# What has happened since 2000? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 11, 2009, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-happened-since-2000/502645 "2009-07-11T04:26:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2009, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-happened-since-2000/502645/1 "2009-07-11T04:26:13Z")
I am trying to put together an informal history of the US from 31 December 1999 to 31 December 2009. Time obviously is short. But further I am at a disadvantage as I do not live in the US. Let us consider some cultural stuff. In 1999, _The Blair Witch Project_ was a ground-breaking film of 1999, but _Star Wars Episode One: The Phantom Menace_ was the big hit of that year. What has happened in film since then? In 1999 Britney Spears was the fresh-faced newcomer. Her self-destruction will require a nice essay. Both Madonna and Phil Collins (You’ll be in my heart) were big on the charts the last week of 1999. Honestly, I have no idea at all what has happened in music since then. In TV we had _The Simpsons,_ and _The Sopranos_, since then we had a writer’s strike and the rise of reality TV. **So tell me about American popular culture in the first decade of the century.** ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2009, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-happened-since-2000/502645/2 "2009-07-11T06:18:54Z")
Someone keeps giving money to Roland Emmerich and Michael Bay, and the collective intelligence of the world has taken a 14% dip because of their dreck. To be continued… _LOST_ changed the face of prime-time television, spawning “clones” of high-concept, epic, character driven, episodic, mythologic and mysterious style TV dramas. The digital music revolution seems to have finally won out. Apple, iTunes and the iPod changed the music industry forever. _Breaking Bad_ is the best drama on TV since _The Sopranos._ HD media was a long, uphill battle, that took forever to get off the ground. Blu-Ray finally won out, and everyone can now move on. DVR’s turned out to be the best thing since color TV. Extreme Home Makeover is the most manipulative and egregious attempt at feel-good, sappy-eyed, saccharine, and over the top “reality” TV. It’s really a cleverly disguised, hour-long, Sears commercial. And when I say “cleverly disguised”, I mean “painfully obvious”. Most blockbuster movies, and flagship studio flicks for the year are all moving toward greatly improved and almost perfect 3D. This movement is being spearheaded by pioneer James Cameron. I, for one, welcome it. Robert Zemeckis seems to be obsessed with CG motion capture, yet hasn’t improved on the uncanny look since his first foray: _The Polar Express(ionless)._ ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2009, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-happened-since-2000/502645/3 "2009-07-11T06:34:58Z")
**The Sopranos** , which you’ve already mentioned, is particularly worth noting for (I believe) leading in the new generation of high quality TV that had a clear, continuous storyline. Previous to The Sopranos, there was **Twin Peaks** and maybe one or two others, but the format didn’t catch on. Really you needed DVDs and someone like HBO with a significant budget to start things off. Since The Sopranos there has been any number of such TV shows, leading to the continued, spiraling death of movies. Why spend $20 on a DVD of a two hour movie, when I can spend $50 on 13 hours of similar quality TV on DVD? The Sopranos 24 Lost Battlestar Galactica Breaking Bad Mad Men Dexter Carnivale True Blood Sons of Anarchy Kings Etc. Of course, now things seem to be headed back the other way a slight amount. For regular TV watching, a continuous storyline where you can’t miss a single episode has some demerits. However, the money has moved to the TV market, so you can still get a higher budget and get strong actors and Hollywood quality cinematography (though still not Hollywood special effects) while using the old episodic format. For instance: Burn Notice House Fringe ---
**Author:** ![Lantern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d26b3c/32.png) [@Lantern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lantern)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2009, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-happened-since-2000/502645/4 "2009-07-11T06:53:02Z")
The annual box-office [statistics](http://www.boxofficemojo.com/yearly/)are a good place to examine the trends in the movie industry in the last decade. The big trend is the dominance of CG-special effects dominated films across different genres. Special effects films have been around for a long time of course but they have become much more prominent at the top of the box-office charts even as the special effects have become more sophisticated. ``` Within this broader trend you have the return of the superhero films which are among the most consistent money-spinners in Hollywood. This was marked by the huge and somewhat unexpected success of Spiderman in 2002 and culminated in the extraordinary success of the Dark Knight last year. CG animated films have also been enormously popular. There were a handful of them in the 90's begining with Toy Story but now you have 5-6 big-budget films every year. And of course we have seen the huge success of the LOTR and Harry Potter franchises. DVD has transformed the home entertainment business in the last 10 years. In particular old TV shows are available as never before and Netflix and its competitors have enormously increased the choice available to viewers compared to brick-and-mortar video stores. The Internet is more sophisticated and interactive compared to 10 years ago: social networking, blogging, youtube etc. Google was just beginning as a company ten years ago. ``` ---
