There is a division in today’s generation between being on the cutting edge by joining the latest fads or social media platforms,and those who seek out the homegrown, small batch artisanal fare of yesteryear. For everyone that creates Letterboxed and Spotify playlists of the latest hits, there are vinyl and video enthusiasts that co-mingle nostalgia with sincerity in their beliefs that the old ways are best. So what’s the right path? Should people only be looking forward to what’s coming next or should more people look to the past to inform their lives and styles?
This disparity is the focus of Seth Worley’s short film, “Old/New.” The film is made by Red Giant Films and viewers follow Drew McHugh who, at first, is all about being on the front lines of the emergent culture before settling into a life of rustic throwbacks. But what’s the right choice for our fickle protagonist? The six minute film is narrated in rhyme by Patton Oswalt, adding a Seussian air to the proceedings that could easily work in a children’s book (one that would be ironically purchased by someone in his early thirties, and/or backed by a Kickstarter project, naturally). It’s a well-shot, tightly edited story that adroitly juxtaposes the extremes that lie at the heart of people who don’t want to feel old yet still feel the tug of nostalgic strings for the way things used to be.