One simple variable, more than anything, determines when you think the nation peaked.
Analysis byAndrew Van Dam. May 24, 2024 at 6:00 a.m. EDT
How do you define the good old days?
We here at the Department of Data are dedicated to exploring the weird and wondrous power of the data that defines our world.Read more.Links to an external site.
The plucky poll slingers at YouGov, who are consistently willing to use theirelite-tierLinks to an external site.survey skills in service of measuring the unmeasurable, asked 2,000 adults which decade had the best and worst music, movies, economy and so forth,across 20 measuresLinks to an external site.. But when we charted them, no consistent pattern emerged.
We did spot some peaks: When asked which decade had the most moral society, the happiest families or the closest-knit communities, White people and Republicans were about twice as likely as Black people and Democrats to point to the 1950s. The difference probably depends on whether you remember that particular decade for “Leave it to Beaver,” drive-in theaters and “12 Angry Men” — or the Red Scare, the murder of Emmett Till andmassive resistanceLinks to an external site.to school integration.
“This was a time when Repubs were pretty much running the show and had reason to be happy,” pioneering nostalgia researcher Morris Holbrook told us via email. “Apparently, you could argue that nostalgia is colored by political preferences. Surprise, surprise.”
And he’s right! But any political, racial or gender divides were dwarfed by what happened when we charted the data by generation. Age, more than anything, determines when you think America peaked.
So, we looked at the data another way, measuring the gap between each person’s birth year and their ideal decade. The consistency of the resulting pattern delighted us: It shows that Americans feel nostalgia not for a specific era, but for a specific age.
The good old days when America was “great” aren’t the 1950s. They’re whatever decade you were 11, your parents knew the correct answer to any question, and you’d never heard of war crimes tribunals, microplastics or improvised explosive devices. Or when you were 15 and athletes and musicians still played hard and hadn’t sold out.
Not every flavor of nostalgia peaks as sharply as music does. But by distilling them to the most popular age for each question, we can chart a simple life cycle of nostalgia.
The closest-knit communities were those in our childhood, ages 4 to 7. The happiest families, most moral society and most reliable news reporting came in our early formative years — ages 8 through 11. The best economy, as well as the best radio, television and movies, happened in our early teens — ages 12 through 15.
YouGov didn’t just ask about the best music and the best economy. The pollsters also asked about the worst music and the worst economy. But almost without exception, if you ask an American when times were worst, the most common response will be “right now!”
This holds true even when “now” is clearly not the right answer. For example, when we ask which decade had the worst economy, the most common answer is today. The Great Depression — when, for much of a decade, unemployment exceeded the what we saw in the worst month of pandemic shutdowns — comes in a grudging second.
To be sure, other forces seem to be at work. Democrats actually thought the current economy wasn’t as bad as the Great Depression. Republicans disagreed. In fact, measure after measure, Republicans were more negative about the current decade than any other group — even low-income folks in objectively difficult situations.
So, we called the brilliant Joanne Hsu, director of the University of Michigan’s Surveys of Consumers who regularly wrestles with partisan bias in polling.
Hsu said that yes, she sees a huge partisan split in the economy, and yes, Republicans are far more negative than Democrats. But it hasn’t always been that way.
“People whose party is in the White House always have more favorable sentiment than people who don’t,” she told us. “And this has widened over time.”
In arecent analysisLinks to an external site., Hsu — who previously worked on some of our favorite surveys at the Federal Reserve — found that while partisanship drove wider gaps in economic expectations than did income, age or education even in the George W. Bush and Barack Obama years, they more than doubled underDonald TrumpLinks to an external site.as Republicans’ optimism soared and Democrats’ hopes fell.
Our attitudes reversed almost the instantPresident BidenLinks to an external site.took office, but the gap remains nearly as wide. That is to say, if we’d asked the same questions about the worst decades during the Trump administration, Hsu’s work suggests the partisan gap could have shriveled or even flipped eyeglasses over teakettle.
To understand the swings, Hsu and her friends spent the first part of 2024 asking 2,400 Americans where they get their information about the economy. In anew analysisLinks to an external site., she found Republicans who listen to partisan outlets are more likely to be negative, and Democrats who listen to their own version of such news are more positive — and that Republicans are a bit more likely to follow partisan news.
But while Fox and friends drive some negativity, only a fifth of Republicans get their economic news from partisan outlets. And Democrats and independents give a thumbs down to the current decade, too, albeit at much lower rates.
There’s clearly something more fundamental at work. As YouGov’s Carl Bialik points out, when Americans were asked last year which decade they’d most want to live in, the most common answer was now. At some level then, it seems unlikely that we truly believe this decade stinks by almost every measure.
A deeper explanation didn’t land in our laps until halfway through a Zoom call with four well-caffeinated Australian marketing and consumer-behavior researchers: the Ehrenberg-Bass folks behind the music study we cited above. (Their antipodean academic institute hasattracted massive sponsorshipsLinks to an external site.by replacing typical corporate marketing fluffery with actual evidence.)
Building on the American scholars’ methods, they asked respondents to listen to a few seconds each of34 songsLinks to an external site., including Justin Timberlake’s “Sexy Back” and Johnny Preston’s “Running BearLinks to an external site..” Then respondents were asked to rate each song on a zero-to-10 scale. (In the latter case, we can’t imagine the high end of the scale got much use, especially if the excerpt included that song’s faux-tribal “hooga-hooga” chant and/or its climactic teen drownings.)
Together, the songs represented top-10 selections from every even-numbered year from 1950 (Bing and Gary Crosby’s “Play a Simple Melody”) to 2016 (Rihanna’s “Work”), allowing researchers to gather our preferences for music released throughout our lives.
Like us, they found that you’ll forever prefer the music of your late teens. But their results show one big difference: There’s no sudden surge of negative ratings for the most recent music.
Marketing researcher Bill Page said that by broadly asking when music, sports or crime were worst, instead of getting ratings for specific years or items, YouGov got answers to a question they didn’t ask.
“When you ask about ‘worst,’ you’re not asking for an actual opinion,” Page said. “You’re asking, ‘Are you predisposed to think things get worse?’”
“There’s plenty of times surveys unintentionally don’t measure what they claim to,” his colleague Zac Anesbury added.
YouGov actually measured what academics call “declinism,” his bigwig colleague Carl Driesener explained. He looked a tiny bit offended when we asked if that was a real term or slang they’d coined on the spot. But in our defense, only a few minutes had passed since they had claimed “cozzie livs” was Australian for “the cost of living crisis.”
Declinists believe the world keeps getting worse. It’s often the natural result of rosy retrospection, or the idea that everything — with the possible exception of “Running Bear” — looks better in memory than it did at the time. This may happen in part because remembering the good bits of the past can help us through difficult times, Page said.
It’s a well-established phenomenon in psychology, articulated by Leigh Thompson, Terence Mitchell and their collaborators in asetLinks to an external site.ofanalysesLinks to an external site.. They found that when asked to rate a trip mid-vacation, we often sound disappointed. But after we get home — when the lost luggage has been found and the biting-fly welts have stopped itching — we’re as positive about the trip as we were in the early planning stage. Sometimes even more so.
So saying the 2020s are the worst decade ever is akin to sobbing about “the worst goldang trip ever” at3 a.mLinks to an external site.. in a sketchy flophouse full of Russian-speaking truckers after you’ve run out of cash and spent three days racing around Urumqi looking for the one bank in Western China that takes international cards.
A few decades from now, our memories shaped by grainy photos of auroras and astrolabes, we’ll recall only the bread straight from streetside tandoor-style ovens and the locals who went out of their way to bail out a couple of distraught foreigners.
In other words, the 2020s will be the good old days.
A UCLA survey found adolescents think romance is overused in the media they consume.
Elizabeth Kivowitz |
Key takeaways
47.5% of respondents ages 13–24 feel most TV shows and movie plots don’t need sexual content; 51.5% want to see more focus on friendships and platonic relationships.
56% of those aged 10–24 prefer original content over franchises and remakes.
Twice as many adolescents prefer binge releases over weekly drops.
Adolescents want to see lives like their own depicted on screen.
This year’s Teens & Screens report from UCLA’s Center for Scholars & Storytellers, or CSS, found that teens — plus the 18- to 24-year-old demographic that advertisers typically target — think sex and romance are too prominent in TV shows and movies, preferring to see more friendships and platonic relationships.
Almost half of adolescents 13–24 felt that romance is overused in media (44.3%) and sex is unnecessary for the plot of most TV shows and movies (47.5%). A majority (51.5%) want to see more content focused on friendships and platonic relationships, with 39% seeking more aromantic and/or asexual characters (ace/aro) on screen.
“While it’s true that adolescents want less sex on TV and in movies, what the survey is really saying is that they want more and different kinds of relationships reflected in the media they watch,” said Dr. Yalda T. Uhls, founder and director of CSS, co-author of the study, and adjunct professor in UCLA’s psychology department.
Ranked fourth on a list of adolescents’ most disliked stereotypes were romantic tropes, which included storylines about how relationships are necessary for happiness, how the male and female leads always end up together romantically, and love triangles. While the popularity of “Twilight” and “The Hunger Games” supercharged the love triangle trope, what once was novel has become commonplace, and teens appear to have soured on those storylines.
“We know that young people are suffering an epidemic of loneliness and they’re seeking modeling in the art they consume. While some storytellers use sex and romance as a shortcut to character connection, it’s important for Hollywood to recognize that adolescents want stories that reflect the full spectrum of relationships,” Uhls said, adding that recent studies show that young people are having less sex than their parents did at their age and many prefer to stay single.
The report, a comprehensive annual portrait of adolescence and media, surveyed 1,500 people ages 10–24 (reflecting the ages of adolescence defined by the National Academy of Sciences) in August, with 100 young people from each age bracket participating. Respondents closely reflected the U.S. 2020 census in race and gender. The survey was supported by the collection of Funders for Adolescent Science Translation.
In viewing habits, 50.5% of adolescent respondents expressed a strong or slight preference for binge-watching shows all at once, while 25.5% preferred seeing weekly drops of episodes.
Adolescents also showed a strong preference for original content, with 56% choosing original movies and TV shows over remakes, franchises or those based on pre-existing intellectual property like a book, comic or graphic novel.
Adolescents’ media preferences in 2023 leaned toward the familiar. In 2022, the topic adolescents most wanted to see on screen was “lives unlike my own” but in 2023, that fell to position No. 9 and “lives like my own” rose to No. 2. Despite their penchant for original stories, superheroes still ranked fourth among the topics they most want to watch.
Today’s adolescents chose “White Man” as the preferred hypothetical hero of their stories, whereas in 2022, “Black Man” was the top answer. This year, older adolescents (18–24) chose “Black Woman” as their hero. “White Man” also remains the choice of most young people when asked to cast the villain.
“As a member of Gen Z myself, I wasn’t surprised by some of what we’re seeing this year,” said Stephanie Rivas-Lara, youth engagement manager at CSS and first author of the study. “There has been a wide-ranging discourse among young people about the meaning of community in the aftermath of COVID-19 and the isolation that came with it.”
“Adolescents are looking to media as a ‘third place’ where they can connect and have a sense of belonging — and with frightening headlines about climate change, pandemics and global destabilization, it makes sense they are gravitating towards what’s most familiar in those spaces,” said Rivas-Lara, who holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology and is working towards a master’s in social work from UCLA.
Adolescents desire authenticity, too. This year, Mr. Beast’s YouTube channel came in No. 1 for most authentic media, followed by episodic programming and movies including “Stranger Things,” “Heartstopper,” “Barbie” and “The Summer I Turned Pretty.” As the most authentic media platform, young people overwhelmingly chose TikTok.
Get ready to stream movies and shows in even smaller chunks—and in new places.
BySaleah Blancaflor December 17, 2023
To say 2023 was a tumultuous year for the media and entertainment industry would be an understatement. The WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes caused studios and streaming services to scramble to find ways to keep programming running. Amid the double strikes, the streaming wars raged on. Here’s a look at some of the recent trends that will shape the year ahead.
The rise of FAST services As streaming services continue to raise subscription prices, customers have attempted to find ways to cut costs—including free. According to a Hub Entertainment Research studyLinks to an external site., more than half (55%) of consumers said they use at least one free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) service, such as Pluto TV, The Roku Channel, Tubi, Amazon’s Freevee, or the free version of Peacock. Perhaps there’s no greater example of the service’s success this year than Freevee’s Jury Duty, which quickly became a word-of-month hit, catapultingLinks to an external site. it to the top of U.S. streaming charts. Earlier this year, Tubi announcedLinks to an external site. it was beefing up original programming in its catalog to lure new subscribers.
The great rebundling In the spring, Warner Bros. Discovery unveiledLinks to an external site. Max, the result of HBO Max merging with Discovery+, to broaden the appeal of the new flagship streaming platform, while Paramount debutedLinks to an external site. Paramount+ with Showtime to domestic audiences shortly after. Meanwhile, more streaming bundles began rolling out this year: Disney—which already offered a bundle with Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+—launched a one-app experience, offering Hulu and Disney+ programming in the same space. Recently, Apple and Paramount were reportedlyLinks to an external site. in talks to bundle their streaming services at a discount, while Verizon announcedLinks to an external site. it would offer a $10 bundle for the ad-supported subscription plans of Netflix and Max streaming services. An AlixPartners studyLinks to an external site. found that about 70% of new streaming subscribers will get their subscriptions from streaming bundles, or with plans that combine a streaming subscription with cable TV, broadband, or wireless plans, as opposed to stand-alone streaming services.
A big bet on sports According to one study, 29% of viewers are watching sports on streaming services like Prime Video. At the end of last year, YouTube TV acquiredLinks to an external site. the NFL’s Sunday Ticket for reportedly $2 billion, beating out Disney, Amazon, and Apple for the package. The deal allows subscribers to watch the Sunday Ticket as an add-on for YouTubeTV, or as a stand-alone purchase on YouTube Primetime Channels. Last year, Prime Video began live streaming Thursday Night Football games, which saw viewership go upLinks to an external site. 25% this season. Netflix announcedLinks to an external site. last week it will livestream a tennis match between Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz in the spring, while Disney CEO Bob Iger revealedLinks to an external site. last month that the company will launch a stand-alone streaming app of ESPN in 2025.
Studios uploading entire TV shows and films on social media
Pirating content online isn’t anything new, but Gen Z has been turning to social media to watch full episodes and movies for free. On TikTok, a quick search shows that the platform is overrun with episodes and parts of full movies uploaded by users, while an uploaded version of The Super Mario Bros. Movie was viewed by 9 million people on Twitter before it was taken down. To meet users where they are, Peacock experimented with releasing programming on social media and uploadedLinks to an external site. the pilot episode of its comedy series Killing It on TikTok in five parts, which according to a Peacock spokesperson, garnered 7 million views. A month later, on October 3 (aka Mean Girls Day), Paramount uploaded the entirety of Mean Girls on TikTok. A study found that nearly a quarter (23%) of TikTok users are more likely to discover entertainment content on social and video platforms versus other platforms.