**Author:** ![EvilTOJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee59a6/32.png) [@EvilTOJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilTOJ)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2009, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-happened-since-2000/502645/5 "2009-07-11T07:03:39Z")
Somebody somewhere decided that quickly switching from angle to angle in less than a second for 15 seconds in a row denotes action and excitement, when in actuality it means giving viewers a headache. More and more movies from the last 5 years have done this, and I despise it. Video games are more and more realistic every day. Some day we will be at the point where video games and 3D animation will look indistiguishable from real life. After that; real video game porn. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2009, 8:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-happened-since-2000/502645/6 "2009-07-11T08:57:58Z")
Have you noticed how the pace of video game releases has slowed as we have expected more of them? I have heard that musical acts are now looking at CDs and digital downloads as a sideline to their main business, touring and selling expensive nick-knacks. Does that sound about right? Keep them coming! ---
**Author:** ![dwc1970](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a183cd/32.png) [@dwc1970](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwc1970)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2009, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-happened-since-2000/502645/7 "2009-07-11T19:52:58Z")
Don’t forget the glut of big-money prime-time game shows that emerged in late 1999. It all started with ABC’s [Who Wants to Be a Millionaire](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Who_Wants_to_Be_a_Millionaire), which remains as the only survivor. The other networks, of course, jumped on the bandwagon: [ul] [li]CBS had a short-lived show called [Winning Lines](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winning_Lines), hosted by Dick Clark. I never had the chance to see this one, so I am not sure what I missed.[/li][li]NBC had [21](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twenty_One_(game_show)), which was a revival of a game show by the same name from the past with a smilar format. This, too, was short-lived. It was hosted by Maury Povich.[/li][li]Fox had [Greed](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greed_(game_show)), which had a fairly good run. Chuck Woolery, a tenured game show veteran, hosted the show.[/li][li]NBC has since had [The Weakest Link](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Weakest_Link) and is currently running [Deal or No Deal](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deal_or_No_Deal) which has been its most successful, though WL also enjoyed a good run.[/li][/ul] ABC attempted another big-money game that was hosted by tennis great John MacEnroe called [The Chair](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Chair_(game_show)) which didn’t last long. The contestant was hooked up to a heart monitor. The premise of the game was that the contestant had to remain relaxed while answering trivia questions. If the contestant’s heart rate went above a set base line (that was determined for each contestant beforehand), he or she could not answer any questions until the heart rate went back down. In the meantime, all of the contestants earnings up to that point would begin hemmoraging away in increments of $100 (which increased at higher rates for more advanced levels in the game) for each second the heart rate was too high, which of course, would create more tension for the contestant and make it harder to fight the increasing heart rate. I actually had to look up John McEnroe to cross-reference this show since I couldn’t even remember what it was called. I should also note that while many of these shows were popular in the U.S., they originated in the U.K. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2009, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-happened-since-2000/502645/8 "2009-07-12T04:01:05Z")
Any important books during this period? (Other than Harry Potter of course.) ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Knig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@Typo\_Knig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Knig)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2009, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-happened-since-2000/502645/9 "2009-07-12T04:11:28Z")
Wikipedia links: > **[History of the Internet](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_history)** > > The history of the Internet has its origin in information theory and the efforts of scientists and engineers to build and interconnect computer networks. The Internet Protocol Suite, the set of rules used to communicate between networks and devices on the Internet, arose from research and development in the United States and involved international collaboration, particularly with researchers in the United Kingdom and France. > Computer science was an emerging discipline in the late 1950s that... > **[History of the World Wide Web](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_World_Wide_Web)** > > The World Wide Web ("WWW", "W3" or simply "the Web") is a global information medium which users can access via computers connected to the Internet. The term is often mistakenly used as a synonym for the Internet, but the Web is a service that operates over the Internet, just as email and Usenet do. The history of the Internet and the history of hypertext date back significantly further than that of the World Wide Web. > Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web while working at CERN in 1989. H... > **[Dot-com bubble](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dot-com_bubble)** > > The dot-com bubble (or dot-com boom) was a stock market bubble in the late 1990s. The period coincided with massive growth in Internet adoption, a proliferation of available venture capital, and the rapid growth of valuations in new dot-com startups. > Between 1995 and its peak in March 2000, investments in the NASDAQ composite stock market index rose 800%, only to fall 740% from its peak by October 2002, giving up all its gains during the bubble. > During the dot-com crash, many