Has pop culture reached a perpetual now?

[Reaganfan]

Has pop culture reached a perpetual now?

What I mean by that is that we don't seem to have as much trendiness as we used to in styles, culture, ect.

For example, if you go back from today to six years ago in 2009, not much was different. Obama, the Kardashians, similar hairstyles, similar dance/rap music. Kanye, Taylor Swift, ect.

Go back the same amount of time from a different year, like 1985, and so much was different in 1979. Carter vs. Reagan, sideburns and afros vs. big 80s hair, disco vs. 80s rock, bell-bottom pants vs parachute pants.

My question is, why did so much change year by year in the past, but not so much now?

[Sprouts Farmers Market ✘]

Wow, I'm so glad you posted this! This isn't a side we've seen from you in a longtime!

I think your criteria is way too selective though. Gaga is no longer popular. A hundred one hit wonders have filled her place.Turnover is so fast, no one can create a long career. Taylor Swift is weird because in a way, she just launched the pop career now.

If you look at country pop, you'll see immense turnover there. Artists used to solidify a place on radio after a strong album, but not anymore...every label is looking for the next big thing and sophomore albums keep completely flunking.

[Reaganfan]

Wow, I'm so glad you posted this! This isn't a side we've seen from you in a longtime!

I think your criteria is way too selective though. Gaga is no longer popular. A hundred one hit wonders have filled her place.Turnover is so fast, no one can create a long career. Taylor Swift is weird because in a way, she just launched the pop career now.

If you look at country pop, you'll see immense turnover there. Artists used to solidify a place on radio after a strong album, but not anymore...every label is looking for the next big thing and sophomore albums keep completely flunking.

So you're saying that the reason 2009 and 2015 are more similar than 1989 and 1995 or 1979 and 1985 is because the turnover rate on things is so fast it doesn't allow a trend?

[RI]

Well, rock music finally died some time around 2012 or so, so that's changed.

[Mercenary]

The 00s and 10s in general seem pretty much the same. Each decade seemed to have a much greater degree of difference prior to the 00s. Maybe my generation is just really boring.

[Reaganfan]

The 00s and 10s in general seem pretty much the same. Each decade seemed to have a much greater degree of difference prior to the 00s. Maybe my generation is just really boring.

That's what I'm saying. Why? LOL

[bgwah]

Your inclusion of the President suggests you don't know what "Pop culture" means... But the answer is that you're getting old.

[Ban my account ffs!]

Lots has changed.  Twitter wasn't much in 2009.  Lady Gaga came and went.  The economy has improved.  Skinny jeans were really just coming in full force in 2009... now they're probably headed out.  The undercut has saturated its way into mainstream.

The real answer is:  You're getting old, Naso.  My parents were born in the late 50s and my mom could never tell the big difference between the late 70s into the 80s.  She'd say "I was too busy having kids and raising them in the 80s to follow pop culture."

It's the way life goes.  I think what is interesting about you is this perpetual surprise at the normal way of things... as if you're the first person to experience it.  I bet you think kids look younger now than they did back in "your day".... .....

[Reaganfan]

Lots has changed.  Twitter wasn't much in 2009.  Lady Gaga came and went.  The economy has improved.  Skinny jeans were really just coming in full force in 2009... now they're probably headed out.  The undercut has saturated its way into mainstream.

The real answer is:  You're getting old, Naso.  My parents were born in the late 50s and my mom could never tell the big difference between the late 70s into the 80s.  She'd say "I was too busy having kids and raising them in the 80s to follow pop culture."

It's the way life goes.  I think what is interesting about you is this perpetual surprise at the normal way of things... as if you're the first person to experience it.  I bet you think kids look younger now than they did back in "your day".... .....

I don't think that's it. Even my parents would tell the differences between 1989 vs 1995 or 1992 vs 2000. Now it all seems the same.

[pikachu]

Lots has changed.  Twitter wasn't much in 2009.  Lady Gaga came and went.  The economy has improved.  Skinny jeans were really just coming in full force in 2009... now they're probably headed out.  The undercut has saturated its way into mainstream.

