When Time Stood Still: Why Has Our Culture Stuck in the Past?
Popular culture is stuck in a loop. In 2025, we watch movies that are sequels to stories from 30 years ago, and we celebrate at festivals playing the same music as in 1995. Has our ability to imagine the new atrophied?
Mark Fisher once wrote about the “slow cancellation of the future.” He referred to a state where culture is no longer capable of producing anything genuinely new, settling instead for recycling past decades. In 2024–2025, this prediction has come true more concretely than ever.
The Hegemony of Sequels
The film industry is the clearest example of this paralysis of creativity. Of the most significant film releases in 2024, over half were sequels or remakes. In 2025, the trend deepened: nine out of the ten most-watched movies were based on an existing brand. The audience does not thirst for the new, but for a “craving for the familiar.” Risk aversion has led to the silver screen playing an endless “zombie movie”—technically new, but old in spirit.
Finland and the Eternal Return of 90s Nostalgia
In Finland, this phenomenon is strongly visible in the music scene. “Retromania” is not just a global trend, but a Finnish national movement. The Retroperjantai (Retro Friday) radio show has gathered up to 200,000 weekly listeners, and festivals focusing on 90s music, such as Jysäri and We Love the 90’s, draw tens of thousands of visitors year after year.
This is not merely harmless fun. It speaks of a longing for a time when the future still seemed promising. As Fisher noted, 21st-century culture is plagued by “party hauntology”—the party continues, but it is merely an echo of past celebrations. The Finnish 90s boom is a perfect example of this: we escape the uncertainty of the present into a safe, sugar-coated past.
