# Popular culture stagnation since mid-1990s? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [August 27, 2021, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-culture-stagnation-since-mid-1990s/949625 "2021-08-27T16:19:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2021, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-culture-stagnation-since-mid-1990s/949625/181 "2021-09-24T14:49:29Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > The '70s had a feel that was vastly different than the '60s, to the point that it was possible to have a “period movie” that was set 10 years prior. Can you really do that today? What would it look like? Exactly. That’s what I’m getting at- what exactly would separate a late 1990s movie from a 2000s movie from a 2010s movie? There’s not that “concentrated” change that makes it so obvious like in past decades- it’s more spread out in time and more fragmented. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2021, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-culture-stagnation-since-mid-1990s/949625/182 "2021-09-24T16:52:48Z")
Hell, you can have a period movie now set two years ago just by showing no mask-wearing. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2021, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-culture-stagnation-since-mid-1990s/949625/183 "2021-09-24T17:13:52Z")
> [@bump](#): > > There’s not that “concentrated” change that makes it so obvious like in past decades- it’s more spread out in time and more fragmented. After sleeping on it, I think it’s fair to say that ‘stagnation’ is a bad way to phrase this. Culture isn’t stagnant, it’s just not changing the way it did in the past. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2021, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-culture-stagnation-since-mid-1990s/949625/184 "2021-09-24T19:17:11Z")
You’re probably right; at first I wasn’t sure what was going on, so “stagnation” seemed as good of a word as any to describe what I was observing. But after the thread got going, it didn’t seem to be stagnation as some other phenomena that were overlapping. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2021, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-culture-stagnation-since-mid-1990s/949625/185 "2021-09-24T19:57:06Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > it was possible to have a “period movie” that was set 10 years prior. Can you really do that today? What would it look like? Yes, you can. As I mentioned Scott Pilgrim vs. The World and Juno showcase late 2000s, early 2010s hipster style which doesn’t exist as a mainstream fashion trend today. Put guys in ironic t-shirts, hoodies, skinny jeans which end above the ankle, and poofier hair (it was slightly pre-man bun times). Maybe even an over the top mustache, or even better a mustache tattoo. I mean how have people forgot all about the hipsters which were talked about all over the place a decade ago? ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2021, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-culture-stagnation-since-mid-1990s/949625/186 "2021-09-25T20:26:38Z")
It might be fair to say a lot of good ideas have already been thought of and used, so it is harder to be genuinely innovative. At some level, many type of groups have always adopted their own nomenclature or slang, accepted costumes and culture. This is true for youngsters rebelling against their parents as it is for many jobs, groups or professions. With the interwebz removing some barriers between knowing what is going on elsewhere, buying cheaply, access to an enormous amount of culture - people who want to be iconoclastic have more to choose from and people who want to follow trends have fewer options as more people do something different. A given culture is not stagnating, it is just competing against more things so has fewer adherents. Me, I could care less about most celebreties - still less about their social opinions - and barely consider this culture but you do you. Even still, there are probably a more diverse group of celebrities than ever with broader exposure and low thresholds. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-culture-stagnation-since-mid-1990s/949625.md?page=9)