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Pop Culture in the McCain Administration Pt. 2: 2012-2016

The Great Recession became one of the primary shaping factors over toward pop culture in the second McCain administration. This led to an increase in fantastical elements and perhaps a desire for escapism. At the same time, as the adminsitration failed to take what many deemed to be adequate steps to resolve the issues, assist the economy or even go after the bankers or financial elites, it led to a rise in some more cynical elements or even existenial ones in the upcoming works, at least in the United States. Other nations handled matters differently and would grow to reflect that in pop culture. At the same time, there also remained sparks of optimism and hope; they were nurtured by the court cases that led to the federal legalization of homosexual marriage and represented an overall shift toward greater LGTBQ representation in media, including children's media, despite the current administration. In fact, some noted that some of the backlash against the McCain Administration may have fueled this acceleration into the adoptation of more progressive values. There was a growing tension in the population for change and perhaps that was reflect and even enabled in the new media, creating a cycle. However, many also have noted that the election of Sanders and defying the odds means that pop culture may at the precipice of another cultural shift, though what it means, many don't know. However, one hint laid in the rise of indie or lower-scale productions. Media from independent groups from literature, video games, music and streaming had become growing past the point of being niche and into something grander, encouraging others to come and growing to where the point of changing the system furthermore.

Perhaps another change was in the surprising string of successes regarding foreign policy that the McCain Administration. The end of the Kim regime over in North Korea, the Arabian Civil War and the conclusion of a majority of the troubles of the Middle Eas and, the fall of the Chavistas over in Venezuela would reflect a form of positive American influence, even if some would gather that it was a mix of luck. These successes led to the decrease in "foreign enemies" regarding portryal in certain media. At the same time, there was an odd sense of familiarity when American-Russian relations remained hostile. However, there was a growing sense that it was less at Russia itself and more toward the Putin regime. As such, the new public enemies became the wealthy and the powerful. While figures were spared this portrayal (such as Bruce Wayne and Tony Stark and these were mainly do to forward thinking and forethought on the part of creators), many of them were viewed with a growing sense of disdain and suspicion. This may in part have fueled the rise of smaller businesses through social media and indie creators. At the same time, many have noticed that there was a growing trend of nostalgia, likely as a response to the yearning of better days (and was an influence perhaps toward Sanders' victory). Specifcially, it was a nostalga trend focusing on the 90s and to a limited extent, the early 2000s.

Film
Film was continued to be dominated by Marvel and to a lesser extent, DC in regards with their superhero films. The Marvel cinematic universe continued and DC's own project began getting off the ground after internal debates regarding direction were settled (though many noted that DC showed more preference for television for their potential content, which many noted why certain projects were delayed.) Disney and Pixar continued to do well with animation, especially as Dreamworks began struggling and Illumination began gaining more traction. However, film also began a gradual decline in part because of the dominant structure of Hollywood. While #MeToo and its successor movements helped deal with some of the misogynistic elements along with other issues, there was still a lack of freshness in film that would be broken on occasion by new and bolder films. There were a growing number of sequels and longer film franchises though at the same time, people still put effort into these film franchises. At the same time, new films did come out and dazzle people like Moonlight, La La Land and various others showed the appeal was there though Moonlight became the prominent star at the end and many noted that there was a growing audience for films focusing alot on people of color and especially tied with questions of sexuality. One growing element was perhaps the desire to return to space as seen in Interstellar, Gravity, Star Trek and Star Wars had helped return the zeitgeist focus back on the stars. At the same time, there was a growing rise in Indie films thanks to the collaboration efforts of Open-Film as part of Project MAY-O over distribution and spreading awareness. This began encouraging a fresh new wave of faces to try and create their own works, either in animation or in film that could then be spread around. While this certainly assisted in keeping the film industry alive, many wondered what the future would be. After all, the fresh blood still chafed until similar systems and they relied on cash flow from patrons, which was sometimes difficult due to the struggling economy. Furthermore, the growing troubles that came from the rise of the prosumer led to more debates. However, there was still the sign of hopes and many decided they needed to push the envelope more. They needed to get weirder.

Television
Television meanwhile would continue on what many called its new "golden age" even as some of the prime shows that commenced the era began their finales. Breaking Bad would conclude over in 2013, but would continue on with its prequel in Better Call Saul. Mad Men concluded over in 2015 and many saw it as the end of the sort of corruption and decadant economics that the show embodied, or at least that was the hope. Black Mirror continued to tantalize and mystify viewers as being a sort of successor show to The Twilight Zone though many have been saddened to hear the show would be finishing up soon. Furthermore, not all shows fared as well for one reason or another. Game of Thrones would end up having to conclude in 2016 due to various problems along with the changing pop culture icons. Other shows would continue on like Orange is the new Black, American Horror Story and Mr. Robot and some of the new shows that were introduced such as Atlanta and perhaps most well-known, Stranger Things. Television animation continued down a similar line. Animated master pieces like Gravity Falls, Star Butterfly vs the Forces of Evil, Regular Show, Adventure Time and so many more continued on or finished off with spectacular releases. It created a greater revive and interesting that animation for all ages could be better than good. They became the forefront for spreading new ideas and encouraging positive trends, even in the face of reactionary backlash. It also showed the growing relevance of myth arcs in shows as they grew. Other shows included 2012's incarnation of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles that would manage to eclipse even the 2003 adaptation. At the same time, other shows became surprise hits despite being considered in their humor or demeanor, such as The Inferior 5. A... quirky show focusing on the titular DC hero team, it was made to lampoon aspects of superhero shows with an emphasis of the C-listers and D-listers of the DC Universe (with the most prominent character being Harley Quinn, who appeared as the date of Ambush Bug, which a reference to Ambush Bug being the "Deadpool of DC" and led to a popularity of the two) while some have found the humor a bit off-putting, the niche made it something of a cult classic though its final season would be in 2017. Another aspect of interest was how it was supposedly have been built off a potential spin-off of Teen Titans, but changed the line-up due to the show's ending meaning there would be a lack of a draw along with a preference with new characters (which led to the popularity of Young Justice.) Despite this, underlyings of the show remained, given how the five had slight influence from the Titans' personality quirks (with how White Feather having a bit of Ravens quirks along with this version being a female). Another surprising trend is that toward more serious adult animation. Bojack Horseman is a stark glimpse into the nature of Hollywood and existence, Rick & Morty was a phenomenon with how lampooned many element sof sci-fi though found itself with a strong rivalry in The Orville, Seth McFarlene's return to animation and his homage to the space opera genre. While taking jabs at the genre, it also had a form of genuine passion behind that would sometimes make it preferable over Rick & Morty, especially with the growing change in zeitgeist. However, some networks fared better than others and often resulting in surprising shakeups. Most notably when Nickelodeon found themselves having to reorganize after lagging behind Cartoon Network and Disney along with the loss of Dreamworks adapted works on their channel. While have said this may have been due to deal arrangements, others note that it may tied to how more people are preferring streaming and the decline of cable. Though there are some concerns among certain folk that streaming may become similar to cable.

Video Games
Video games began their change as new technologies pushed them to new possibilities. Mobile games became more sophisticated and compliated, allowing creators to do more and provide experiences that could match up to the games on consoles and handhelds in terms of enjoyability. Sony recovered from their troubled years with the PS4 and while they still enjoyed a good collection of console exclusives, they have slipped up in their aim toward more family-friendly games and have worked to try and recpature that. Microsoft menwhile began stagnating a little as they found having to compete more with Playstation as they shared plenty of games though maintained their trump card in Japan thanks to the various SEGA titles and have been working to try and do more with them. Nintendo meanwhile did maintain some level of equal measure with their Nintendo Twin, but they did not really try to match the "power conflict" between them, instead opting to experiment, as seen with the tablet controller. They've also become among the dominant force in handheld games thanks to the failure of the Playstation Vita's sales which was due to their prices. The Nintendo UDS became one of the most beloved consoles and a large part was due to how many N64 remasters found their way on it. Super Mario 64, Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, Kirby 64 Crystal Shards and Star Fox while Rare contributed their own classics with remakes of Perfect Dark, Banjo-Kazooie, Banjo-Tooie, Golden Eye, Diddy Kong Racing and Donkey Kong 64. Indie games saw themselves boom over and it was becoming a race to try and get games of these onto the consoles to help boost sales and their relevancy . The indie game scene was becoming more prominent and more popular than ever thanks to it becoming a bit easier to do so along with people wishing to recreate what made them happy while other sought to push the boundaries. Games like Undertale, Cuphead, Shovel Knight, and so many others began forming their own fan groups and there was the desire to see potentially more from these small teams who went to explore more than what the bigger companies did. However, the rise of augmented reality and virtual reality seemed like on the cusp of greater popularity and many wondered how it would affect games of the future.

Other
Comics books had been entering a period of change. After nearly a decade of settling themselves in with their new status quo regarding the continuity, they felt more comfortable to try and experiment and go further. The Young Avengers would do well as they helped champion a new wave of diverse heroes. The reveal of Harley Keener as Iron Lad was done as a bait-and-switch. While the character resembled a surprisingly accurate older version of him, the name was different. It was later revealed that while Harley is his first name, he often goes by his middle name because he finds it embarassing while his mother remarried, thus explaining the change in last name. Another was on him being pansexual (they originally planned asexual as a contrast with Tony, but found that it would be a stereotype for the celibate genius, so went the opposite route) though still contrasting personalitywise with Tony. However, the bigger wave was on Miles Morales, who would become Spider-Man after Peter's disappearance and would later see Peter return to mentor Miles, with the latter getting his powers during Spider-Island. Marvel began taking a couple cues from their films though maintained their own continuity as the characters would age over time and start raising or mentoring their successors while dealing with new threats and a changing world. DC meanwhile did the same for the most part though is considered more familiar and stream-lined than the changes made in DC. However, there was the rise of new younger heroes and reintroduction to older ones. Most prominently was Jonathan Samuel Kent, Clark's son (born during the Convergence event, a time-based one that helped tie further loose ends from the New 52 didn't finish and undid the Infinite Crisis), Kamala Khan of Marvel as Stature, the most prominent NuHuman (the descendent of InHumans who bred with humanity in the past) with body shaping and morphing powers along with being considered a new heroine and Riri Williams, DC's newest heroine in 2016. Bendis thought of her for Marvel though thought the idea more fitting for DC since they really lacked an "Iron Man-esque" hero and could fit a niche there (end up interning under Mr. Terrific). Beyond that, graphic novels continued their revival and boom in popularity and served as forefronts for new voices, perhaps even more so than cartoons. Meanwhile, music saw the rise of various new and prominent musicians becoming popualr beyond just their circles thanks to the work of Project MAY-O and began leading a shift of appeal with "internet-born" music as vaporwave, futurefunk along with various other musical fads and trends. It did show growing confrontations with larger record companies over copyright though. As for the Internet itself, "Let's Players" ended up becoming among the internet stars who would play and review games while relying on prominent personalities and trends along with people making Top 10 lists and even the rise of internet cooks or builders. Relying on money from their audiences and from being more selective with ads allowed being an internet entertainer surprisingly profitable though still precarious at times as they have to find ways to advertise themselves along with the fear that the homegrown communities there may be pushed by the intruding preestablished internet giants (though some have noted that Facebook and Veoh have been appealing more to be the source for them.)