On April 11th, Alonso uploaded a video inviting people to "use the retro filter and see what happens." In this video, she tricks people into thinking the filter is capable of actually making her mother look 30 years younger rather than just adding a vintage visual effect. But in reality, in the first part of the video, her mum appears without a filter before Alonso takes over dressed identically and with the retro filter applied. The uncanny similarity between mother and daughter makes it look as if the footage is actually taken from her mother's youth.
The video has been watched 9.3M times, has received 1.8M likes, and inspired many children and parents around the world to try and make their own wholesome videos. These short videos created to an upbeat song, Marlboro Nights by Lonely God, seem to be extremely popular on the platform, collecting hundreds of thousands and even millions of views. People took advantage of genes to create their versions of videos with their parents, children, or siblings.
We've collected some of the best, so let us know what you think of this heartwarming trend in the comments!
Creative videos inspired by the retro filter trend still blow people's minds. Most of the people really believed that video included 'now and then' footage of the same person until they took a closer look, or went with the further investigation in the comment section. The fact that the people in each video are wearing the same clothes, standing in front of the same background, and singing along to the same song, smoothly transitioning from one person to another, make it very believable, but at the same time, it really questions your thought process—unless people have a time machine, how would they know a song which was released in 2020? And who would hoard their clothes for decades? But don't be too hard on yourself, these videos are meant to entertain and play with your head a little.
One TikToker, amanda_d42, wrote on the original video: "I literally thought this was an actual old recording." Another comment by nickashraf_ joked: "Why did it take me so long to figure this out." So you are not alone in your shame if you believed it from the first glance, but at the end of the day—it's a fun thing you can also try with your family members if you look alike.
It's actually no surprise this trend took off across TikTok—vintage and nostalgic things are making a strong comeback into the modern world.
In an article in Los Angles Times, Geoff Boucher states that "If you rewind back to the 1980s, VHS represented a remarkable turning point for the American consumer. For the first time, Hollywood’s classics and its recent hits could be rented and watched at home." However, its era ended in 2006, when the last major Hollywood film A History of Violence was released on VHS. Once VHS disappeared from the mainstream, it was quickly replaced by DVDs, and currently, most of us rely on streaming services. Old VHS tapes landed on the shelves of collectors, indie retailers, and hardcore movie fans and some of them are extremely valuable to this day.
VHS still has a nostalgic charm about it, so this retro filter hits the nostalgic spot in many by adding a vintage vibe or Y2K vibe to your footage, making it look like an old VHS tape. The VHS effect produces glitches in the video and creates a sparkle in the clip, along with recognizable markings similar to those the '80s and '90s kids will remember from their childhood.
With 689 million monthly active users worldwide, TikTok has quickly become an app that redefined our social media usage. A big reason for the craze around it is the popular trends, such as dance challenges, that are spreading on the platform and engaging others. But while many people hate on these trends, saying they are just a part of the attention culture or plain cringy, there is a lot of funny, wholesome, and even educational content out there. For example, this challenge asked people to show how their dogs looked in the shelter versus how they look now, after adoption. Another challenge urged students to turn on their cameras in Zoom lectures, so professors won't have to teach to blank screens. Among other TikTok challenges, people recreated pictures with their late loved ones and found their doppelgangers.
