# American Culture 2000-2010 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 27, 2007, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-culture-2000-2010/417068 "2007-08-27T11:01:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2007, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-culture-2000-2010/417068/41 "2007-08-30T17:01:47Z")
The decline of newspapers-nobody i know who is under 30 reads them anymore. i don’t subscribe to any-i read them on-line for free. Shopping: it’s easier for me to buy stuff on line-i hate going to shopping malls. Library use; seems to be holding up-though when cheap on-line books are available, i exoect to see library use drop. I think the Internet will also effect real estate sales-you don’t waste any time, looking at properties. on the other hand, TV becomes more and more a junk-filled medium, which gets worse and worse, as advertising crowds out programming ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2007, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-culture-2000-2010/417068/42 "2007-08-30T17:08:17Z")
[QUOTE=Derleth] This has resulted in the creation of ‘hits’ most people have no knowledge of. For example, most people didn’t watch _The Sopranos_ and most people aren’t buying the Billboard Top 20 CDs. Compare that to, say, people watching Johnny Carson and buying the Billboard Top 20 records. [/QUOTE] I agree – more niche programming. Most people didn’t watch the Sopranos, though? I had the feeling that it wasn’t as huge as, say, M_A_S\*H, in previous years, but that it was a pretty big deal. Then again, most people I know didn’t watch. Also, watching stuff on your own time (on demand channels, TiVo, DVDs, youtube/other online venues). You don’t have to be wedded to the TV schedule anymore. You can also watch stuff from decades past if you’re in the mood. There’s no more putting on the TV at night and watching because that’s what’s on. I think NBC’s Must See Thursday and such are dying slow but sure deaths. About Broadway musicals–there are the old standbys, like Mamma Mia or whatever Disney puts out. But there are also quirky, out there things, like Spring Awakening or Avenue Q. I also think that we should call our decade the “ooh ooh’s.” ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2007, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-culture-2000-2010/417068/43 "2007-08-30T17:08:24Z")
[QUOTE=Paul in Saudi] _Mama Mia, Phantom_ and _Blue Man Group_ are all playing in London, Las Vegas and New York. That says something about culture, but I am not sure what. What are “Blue Men?” Grown up Smurphs? [/QUOTE] _Phantom_ is a holdover of the 1980’s “British invasion,” started by Andrew Lloyd Webber. “Mamma Mia” marked the beginning of the current [Jukebox Musical](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jukebox_musical) influx, which by now has included a whole lot of shows. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2007, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-culture-2000-2010/417068/44 "2007-08-30T17:43:19Z")
> [@](#): > > The Golden Age of Animation officially refers to the span from the late 20’s to the 60’s. The Silver Age started in the mid-to-late eighties (milestones include both Disney and WB, the titans of the Golden Age, simultaneously entering television animation at long last, as well as the release of The Little Mermaid) and ended in the late nineties. We’re treading water to keep from slipping into another Dark Ages right now. I know some people feel that a golden age had to have been in the past but I use it in the broader sense. Someone else mentioned that the eighties were a golden age for basketball and I agree that’s true. _The Little Mermaid_ (1989) was a major animated feature film. But I’d set the real start of the golden age with the release of _The Lion King_ (1994) and _Toy Story_ (1995) - these were the movies that rose up out of the genre. After them it was no longer necessary to say a movie was great … for an animated movie. _Toy Story_ also marked the start of the de-Disneyfication of animated movies. Prior to the mid-nineties, animated feature filsm were essentially a Disney monopoly. Disney would release (or re-release) about one animated feature a year and that was it for the genre. Pixar and other studios have ended Disney’s monopoly. By 2001 the genre had grown to the point where there were sufficient animated features, both in quantity and quality, to justify the establishment of a best animated feature Oscar. ---
**Author:** ![Will\_Repair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a698b9/32.png) [@Will\_Repair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Will_Repair)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2007, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-culture-2000-2010/417068/45 "2007-08-30T17:55:30Z")
[QUOTE=Paul in Saudi] We got security? [/QUOTE] I didn’t say they got a good deal! ---
**Author:** ![pizzabrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e9c0ed/32.png) [@pizzabrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pizzabrat)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2007, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-culture-2000-2010/417068/46 "2007-08-30T18:18:42Z")
[QUOTE=Little Nemo] I know some people feel that a golden age had to have been in the past but I use it in the broader sense. Someone else mentioned that the eighties were a golden age for basketball and I agree that’s true. [/QUOTE] I didn’t say so because of that - I said so because that’s the [general consensus among animation enthusiasts](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Golden_Age_of_American_animation), for obvious reasons. There are simply tons of high-quality theatrical releases of animation from that period that just doesn’t compare to any other period since. > [@](#): > > _The Little Mermaid_ (1989) was a major animated feature film. But I’d set the real start of the golden age with the release of _The Lion King_ (1994) and _Toy Story_ (1995) - these were the movies that rose up out of the genre. After them it was no longer necessary to say a movie was great … for an animated movie. Wow - I’d designate _Lion King_ as the clear _end_ of the Silver Age, theatrical release-wise. _Beauty and the Beast_ was its peak. As good as Pixar is, they’re extremely contemporary (and far too “clever”). Sixty years from now, I can better envision more people enjoying _Aladdin_ than _The Incredibles_. As always, Disney built timelessness into their movies, which makes them classics. > [@](#): > > _Toy Story_ also marked the start of the de-Disneyfication of animated movies. Prior to the mid-nineties, animated feature filsm were essentially a Disney monopoly. Disney would release (or re-release) about one animated feature a year and that was it for the genre. Pixar and other studios have ended Disney’s monopoly. Ah-ha! I suppose if you have some sort of pointless hang-up against Disney, the end of their reign would herald some sort of positive revolution. But if you’re realistic and realize that Disney basically created animation as we know it, then you’d be quite comfortable their dominant position during the best years of animation during our lifetimes. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2007, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-culture-2000-2010/417068/47 "2007-08-31T06:29:55Z")
My username is a Winsor McCay character - you think I don’t know animation history? Trust me when I say I could go on about the various eras of cartoons all day long. > [@](#): > > Ah-ha! I suppose if you have some sort of pointless hang-up against Disney, the end of their reign would herald some sort of positive revolution. But if you’re realistic and realize that Disney basically created animation as we know it, then you’d be quite comfortable their dominant position during the best years of animation during our lifetimes. I have no beef against Disney - they’ve made some great animation. And for a long time they were the only studio putting out animated features and they deserve credit for keeping the genre alive. But basically Disney spent several decades doing one kind of movie. They did it well but it was still only one kind of movie. So while I’m very happy Disney is still making animated features, I’m even happier that they aren’t the only ones making animated features. But I guess if your standard for judging animated features is how much they look like a Disney production, then everyone else is going to come in second to Disney. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2007, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-culture-2000-2010/417068/48 "2007-09-01T16:01:12Z")
[QUOTE=saoirse] This is probably the biggest cultural shift of the decade. All art must now be financially successful, or else dimissed as precious and pretentious, which is a complete turnaround (or more likely a backlash) to the direction of the previous 100-150 years. [/QUOTE] I disagree. Both William Shakespeare and Charles Dickens produced all of their work (we still care about) for a popular audience. It was, in other words, pop culture. (Shakespeare especially. The groundlings were expected to be illiterate working-class stiffs who laughed at ribald humor. Shakespeare catered to them unhesitatingly.) ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2007, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-culture-2000-2010/417068/49 "2007-09-01T16:30:05Z")
[QUOTE=Derleth] [QUOTE=saoirse] This is probably the biggest cultural shift of the decade. All art must now be financially successful, or else dimissed as precious and pretentious, which is a complete turnaround (or more likely a backlash) to the direction of the previous 100-150 years. [/QUOTE] I disagree. Both William Shakespeare and Charles Dickens produced all of their work (we still care about) for a popular audience. It was, in other words, pop culture. (Shakespeare especially. The groundlings were expected to be illiterate working-class stiffs who laughed at ribald humor. Shakespeare catered to them unhesitatingly.) [/QUOTE] Wow, Shakespeare was writing 150 years ago? I had no idea! 😃 (IOW, I agree with both of you, and you’re not disagreeing with each other - even Dickens wrote most of his widely acclaimed stuff 165+ years ago.) ---
**Author:** ![Thorium\_Indium\_Potassium](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c2a13f/32.png) [@Thorium\_Indium\_Potassium](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thorium_Indium_Potassium)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2007, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-culture-2000-2010/417068/50 "2007-09-01T16:46:47Z")
[QUOTE=ralph124c] The decline of newspapers-nobody i know who is under 30 reads them anymore. i don’t subscribe to any-i read them on-line for free. [/QUOTE] I get an actual newspaper very infrequently (only when I need something to read over lunch). It’s so much easier and more informative to look up news on the internet and get one story from several outlets. I’d also like to add TiVo and DVR to the list of American Culture changes. While we’re currently schlepping with no cable, I love DVR and miss it dearly. I think it’ll eventually lead to a change in the way the advertising companies do commercials. Maybe something like speed commercials while you fast forward. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2007, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-culture-2000-2010/417068/51 "2007-09-01T18:30:56Z")
[QUOTE=WhyNot] Wow, Shakespeare was writing 150 years ago? I had no idea! 😃 (IOW, I agree with both of you, and you’re not disagreeing with each other - even Dickens wrote most of his widely acclaimed stuff 165+ years ago.) [/QUOTE] OK, yeah, I guess I missed that on first reading. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2007, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-culture-2000-2010/417068/52 "2007-09-01T19:16:43Z")
[QUOTE=SenoraGO] I think it’ll eventually lead to a change in the way the advertising companies do commercials. [/QUOTE] I missed this: One of the big things we’ll look back on is just how absolutely looney-tunes batshit advertisers went when they discovered that people _might skip their ads_. MY GOD! THEFT! FIRE! FRAUD! APOCALYPSE! **BURN, BABY, BURN! BURN THE TIVOS DOWN!** The idea that a business model has a sovereign Right To Life is not new, but it certainly is amusing this time around. The RIAA/MPAA thing is less new: All new media technologies have been founded on theft and piracy, going all the way back to player piano rolls. (And I’m sure some ancient bards were None Too Happy about people writing things down.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-culture-2000-2010/417068.md?page=2)