by Tanishtha KotianBuzzFeedBuzzFeed StaffAs a Writer at BuzzFeed, I write and curate quizzes, listicles, and articles about everything from pop culture and history to food and fashion.

Note: This post is an Op-Ed and shares the author's personal views.

I just read the news that one of my favorite rom-coms, 13 Going on 30, is getting a Netflix reboot with Emily Bader and Logan Lerman in the lead roles—and while that pairing sounds absolutely lovely, I am confused.

I found myself asking, "Did we really need a reboot of this classic rom-com?"

Brianna Bryson / WireImage / (c) Columbia / courtesy Everett Collection/ Axelle/Bauer-Griffin / Contributor

And before you pounce on me for 'hating', others on the internet raised the same question as I did, and then some.

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Whether it's13 Going on 30 or the new Harry Potter television series, I think it's safe to say that fans are not too happy seeing reboots of their favorite shows and films. Many say to leave the classic alone and to enjoy it as is, in its fully glory.

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I realize that this reaction is more than just about preventing a reboot from ruining the legacy of the film. It is a direct exposure of our collective obsession with nostalgia and its influence on how we consume content, and it is leading audiences to protect the comfort that their favorite shows and films gave them.

The nostalgia trend has been circulating on the internet for a fair amount of time, and it has seeped not only into pop culture but also into society. Vintage digital cameras, capri pants, rimless sunglasses, and using wired earphones instead of earpods are just a few examples of nostalgia surfacing in modern times. It's not just objects that people find nostalgic—even the way of living from the past is being adopted today.

The creation of third spaces and a rise in community-led activities like 'trivia nights' or 'wine and paint dates' reveal how people are trying to recreate a pre-digital time. Any idea or object from a reminiscent time in society—mostly the '80s and '90s—is seen as remembering the past and yearning for its simplicity among millennials and gen-z.

Jeremy Moeller / Getty Images / Raimonda Kulikauskiene / Contributor

So it only makes sense that it has had a prominent impact on the way films are being produced today, which is signalling at the deeper roots of concern in the industry. We are talking about a lack of originality and creative bankruptcy—this has become an increasingly apparent sight, and fans cannot ignore it any further.

In the current state of the world, consumers want comfort, and so they crave nostalgia. Yet, they find themselves let down after witnessing the loss of charm in these reboots, especially in actors who fail to deliver that comfort.

Nostalgia starts with the faces we see in these films. Doing reboots of evergreen, cult films means getting the same actors we have seen on our screens for years. Bringing back Chad Michael Murray for the Freakier Friday reboot; casting Scarlett Johansson in Jurassic World: Rebirth; seeing Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway reprise their iconic roles in The Devil Wears Prada 2—they are all actors we've known for years and, more specifically, actors that deliver the comfort and nostalgia audiences crave now.

The industry has more or less halted their efforts to find new faces to grace our screens, and are hedging their bets on this nostalgia trend at the expense of actors who, to be honest, are not very well suited for the parts they played ten or twenty years ago.

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The casting of Paul Anthony Kelly in the show Love Story: John F. Kennedy and Carolyn Bessette is proof that viewers are encouraging the hiring of new talent in the industry. Kelly has managed to instill a new kind of nostalgia among viewers: the 'old Hollywood' look.

Aside from the actors, nostalgia does not seem to be working because audiences have begun to notice differences in how the films are color graded, complaining that the quality of film has changed over the years—dare I say—for the worse.

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This shift has caused many to find these movies and shows 'emotionless,' which perfectly sums up how nostalgia can perhaps stagnate growth in cinema.

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The Writer's Guild of America strike in 2023—where screenwriters fought for fair compensation and safety from artificial intelligence—served as a wake-up call around how much of the quality and substance of films is dependent on creators and artists. With a heavy reliance on AI and screenwriter layoffs, the industry was going to be confronted with audiences that could

Why Modern Reboots Of Classic Films Are Unnecessary