"Midnight in Paris" and the "Golden Age"

J just got back from a business trip last night, so he didn't have to work today. And, due to the Veteran's Day holiday, I also didn't have to teach. Although I have worked a little bit today, J and I were also able to have a small date in the middle of the afternoon, which was nice. We went out to eat for lunch and watched Midnight in Paris at home.

I've wanted to see this movie for some time, because I knew that it revolved around some artists and historical figures from the early part of the 20th century. I actually think that this was a really appropriate movie for a historian to see, since historians are often nostalgic for the past in one way or another. I was particularly struck by these two quotes from different parts of the movie:

Paul (the "pedantic" gentleman): "Nostalgia is denial - denial of the painful present... the name for this denial is golden age thinking - the erroneous notion that a different time period is better than the one ones living in - it's a flaw in the romantic imagination of those people who find it difficult to cope with the present."

Gil and Adriana with Toulouse-Lautrec, Degas, and Gauguin

Gil: "That's what the present is. It's a little unsatisfying because life is unsatisfying." (Gil says this in the same conversation with Adriana, when she mentions, "I'm from the '20s, and I'm telling you the golden age is la Belle Epoque.")

Perhaps there isn't a way to create a "Golden Age" in the present, because that defeats the idea of a Golden Age (and the nostalgia that comes with it) altogether. But these quotes made me think about if there is a way to find satisfaction in the present, even in the "unsatisfying" elements of the present. I like the thought of being nostalgic for something that you already have.