online shopping c... > **[Bill Clinton](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_clinton)** > > William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and again from 1983 to 1992. Clinton, whose policies reflected a centrist "Third Way" political philosophy, became known as a New Democrat. He is the husband of Hillary Clinton, who was a U.S. senator from New York from 2001 to 2009,... > **[George W. Bush](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_W._Bush)** > > George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as the 46th governor of Texas from 1995 to 2000. > The eldest son of the 41st president, George H. W. Bush, he flew warplanes in the Texas Air National Guard in his twenties. After graduating from Harvard Business School in 1975, he worked in the oil industry. He later co-owned the Texas Rangers of Majo... > **[Barack Obama](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obama)** > > Barack Hussein Obama II (/bəˈrɑːk huːˈseɪn oʊˈbɑːmə/ i bə-RAHK hoo-SAYN oh-BAH-mə; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African-American president. Obama previously served as a U.S. senator representing Illinois from 2005 to 2008 and as an Illinois state senator from 1997 to 2004, and worked as a civil rights lawyer and university lecturer. > Obama was born in... > **[1990s](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1990s)** > > The 1990s (pronounced "nineteen-nineties", shortened to "the '90s" and often referred to as simply "the Nineties") was a decade that began on January 1, 1990, and ended on December 31, 1999. It was the last decade of the 20th century. > Known as the "post-Cold War decade", the 1990s are culturally imagined by many as the period from the Revolutions of 1989 until the war on terror of the 2000s. The dissolution of the Soviet Union marked the end of Russia's status as a superpower, the establishme... > **[2000s](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2000%E2%80%932009)** > > The 2000s (pronounced "two-thousands"; shortened to the '00s and known as the aughts or noughties) was a decade that began on January 1, 2000, and ended on December 31, 2009. > The early part of the decade saw the long predicted breakthrough of economic giants in Asia, like India and China, which had double-digit growth during nearly the whole decade. It is also benefited from an economic boom, which saw the two most populous countries becoming an increasingly dominant economic force. The rapi... > **[21st century in literature](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2000s_in_books)** > > The 21st century in literature refers to world literature produced during the 21st century. The measure of years is, for the purpose of this article, literature written from (roughly) the year 2001 to the present. > Nobel laureates: List of Nobel laureates in Literature ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2009, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-happened-since-2000/502645/10 "2009-07-12T12:09:02Z")
Films that are adaptations of something else have been a popular trend in the first decade of the 20th century. As they always have, film adaptations of books remain popular, the two biggest being the _Lord of the Rings_ trilogy and the _Harry Potter_ series. Thanks to the success of the Spider-Man series, multiple DC and Marvel Comics characters have been adapted into films, with _The Dark Knight_ arguably being the most successful. Disney briefly tried adapting theme park attractions into films- although the Pirates of the Caribbean series was so successful that Johnny Depp’s swaggering Captain Jack Sparrow was actually added to the attraction that inspired them, _The Country Bears_ and _The Haunted Mansion_ failed to catch on. And if Hasbro has their way, toy adaptations will be the new trend- after the success of Transformers, they signed a long-term deal with Universal and films based on Monopoly, Ouija, Battleship, and Stretch Armstrong are already in the works. Pixar (now a division of Disney) continues a streak of successful computer-animated films that started in 1995. Other studios have attempted to jump on the bandwagon, the most successful of which has been DreamWorks Animation, whose films usually have a sarcastic tone, pop culture references, and big-name voice actors. Shrek has become their Mickey Mouse, appearing on tons of merchandise and a Broadway musical- two things Disney is known for. Disney themselves have been using all aspects of their empire- including, but not limited to, the motion picture arm, record label, theme parks, publishing, cable channels, and the ABC television network- to create their own stable of young talent, perhaps best exemplified by their taking under their wing an obscure, struggling band known as the Jonas Brothers or finding a young actress named Miley Cyrus and turning them into superstars, appearing in all of Disney’s media departments. Disney also uses this interconnectivity to introduce new talent on shows featuring already-existing stars and propping up other parts of the empire by, for example, having Cyrus et al. appear in a TV special alongside the Muppets- whom Disney bought from Henson Productions in 2005- in an attempt to introduce the latter to Disney’s young audience. Not surprisingly, new talent is always being brought in, as stars seem to have an expiration date: the Jonas’s 3-D concert film earlier this year failed to match the success of Cyrus’s, and their new TV show had to be moved to another time slot after being beaten in the ratings by rival Nickelodeon- who is now taking a page from Disney’s playbook and creating their own stable of multitalented stars. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2009, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-happened-since-2000/502645/11 "2009-07-12T16:09:40Z")
Thank you all. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2009, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-happened-since-2000/502645/12 "2009-07-12T18:46:38Z")
