Instagram/@caradelevingne
We have to say that the nostalgia entered through the door made by the star, actually, the model and actress, Cara Delevingne, and her Instagram post that surprised the public with a carousel of photos back to 2016. She made the claim that it was ‘mind blowing’ to define that year as a decade ago. The day was filled with her energy. ‘What was my life? Oh dear!’ she wrote. ‘When I was 23, there were benefits because you could do both: work hard and party hard.’ Then she left us with a postscript: ‘What a time … more videos coming.’
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The post was a brilliant and vibrant reminiscence of a prime moment in Delevingne’s life. A year that belonged to 2016 was the one where ‘Suicide Squad’ was released, getting the actress to play the Enchantress, and also where she was starring in the voluminous fantasy movie ‘Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets.’ There was nowhere else but at her spot, the super ‘It’ girl of the moment, who kept on switching from high-fashion modeling to acting. The first pictures presented from her portfolio were just the same as if they were a peek into the noisy, more tumultuous, and evidently simpler pop cultural world of that time—a mix of the on-set moments, glamorous events, and informal hangouts.
Reactions came one after another, from people feeling nostalgic to pure fan excitement. One user stated what many felt with a very blunt yet powerful phrase: ‘Life was so much easier in 2016.’ Another one expressed it this way: the question of the great career, ‘2016 was your year you had everything going for you with Suicide Squad, Paper Towns, Valerian, etc. The IT girl and still is the case today; these pictures are iconic.’
The throwback led us to films and to related fan campaigns. One user revisited the idea of, ‘I always think about when we were asking for you to play all John Green’s characters! Do you remember?’ Another follower of the thread commented, ‘Until now I think about you as Alaska Young,’ referring to the very beloved character of Green’s book ‘Looking for Alaska,’ a role that has been constantly asked to Delevingne to play.
Nostalgia was accompanied with a today’s note of appreciation. ‘No kidding, Cara in 2024 is absolutely the best version of herself,’ someone pointed out shifting the focus from past glory to current progress. Another admirer offered a more psychological angle, saying that ‘Cara is probably one of the very few models in the fashion industry that actually makes art and has a creative spirit. That’s how it used to be when fashion started. You’re real!’
The post lead to some comical sleuthing. One fan zoomed in on a specific picture and teased, ‘I love that Margot is sitting in someone else’s seat lol,’ which referred to Delevingne’s ‘Suicide Squad’ co-star Margot Robbie being in the picture along with the photo dump. The funny remark resulted in a short discussion with speculation about the seating arrangements.
Among the people who were nostalgic, there were those who felt it was all very personal and it was about specific fandoms. ‘Suicide Squad was my special interest as a kid,’ a person confessed. Another one, probably a former co-worker, wrote a hashtag that started a reunion sentiment: ‘Wow. I miss our #Skwad.’ Comments to that post quickly showed concurrence, together with some users stating they missed the squad and designating them as having had some of the best times.
The emotional reaction was not completely accompanied by laughter. One fan was very loud in her exclamation, ‘The photo on slide 10 made me feel everything! I honestly forgot how to breathe. Yes, I’m dead. Bye…’ Another one, on the contrary, offered a heartfelt thanks: ‘Thank you for this beautiful 2016 time travel, Cara. As a 23-year-old, your words really touched my heart and inspired me a lot.’
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By announcing the coming of more videos from that time, Cara Delevingne is not only reflecting on the past but also the present. It is a reminder of a time of tremendous success and creative freedom, an affirmation of the past but reassured by the iconic identity having been formed. The reaction points to the fact the period, despite its distance, is still very alive for both her and the audience. Apparently, the journey back into the past has just begun. Her recent photo dump also reveals more about her glamorous life.