A true gem: Bill Murray, left, Bugs Bunny and Michael Jordan are shown in a scene from the Warner Bros. film ‘Space Jam.’ (Warner Bros. photo)
Everyone I know has some strange nostalgic appreciation for absolutely terrible trends from their childhood.
Shoulder pads, crimped hair, butterfly clips, tracksuits are just some of the fashion-related ones. I am guilty of the same when it comes to music from the early and mid-90s.
But most of all, I am guilty of a nostalgic-but-never-rooted-in-reason love for the 1996 film that is “Space Jam.” Michael Jordan retires from basketball to begin his baseball career but gets called back to the court when space aliens threaten to capture and enslave several Looney Tunes characters.
Golden, right? It turns out, not 17 years after its release.
It was fun to watch the grainy footage of Michael Jordan’s basketball moves and the super fashionable clothes of the ’90s. (The movie’s website itself is a flashback to the dawn of the Internet.) And, as I knew I would, I still loved the soundtrack — good memories of playing that on my dad’s very cool 5-CD changer and good sound system. (Really sorry, Dad, for all my musical tastes as a child and teenager.)
But — perhaps not surprisingly — the plot line for “Space Jam” isn’t winning any awards.
Did my 10-year-old brother absolutely love it? Yep. But I think I might have been happier leaving that stone unturned and holding on to the rosy-colored memories.
Have you gone back to any childhood favorites — music, movies, books — and been disappointed? Leave a comment and share your story.
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