# Have any popular, cool media franchises / works of fiction inspired real-life societal progress? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** star-trek-paramount\ **Created:** [June 5, 2025, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-popular-cool-media-franchises-works-of-fiction-inspired-real-life-societal-progress/1019245 "2025-06-05T23:32:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2025, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-popular-cool-media-franchises-works-of-fiction-inspired-real-life-societal-progress/1019245/21 "2025-06-06T04:22:08Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > _War Games_ helped the “no nukes” movement? I was going to mention _The Day After_. I"m not sure if that counts as a “blockbuster”, though. > **[The Day After | Effects on policymakers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Day_After#Effects_on_policymakers)** > > US President Ronald Reagan watched the film more than a month before its screening on Columbus Day, October 10, 1983. He wrote in his diary that the film was "very effective and left me greatly depressed" and that it changed his mind on the prevailing policy on a "nuclear war". The film was also screened for the Joint Chiefs of Staff. A government advisor who attended the screening, a friend of Meyer, told him: "If you wanted to draw blood, you did it. Those guys sat there like th The film also h... ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2025, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-popular-cool-media-franchises-works-of-fiction-inspired-real-life-societal-progress/1019245/22 "2025-06-06T04:41:37Z")
[Generations](https://www.amazon.com/Generations-History-Americas-Future-1584/dp/0688119123/ref=sr_1_5?crid=GZ27KNDJH9QV&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.a5c83N3y32a4NBVnP1rXaUNoNYvwshmwbwqe9fubk2INYvJXJR56ZYu0dGiIA6t4p1LmnIDeJF4kpgw7uh_XPdsyY2vPyfkFJ30fM7XU8kzcv7CXnnHmzm5684PhTUVspRqauY2d4enKxJIXWNyk_xSKVciv6j1miZNJHQEPpKzsI-RK2ZHdwUyYsirHtfZcUNJJNVy7hqPerMukRblK0EjnN0DuqZL3LormhTndLkM.eC3-3LTGcXckmqPG6lh0JAQXEIxEf9nLn8z7fRidarI&dib_tag=se&keywords=generations+book&qid=1749184028&s=books&sprefix=generations%2Cstripbooks%2C279&sr=1-5) by William Strauss and Neil Howe didn’t so much start a movement as codify the discussions of who belongs to what generation. [Cultural Literacy](https://www.amazon.com/Cultural-Literacy-Every-American-Needs/dp/0394758439/ref=sr_1_3?crid=1QDS333LSV4U0&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.7ijY3lPIztCest9xPE-Ym3Vq8lgfeJdv1t-FV3KC0JVv8AZ9O-0KVfsrc4QfZYRTeuAUJDKMtAvwxe5p91tbYT-PCB6MDeDwWUfAz_BbuadhGfYjTbGwrxyDgOMXknfmcRyVPSZRsNt_6DvMdEXqdqTNHF59TEixQx7GkbTgqaTO5oM2V2AgXbKLVrygIV6QpxpvGjEsA0gzKHsTU5s77f8cWeUf4jscklqKlodYxDM.kI_2U93dVAh9SeFPqZOFXCLE8Tylwe-8moyGZxfxnAc&dib_tag=se&keywords=cultural+literacy&qid=1749184193&s=books&sprefix=cultural+literacy%2Cstripbooks%2C267&sr=1-3) by E.D. Hirsch started a movement among educators about what literate adults should be expected to know, or to be kind of familiar with. That lacks the gravity of **The Jungle** or **Uncle Tom’s Cabin** , but I think it influenced some well-intentioned programs like No Child Left Behind and Common Core. These were, amazingly enough, mass market best-sellers back in the 80s in spite of their somewhat narrow focus. I guess the current equivalent would be anything by Michael Phillips or Ta-Nehisi Coates, or books by any author who gets interviewed by Jon Stewart or Billl Maher. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2025, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-popular-cool-media-franchises-works-of-fiction-inspired-real-life-societal-progress/1019245/23 "2025-06-06T04:45:59Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > I was going to mention _The Day After_. I"m not sure if that counts as a “blockbuster”, though. It was a huge cultural event at the time that it premiered (I was a freshman in college), though I think it sort of faded from public consciousness after the '80s. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-popular-cool-media-franchises-works-of-fiction-inspired-real-life-societal-progress/1019245.md?page=1)