> [@](#): > > The Sopranos, which you’ve already mentioned, is particularly worth noting for (I believe) leading in the new generation of high quality TV that had a clear, continuous storyline. Previous to The Sopranos, there was Twin Peaks and maybe one or two others, but the format didn’t catch on. Really you needed DVDs and someone like HBO with a significant budget to start things off. Babylon 5 also comes to mind on this score, well before The Sopranos. ---
**Author:** ![mr.jp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/48db29/32.png) [@mr.jp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mr.jp)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2009, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-happened-since-2000/502645/13 "2009-07-12T21:16:52Z")
General: More Individual focus. Caused by new technology and increased leisure time. Good: - Increased social interconnectivity. Cell phones everywhere, facebook. - In music there is more indie music, more eclectic selection, less focus on the hit lists. - Huge growth of the internets Bad: - Pointless time use on facebook, twitter - Reality tv - Music channels almost never showing music. Movies: Style over substance Not necessarily in a bad way, since good style is an attractive quality. It is especially appearant in the large number of remakes and adaptions. (The substance is pre-made, so it is basically all style.) CGI is the big new style element. Good: -Batman films -Kill Bill -Lord of the Rings -Requiem for a dream -Wall-E Bad / focus on style, substance lacking: -Transformers -The Day after Tomorrow -Pirates of the caribbean -300 -Narnia TV: Bigger, better series Series that are large in scope and you need to follow. Better writing and effects. (This also results in less need for canned laughter.) Top examples: -Lost -The Sopranos -The Wire ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2009, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-happened-since-2000/502645/14 "2009-07-14T04:25:39Z")
SpongeBob SquarePants is ten years old and now a staple of every child’s viewing. ---
**Author:** ![Windwalker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/5e9695/32.png) [@Windwalker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Windwalker)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2009, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-happened-since-2000/502645/15 "2009-07-14T05:03:48Z")
> [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](#): > > SpongeBob SquarePants is ten years old and now a staple of every child’s viewing. Damn. Really? I still haven’t seen an episode, but now I kinda feel like I must. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2009, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-happened-since-2000/502645/16 "2009-07-14T06:46:09Z")
Have a kid. I bet you memorize every episode. ---
**Author:** ![Lantern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d26b3c/32.png) [@Lantern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lantern)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2009, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-happened-since-2000/502645/17 "2009-07-14T06:57:59Z")
If I had to pinpoint the two really distinctive trends of the decade it would be the rise of sophisticated mobile devices and social networking and the combination of the two. Ten years ago digital cameras and MP3 players barely existed and mobile phone were far less sophisticated than today. Today these devices are a part of everyday life. At the same time you have sophisticated online services to distribute the content from these devices like Flickr and Youtube. Or you can buy music and video for these devices online. Phones with keyboard and big screens are far more common so you can keep up with blogs, Facebook etc without being tied to your PC. You can record a video on your mobile somewhere in ,say, Iran, upload it to Youtube within minutes; and the video can be watched by millions of people around the world. That would have seemed miraculous just ten years ago. Another interesting trend is the rise of more intuitive interfaces between people and their gadgets. Touch, gestures, voice recognition, facial recognition etc. The Wii and the iPhone have been big success stories and Project Natal on the Xbox is an exciting vision of how you can integrate several of these features in one device. Windows 7 will probably push the envelope further on PC’s as will the next version of OSX. We should see a lot of innovation on tablet PC’s in the next few years. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2009, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-happened-since-2000/502645/18 "2009-07-14T11:38:21Z")
Two television notes. First, many reviewers have said that _The Wire_ is the best television show ever made. Gotta talk about _The Wire_ (and see it if you haven’t already). Second, _The Daily Show_ (and _The Colbert Report_) became significant cultural forces. Talk about Jon Stewart’s takedown of _Crossfire_ (he went on that obnoxious show and instead of being funny, tore them a new asshole; the show was cancelled shortly thereafter) and Stephen Colbert’s takedown of the president at the White House Correspondents Dinner. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2009, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-happened-since-2000/502645/19 "2009-07-14T13:58:57Z")
You can’t skip this decade without mentioning **American Idol**. Love it or hate it you can’t deny it’s popularity. Also for this decade I would say the onslaught of “elimination based” reality shows. Starting with a large group of players and whittling them down over the season i.e. Survivor, BigBrother, Dancing w/Stars, Apprentice, Amazing Race, American Idol, Bachelor, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2009, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-happened-since-2000/502645/20 "2009-07-14T15:30:41Z")
What about WHo Want to be a Millionaire? Weren’t all these shows offshoots of the writer’s strike? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-happened-since-2000/502645.md?page=2)