Reruns are back in (again) This isn’t exactly a new trend, but it’s one that’s been building as more consumers become cord-cutters. Unsurprisingly, popular classic shows with massive fan bases like The Office, Friends, Seinfeld, and Breaking Bad continue to find success on streaming services. Some other recent examples include Nickelodeon’s 2005 animated series Avatar: The Last Airbender debuting on Netflix, making it one of the most-watched children’s showsLinks to an external site. during the pandemic, while the CW’s Riverdale and All-American have trendedLinks to an external site. on Netflix when it was made available on the platform. This year’s biggest example was USA Network’s Suits, which gained newfound popularity after being licensed on Netflix, pushing it to the No. 1 spotLinks to an external site. on U.S. streaming charts. If the success of Suits proves anything, it’s that licensing might be the way to go if networks want to generate interest in (and get paid forLinks to an external site.) some of their older programming.
That movie you didn’t watch might grab your attention as a 3-part limited series instead When BlackBerry came out in theaters this spring, it was met with much critical acclaim for its acting and storytelling, and earned $2.9 million at the global box office. In October, IFC Films released the 121-minute-long film as a three-part limited series with 16 minutes of unseen footage. “I look at this as a way for a smaller, independent piece of work to double-dip and find its audience,” director Matt Johnson toldLinks to an external site.Variety when asked about the decision to recut the film. Last month, Hulu premiered Faraway Downs, a six-episode series, which is an reedited version of Baz Luhrmann’s 2008 film, Australia, starring Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman. While the original film has a running time of nearly three hours, the series adds an extra hour of new footage, with some plot changes. While Australia received mixed reviews when it premiered, Luhrmann told the Daily BeastLinks to an external site. that he wanted to revisit the film, and leaned on episodic storytelling to present the story in a different way, in hopes of giving it a second chance with some viewers.
Pop culture can reach us through every single type of media imaginable. And, in that regard, both the big screen and the small one are powerful generators of content that inform our daily lives.
From memorable catchphrases to poignant one-liners, some idioms have transcended their on-screen origins, embedding themselves in our everyday conversations and shaping the way we express ourselves. Whether it's a piece of advice from a beloved character or a quick retort that becomes part of the cultural lexicon, these expressions have left an indelible mark on our lives.
Spam
Credit: Hannes Johnson
While the term "spam" didn't originate in the realm of movies or television, its current meaning as unwanted mail did.
In a classic Monty Python sketch, a group of Vikings incessantly repeats the word "spam" as they sing a menu that includes processed meat, drowning out all other conversation. The repetitive and overwhelming nature of this skit amusingly mirrored the flood of unsolicited emails in early online communication. Over time, the term evolved, transcending its comedic roots and becoming synonymous with digital clutter.
Google
Credit: Pawel Czerwinski
Aside from being the name of a gigantic tech company, "Google" has become a widely popular verb that describes the action of making a query on the search engine of the same name.
The first recorded use of the phrase on TV happened on "Buffy, The Vampire Slayer," where her friend Willow uttered the words "Have you Googled her yet?" referencing the search engine. A humble origin for a ubiquitous term.
Groundhog day
Credit: Ralph Katieb
The term "Groundhog Day" was coined from the title of the 1993 comedy-drama starring Bill Murray. The movie follows a cynical weatherman trapped in a time loop, reliving the same day over and over again.
The phrase has since transcended its cinematic origins to become a metaphor for the repetitive nature of daily life or tasks that seem endlessly redundant. The film's enduring popularity has ingrained "Groundhog Day" into the lexicon as a symbol of monotony, prompting people to humorously reference the concept whenever they find themselves caught in a seemingly endless cycle of routine.
D'oh!
Credit: Omid Roshan
Possibly one of the most famous onomatopoeias to ever emerge from the TV, "d'oh!" has become an iconic catchphrase synonymous with exasperation, and its origin can be traced back to the animated television series "The Simpsons."
Coined by the show's creator, Matt Groening, "d'oh!" serves as the frustrated utterance of the bumbling yet endearing character Homer Simpson. Introduced in the early seasons of the show, the exclamation quickly gained popularity for its versatility in expressing anything from mild annoyance to major blunders.
Nimrod
Credit: Aaron Burden
While its current meaning denotes a foolish or inept person, the origin of the word "nimrod" can be traced back to biblical sources. In the Bible, Nimrod is a figure described as a mighty hunter and a great king, but the evolution of the term took an unexpected turn.
In the mid-20th century, the term started being used sarcastically by the Looney Tunes character Bugs Bunny. The rabbit used the term ironically to mock his adversaries. Over time, the sarcasm stuck, and "nimrod" morphed into a colloquial expression for someone perceived as clueless or ineffectual.
Gaslight
Credit: Vladimir Fedotov
The roots of the term "gaslight" can be traced back to the 1938 play "Gas Light", which was later adapted into two films—one in the UK in 1940 and another in the US in 1944.
The plot revolves around a husband who manipulates his wife into believing she's going insane by dimming the gaslights in their home. This psychological thriller popularized the notion of subtle manipulation and psychological abuse, giving rise to the term "gaslighting."
Friend Zone
Credit: Toa Heftiba
"Friend zone" has become a ubiquitous part of modern dating discourse, and its roots can be traced back to the realm of popular culture, specifically the television sitcom "Friends".
While the phrase itself may not have originated on the show, its popularization can be attributed to the character Ross Geller, portrayed by David Schwimmer. Ross often found himself being romantically interested in female friends who saw him strictly as a friend. The notion of being relegated to the "friend zone" gained cultural traction, signifying unrequited romantic feelings within a friendship.
And that's the way it is
Credit: Sam McGhee
The iconic sign-off "And that's the way it is" was popularized by one of the most respected figures in television news, Walter Cronkite. As the longtime anchor of the CBS Evening News, Cronkite would conclude his broadcasts with this definitive statement, emphasizing the factual nature of the news presented.
While the phrase itself did not originate in any form of scripted entertainment, its impact on language and cultural memory shows how a well-delivered line from a news anchor can become ingrained in the public consciousness.
Whoare you wearing?
Credit: Jakub Zerdsicki
The phrase "Who are you wearing?" emerged as a hallmark of red carpet interviews, and its origin is closely tied to the indomitable Joan Rivers. Coined by the comedian and television host, the question became a signature element of her coverage during award shows, marking her irreverent yet insightful approach to fashion critique.
Rivers used the question to extract not only information about the designers behind celebrities' outfits but also to inject humor and critique into the conversation. First popularized on her show "Live from the Red Carpet," the phrase quickly became a cultural touchstone, shaping the way the public engages with celebrity fashion.
Everybody lies
Credit: Markus Frieauff
The phrase "Everybody lies" comes from the medical drama "House," where the brilliant but unconventional Dr. Gregory House, played by Hugh Laurie, uttered this cynical mantra.
The phrase expresses the central theme of the show: that truth is often elusive. Dr. House, a character known for his skepticism, popularized this observation, asserting that even the most seemingly transparent individuals conceal truths. Beyond the show, "Everybody lies" has permeated popular culture, becoming a provocative reflection on human nature and the inherent complexities of honesty.
You're toast
Credit: Seriously Low Carb
The phrase "You're toast" gained prominence as a line from "Ghostbusters". This ominous declaration is uttered by the character Peter Venkman, played by Bill Murray, during a confrontational scene with the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man.
Since its cinematic debut, "You're toast" has transcended its ghostly origins to become a colloquial idiom, often used in a lighthearted manner to convey a sense of impending defeat or inevitable trouble.
Hakuna Matata
Credit: Ivan Diaz
"Hakuna Matata," a Swahili phrase meaning "no worries," was popularized by the animated movie "The Lion King". Coined in the 1994 film, Pumbaa and Timon introduced this infectious philosophy to a global audience.
The phrase defines a worry-free, laid-back attitude toward life, resonating with audiences of all ages. The cultural impact of "Hakuna Matata" extends beyond the screen, as it has become a widely recognized catchphrase, symbolizing a desire for a stress-free existence.
By Saleah Blancaflor December 17, 2023