Pop Culture in the Gore Administration Pt. 1: 2000-2004
The success of the 90s carried on into the early noughts. While many saw 9/11 as a changing point, it did not become the large fracturing point some historians predicted, at least as expected. Many attributed this to Al Gore's handling of the crisis, the capture of Bin Laden in November and the dismantling of Al-Queda and the end of the Taliban by Spring's end of the following year. As such, there was a sense of closure brought about my ending the terrorist groups within Afghanistan and the subsequent works toward peace in the Middle East with Al Gore's policies, especially with the end of hostilities between the Americans and Iranians. While there was a resurge and apex of patrioitism and unity within the nation following 9/11, the climax brought by Gore's capturing of Bin Laden and the greater sense of finality brought by Al-Queda and Taliban being ruined months later meant that people moved on. Many noted that Gore's preliminary actions in limiting the damage also assisted as had things gone to plan, the twin towers would've collasped. While many people still died, it was a fraction of what could've been and additionally through indirect means, such as smoke or trampling. This led an odd nadir. It came and then it went. So what now? Now, it was rebuilding.
But the anger and helplessness remained. However, a new target came for that. The corporations. The 80s "greed is good" craze was dying off gradually throughout the years and the various ecoomic scandals that dominated more of the news than terrorist attacks. The amount of corporate chicanery and money going brought a sense of frustration among the people. At the same time, the defining elements also gave a bit of hope. The Great Schism of Microsoft changed everything as the two branches went off, including where Microsoft Operations would merge with SEGA and begin going into the business of making video games and using the Sonic franchise to the full degree. Additionally, the unexpected floodgates of American homegrown fiction brought upon by the expansion of the public domain gave a new rush for authors, artists and other creators to do amazing things with, including, somewhat ironically, Disney. The music scene would continue on from where it left off, going to a more optimistic approach in what the future lay though one notable thing was the rise of indie bands, raging more against the corporate machine, despite the design of the music industry. Gore's influence also changed. His dull demeanor which had been the butt of jokes changed drastically in presentation; he was now presented as a strong and intelligent unflappable figure. One who chose his fights well and had little time for unwarranted nonsense. