pandemic but they blew up. I am sure that videos depicting what was going on at that time would not “blow up” like the dancing videos did.
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Hi Sofia! Great presentation. I do believe enough time has passed for us to feel nostalgic towards that period of time. This is a side note, but throughout your presentation, I was thinking about how every time March comes around the scent of the air brings me back to taking walks around the neighborhood during quarantine with my family just to get out of the house a little bit. As soon as you played the first TikTok with the remix of a bunch of popular songs from quarantine, I felt like I was instantly transported to 2020 in my kitchen making whipped coffee and trying to learn the trendy TikTok dances (but failing miserably). I haven’t seen many TikToks pop up on my for you page about pandemic nostalgia recently, but this year around March, I do remember seeing some TikToks reminiscing on the quarantine days, as March was peak covid times. Although I do not associate quarantine with happy memories — it was a very low point in my life and I’m sure for many others — somehow, these TikTok songs from 2020 spark some kind of nostalgia in me, although I would not want to go back to that time. I think people tend to romanticize quarantine, especially on TikTok, which is really strange because of how terrifying and sad it truly was.
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I absolutely agree with all of the points you make about how we have been romanticizing the early pandemic quarantine life. From personal experience, I think a lot of that can be attributed to being overwhelmed with certain life events, school, and work, and wanting to go back to a time where doing nothing was our only option. I also find it interesting how certain TikTok audios were able to remind me of early quarantine, yet I only joined the app late last year. We were all living in a state of uncertainty, but what brought us together was the fact that we were all having similar experiences. What I find odd is how this all occurred very recently (some would say we’re still living through a pandemic), and we’re already longing to go back. Hopefully we don’t have to repeat what has happened here, but I’m sure we would see similar trends arise in the future if that is the case.
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I loved Bo Burnham’s special, “Inside”, and I think you did a really good job depicted that in this blog and presentation. Not many people have made a special like Burnham did and it is important to highlight the key points that you made. Remembering what life was like during the peak of quarantine may be difficult, but your presentation helps give an inside look at what is was like. As you stated, many media texts from the time romanticize what life was like, but the importance of the worldwide crisis during the time was highlight in the special and is important to discuss like this blog.
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I really liked your Pop Talk and found it super interesting! I have never seen Bo Burnham’s “Inside,” but after your talk and all of the buzz I’ve heard about it, I definitely want to check it out. For question 2, I don’t think there will ever be enough time for COVID nostalgia to be okay/appropriate; it’s overall just super insensitive with the number of people affected by it and the lives lost. It was a very dark time for us, and I can’t believe people are romanticizing it. I’ve never seen these quarantine nostalgia TikToks, but I know friends who have; it’s really strange. Overall, though, great job!
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