romanticization of the past theme

Featured is the idea that we sometimes remember periods from the past as having been more idyllic or appealing relative to the present, than was actually the case.

Examples

In tz1959e4x15 "The Incredible World of Horace Ford", the genial but childish toymaker Horace Ford became bored with the present and started dreaming of his childhood. After going back in time and reliving an episode of bullying, however, he realized that things had not been nearly as great as his recent fantasies had made them out to be. His mother also spoke of family strife during the time in question.

10 total · 1 choice · 2 major · 7 minor

Story	Level	Motivation
tz1959e4x15	choice	Horace ultimately came to learn that his childhood days were not quite so blissful as he'd remembered them to be.
ahp6x20	major	The old fashioned romantic Cyril said he dreamed of medieval times when love was won by conquest. Enid spoke of his chivalry.
movie: How Green Was My Valley (1940)	major	The story is told by Huw in his later years as he reminisces about his youth in a Welsh mining community during the late Victorian era. The title "How Green Was My Valley" hearkens back to Huw's longing for those bygone days. This is attested by his line "It makes me think of so much that was good that is gone," after reminiscing about the toffee he used to chew on.
ahp2x05	minor	Seymour imagined that refinement, culture, and taste "really meant something" to the people of the Renaissance.
ahp6x15	minor	In his sketch, Alfred Hitchcock lamented the fast pace of modern life, and spoke in glowing terms of simpler times when gossipy women were punished in the cucking stool.
ahp7x25	minor	Amos lamented the disappearing of "the old values".
ftt1982e3x04	minor	Mr. Mole broke out into song, lamenting progress and praising all things past.
ic1976e01a	minor	Aristarchus said that "things never were what they were" implying that people romanticize the past.
movie: Timeline (2003)	minor	The archaeologist Marek waxed about the past, asserting that men had honor and people cared about each in former ages.
tz1959e4x14	minor	Mr. Feathersmith was surprised to find that Johanna was not the charming girl that he had remembered her as. He's also evidently overlooked that no vaccine for typhoid had been invented by 1910.