The real answer is:  You're getting old, Naso.  My parents were born in the late 50s and my mom could never tell the big difference between the late 70s into the 80s.  She'd say "I was too busy having kids and raising them in the 80s to follow pop culture."

It's the way life goes.  I think what is interesting about you is this perpetual surprise at the normal way of things... as if you're the first person to experience it.  I bet you think kids look younger now than they did back in "your day".... .....

I don't think that's it. Even my parents would tell the differences between 1989 vs 1995 or 1992 vs 2000. Now it all seems the same.

I'd say its changed. 10 years ago, superhero movies were nowhere as big as they are today. Iron Man wasn't a household name, a lot of people didn't even know who the Avengers were, Batman Begins had just come out. Since then, we've seen those movies become the main blockbusters for this generation. If you read comics, the industry has seen some massive shifts over last 4 years, with mainstream superhero art styles going away from realism, and the explosion of creator-owned stuff. TV shows have expanded in their cultural influence, and the distribution method has completely changed. Smartphones are widely used, and at least to me are one of the markers of the 2010s. I don't really pay attention to music, so I can't speak about that.

[dead0man]

I find the desire to wear the same clothes as everybody else, to listen to the same music as everybody else, to be fans of the same vapid famous for being famous douchebags as everybody else to all be rather weird.  Wear what you want to wear, listen to what you want to listen to, be fans of douchebags you want to be fans of.  We are humans, not herd animals.

[DavidB.]

I still experience some changes, here in Europe at least (and even here I think "fashion", especially, depends very much on the country: when I go to Germany, people's clothes and accessoires are vastly different from the Netherlands - there are still many "emos" and "goths" in Germany, whereas this doesn't exist anymore in the Netherlands).

All music now sounds like "Lean On" with the same stupid beat. You don't hear anything about Lady Gaga and Rihanna anymore, whereas in 2009 Nicki Minaj wasn't popular. Things are changing, but slowly.

[Mercenary]

Lots has changed.  Twitter wasn't much in 2009.  Lady Gaga came and went.  The economy has improved.  Skinny jeans were really just coming in full force in 2009... now they're probably headed out.  The undercut has saturated its way into mainstream.

The real answer is:  You're getting old, Naso.  My parents were born in the late 50s and my mom could never tell the big difference between the late 70s into the 80s.  She'd say "I was too busy having kids and raising them in the 80s to follow pop culture."

It's the way life goes.  I think what is interesting about you is this perpetual surprise at the normal way of things... as if you're the first person to experience it.  I bet you think kids look younger now than they did back in "your day".... .....

I don't think it has to do with age as my mom notices it and I'm a "millennial" and I notice it.
It isn't that there has been no change, it is that there is no major style difference.

Like say a photo of high school students was taken in the 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, 00s, and 10s.
I think the 00s and 10s would be pretty much indistinguishable, while the other eras each would be. And it isn't just image, the style of music changed. It isn't about one singer losing popularity but a major difference of style.

[TheDeadFlagBlues]

Fashion has gone through some pretty dramatic shifts over the past decade. I could go through an itemized list of changes but there's an easier approach: go to your social network of choice and compare pictures of younger friends or relatives. I cringe when I look at 2005 fashion, it's not remotely comparable to 2015 fashion.

As far as music is concerned, enthusiasm for "indie" music is dead and hip-hop has (finally) triumphed as the dominant musical expression of the contemporary zeitgeist. My claim about hip-hop is evidenced by the ubiquity of rap features in the most inoffensive pop music.  Kendrick Lamar was featured in a Taylor Swift song! Juicy J was featured in a Katy Perry track!

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

At the risk of sounding too old, last century had better music than this century.

[tpfkaw]

Fashion has gone through some pretty dramatic shifts over the past decade. I could go through an itemized list of changes but there's an easier approach: go to your social network of choice and compare pictures of younger friends or relatives. I cringe when I look at 2005 fashion, it's not remotely comparable to 2015 fashion.

There was a huge shift from roughly 2003-2008 and then almost no change since then.

For example, here's the 2008 cast of Saturday Night Live:



These are hip, youngish people who try to be out there with their fashion choices, but everything still pretty much works today, except for Jason Sudeikis's blazer-over-polo-shirt-over-t-shirt getup, which we'd now consider to make one look like a tool.

Edit: fixed photo

[Citizen (The) Doctor]

I think geography (as now its become so intertwined with culture and socioeconomic status) still has much to do with how prevalent the zeitgeist is. During my time in England, I could tell that the love for "alternative" pop/rock was still quite mainstream, as is the love for indie music in some parts of America (though this is more or less very inconstant; there was a time San Francisco was a hotbed of ska and reggae in 2007-8)

[they don't love you like i love you]

I'm reminded of this Buzzfeed article: http://www.buzzfeed.com/rubenguevara/run-hillary-run

Which is a pretty big epic fail even by Buzzfeed standards (Vladimir Putin was TIME's Man of the Year in 2007! That could never happen today!)

[Chunk Yogurt for President!]

Pop music seems more refined now compared to 2009, though that's not saying much.

[Ban my account ffs!]

I guess if anything there might be small scale changes more often than ever even while major fashion and music evolves more smoothly.  The internet was not a huge part of pop culture until social media really came in around 2005-2010.

In the future I think we'll look at that era as being pivotal.

[buritobr]

Has pop culture reached a perpetual now?

What I mean by that is that we don't seem to have as much trendiness as we used to in styles, culture, ect.

For example, if you go back from today to six years ago in 2009, not much was different. Obama, the Kardashians, similar hairstyles, similar dance/rap music. Kanye, Taylor Swift, ect.

Go back the same amount of time from a different year, like 1985, and so much was different in 1979. Carter vs. Reagan, sideburns and afros vs. big 80s hair, disco vs. 80s rock, bell-bottom pants vs parachute pants.

My question is, why did so much change year by year in the past, but not so much now?

I agree, and I will go further.

I think the world is changing at a lower speed than it was some time ago.

In 2015, we can still see young people listening to Pearl Jam. Ten was released in 1991. 24 years ago. 24 years before 1991 was 1967. Year of the Sgt Peppers. Young people in 1991 though that Beatles was music for mum and dad.

2001 A Space Odyssey was produced in 1968. 47 years ago. Kubrick's Picture is not so different of recent pictures. 47 years before 1968 was 1921. In 1921, the movies were silent and black and white. Very different of the 1968 movies.

[buritobr]

1995 was the year of the Windows 95. Not so different if we compare to the Windows we use today.

1975 was the year of the first Apple. Even in 1995, we though that 1975 was the Stone Age of the microcomputer.

[dead0man]

In 2015, we can still see young people listening to Pearl Jam. Ten was released in 1991. 24 years ago. 24 years before 1991 was 1967. Year of the Sgt Peppers. Young people in 1991 though that Beatles was music for mum and dad.

I graduated in 1991.  The top 5 bands from my Senior Class, immortalized in our yearbook were:
Grateful Dead
Rush
Led Zeppelin
NWA
and I forget, but I want to say Queen

My high school may have been a bit odd.  Jazz was much more popular than country and we had a fairly strong "neo-hippy" element (and probably why I still hate hippies).  All of my friends listened to classic rock or rap, NOBODY listened to top 40 stations.

But kids certainly listened to the Beatles in 91, kids will be listening to the Beatles in 2091.

[Хahar 🤔]

Well, rock music finally died some time around 2012 or so, so that's changed.

How did you pick that particular date?

[Simfan34]

Give it a few years. Cultural "decades" usually tend to actually run from the middle of one decade to the middle of the next.

I'm reminded of this Buzzfeed article: http://www.buzzfeed.com/rubenguevara/run-hillary-run

Which is a pretty big epic fail even by Buzzfeed standards (Vladimir Putin was TIME's Man of the Year in 2007! That could never happen today!)

Being Person of the Year is not necessarily an honour. Hitler was once Man of the Year. I believe Bin Laden was also seriously considered in 2001 but the editors realised this point would be missed by too many people.