Honestly I think it's because everything sucks these days. I know there is a lot of survivorship bias going on but _something_ has changed. I have recently been on a 1980-2010's movie binge. It seemed like movies before were raw and real. Now everything feels like it's plastic and made in a lab, dumbed down to the lowest common denominator.
Don't even get me started on shows. There are a ton of great ones but now they have 2-4, sometimes even 5 year gaps! The "increased" quality doesn't warrant it! I know people say "well now they're movie-grade" but I really could not care less. I don't need every episode of every show to be blockbuster quality. Just make it not suck! I would love to go to the movies and buy all the subscription services but it's simply not worth it! /rant
There’s a very specific South Park episode that relates to this comment - “ You're Getting Old" (Season 15, Episode 7).
There's a lot of nostalgic things that do in fact suck, I have no problem admitting that. Subjectively, I will die on the hill that movies overall are getting worse though. They are all starting to feel over-produced and sanitized. Objectively, the time between seasons of hit TV shows is increasing, we can measure that as a fact. Not rose-tinted glasses.
Imo, the problem is fragmentation, as everyone doesn’t watch the same tv/movies anymore. We don’t have shared experiences of watching Lost, Breaking Bad, Game of Thrones and etc., which used to be a global phenomenon. They do pump out quality TV (e.g. some Apple originals are top notch), it’s just it’s not like that golden era anymore.
Kinda agreed with you though, but I’m also getting old, so maybe my judgement is skewed as well.
If I remember correctly Stan realized that the old things he liked were shit in that episode. Anti-nostalgia. OP describes the opposite.
I haven't seen the episode but I can imagine the critique is pretty valid. However, sometimes it goes too far in the opposite direction. Sometimes things _are_ actually worse now :)