Nostalgia won: why did the 2000s become the new cultural obsession?

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It has taken over pop culture, and that’s no surprise to anyone. Just open TikTok, play on Spotify or check out the next movie releases to realize: the 2000s are back with a vengeance, and audiences simply can’t resist this time travel. It’s as if an entire generation decided to revisit their adolescence all at once, and the best part is that everyone is getting on board together.

In music, the Y2K climate is stronger than ever. Zara Larsson, for example, did this fearlessly in “Midnight Sun”, an album that seems to have been teleported directly from 2004. Danceable beats, striking choruses, bright aesthetics, colorful videos and that unpretentious energy that marked the era of Britney and Christina. The result? Crazy fans, updated playlists, Grammy nominations and a collective sense of delicious déjà vu. It’s like going back to the time when we had pink CDs, lip gloss and blown-up digital camera photos.

Cinema also understood the message and dove headfirst into this revival. The sequel to “The Devil Wears Prada”, recently announced, became an instant commotion, after all, those who grew up watching the classic on Sunday afternoons couldn’t contain their excitement at seeing that Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway and Emily Blunt could share the screen again. And it doesn’t stop there: other iconic films from the 2000s are returning, in new versions or sequels, rekindling the feeling of comfort and familiarity that only a well-known story can bring.

And why did this all become such a big fever? The answer is simple: nostalgia is comfort. After turbulent years, full of rapid changes and excess information, the public is looking for exactly the opposite, something familiar, fun, without complications. The 2000s bring this almost instantaneous feeling of lightness. It was a colorful, exaggerated, spontaneous and personality-filled time. It’s as if, without even realizing it, everyone is trying to rescue a piece of their own history.

Social media helped boost this movement, especially TikTok. The Y2K aesthetic exploded there, with videos full of glitter, digital cameras, low rise jeans, lip gloss, sparkling eyeshadows and that “photo taken in the school bathroom” look. Generation Z, who barely lived through this era, turned everything into a trend, and when they adopt something, it becomes a cultural phenomenon with no return.

The truth is that the past has never been so fashionable. Whether reviving pop icons, bringing back films that marked an era or recreating visuals that seemed buried, the culture of the 2000s has found a huge space in the hearts, and in the feed, of today’s public. And, at the pace of things, this time travel is still far from over.