Alternative pop culture in the 2000s

Makwa

Now that were at the end of the first decade of the 21st century, what different paths could pop culture have taken, such as in music, fashion, art, etc...What if reality TV never caught on, what if nu metal continued, Myspace never developed, Lil Wayne was seen as a worthless talentless fool that he is, and so on and so forth.:cool:
 

Bob D

Makwa said:
what if nu metal continued
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I didn't know that nu-metal ended...

No Myspace is an interesting idea (and I'll lump in no Facebook, Twitter, Friendster, and other similar social networking sites in with it). The Internet will probably remain quite unappealing to non-geeks in the same way that it did in the late '90s. People in general will be less connected and it will be harder to stalk people on the Internet. There will still be chat rooms and AIM, but it will still be limited to people who are bored or just shy in real life. Basically, the Internet would be less popular than it is today.

Another interesting issue is how pop culture might have appeared had Gore won the 2000 election. OTL, the 2000 election put the religious right in power and while the Beavis and Butthead-level decadence of the '90s wasn't completely wiped away, it did seem to get scaled back a little. I wonder how the reaction to the Janet Jackson "wardrobe malfunction" would have been under the Gore administration. It really was significant for those of us in the broadcast industry because the OTL reaction to it signaled a tightening of "indecency" restrictions. It seems like stuff that we could have gotten away with a couple years before was now out of bounds. Would it have been different under Gore? It's hard to say because Michael Powell, chairman of the FCC, was a Clinton appointee and might have still had the job under Gore. However, the cultural and political climate would have been different. I just don't know...
 

Arafeel

goth sub culture stay with the bleached bloond hair, pope music did not start using rock/metal beats.
 

Geekhis Khan

If no 9/11 and no WoT then there's less division between right and left and less fear/stress/angst. Pop perhaps becomes "popier" with growing love of Japanese technological mindlessness and a much smaller political youth movement. Fewer Che T-shirts, more "fad" electronics. Emo remains small in favor of more Post-Cyberpunk technophilia. Odd hair colors as "fun" rather than "self-loathing". Less nostalgia-pop.
 

Mark E.

Reality TV emerged to fill space in the TV schedules of the traditional networks, as satellite and cable offerings bring dozens, if not hundreds of programs. Remember, traditional TV in the US before the early eighties consisted of NBC, ABC, CBS, PBS, plus an additional independent station for each million people in a given metro area.
 

Xen

Banned
richie42 said:
Why wouldn't you want anime to be popular?
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Yeah really no Tentacle porn, no Hentai games, what in the hell man!

Something that seemed to be common in the early 2000's is porn in the mainstream, movies such as Short Bus, Intamcy and others could have become more popular, not so much with A-list Hollywood but certainly could creep into B-list Hollywood.
 
Emperor Norton I

Emperor Norton I

Makwa said:
Now that were at the end of the first decade of the 21st century, what different paths could pop culture have taken, such as in music, fashion, art, etc...What if reality TV never caught on, what if nu metal continued, Myspace never developed, Lil Wayne was seen as a worthless talentless fool that he is, and so on and so forth.:cool:
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Utopia?

....
 

Venusian Si

Well let's see what we could get with these PODS(Based on the previous Ideas) shall we:

#1. Anime does not become Mainstream.
#2. Gore wins in 2000 & 2004
#3. 9/11, and th Afgan/Iraq Wars never happens
#4. Social Network Sites like Myspace fail miserably and online porn is nowhere near as successfull as it is in the OTL.
#5. Less of a Divide between the left and right.
#6. Post-Cyberpunk Technophilia cliques replaces the Emo and Japanesephile sub-cultures.
#7. Porn being more successful in the Television/Movie Industry.
#8. And of course, the complete and utter failure of Reality TV.

So what would the Pop Culture of this world look like by 2010? Any Guesses?:cool:
 
Fenrir_Angerboda

Fenrir_Angerboda

UnitedStatesofMars13 said:
Well let's see what we could get with these PODS(Based on the previous Ideas) shall we:

#1. Anime does not become Mainstream.
#2. Gore wins in 2000 & 2004
#3. 9/11, and th Afgan/Iraq Wars never happens
#4. Social Network Sites like Myspace fail miserably and online porn is nowhere near as successfull as it is in the OTL.
#5. Less of a Divide between the left and right.
#6. Post-Cyberpunk Technophilia cliques replaces the Emo and Japanesephile sub-cultures.
#7. Porn being more successful in the Television/Movie Industry.
#8. And of course, the complete and utter failure of Reality TV.

So what would the Pop Culture of this world look like by 2010? Any Guesses?:cool:
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what would Replace anime?

also...

9: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone does not sell well.
 

the_lyniezian

Banned
Someone needs to do something from a less Yankocentric viewpoint, though that person is not me. (So maybe I should shut up?)
 

Venusian Si

Fenrir_Angerboda said:
what would Replace anime?

also...

9: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone does not sell well.
Click to expand...

#9 is perfect! Also since to me Anime in the end seemed either to bright or optimistic, I would say the best replacement would be something of the Nihilistic Cyperpunk variety, also a larger "True" Grunge/Punk population should do the trick.
 
Fenrir_Angerboda

Fenrir_Angerboda

UnitedStatesofMars13 said:
#9 is perfect! Also since to me Anime in the end seemed either to bright or optimistic, I would say the best replacement would be something of the Nihilistic Cyperpunk variety, also a larger "True" Grunge/Punk population should do the trick.
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You have obviously never Read MPD Psycho, Mermaid Saga or Ichi the Killer.
 

the_lyniezian

Banned
Well I suppose reality TV, internet phenomena such as social networking, some aspects of pop music, and anime are likely to feature in Britain.

I think some of our early "reality TV" was more in the socal experiment vein (Castaway 2000, The 1900 House &c.) so it might carry on that way. I suppose it is inevitable in a way- TV producers are always trying to look for new ideas.

Maybe if there hadn't been the big 'push' towards digital TV and earlier satellite and cable technologies, there would be less of a glut, and less emphasis on vapid "celebrity" culture.
 
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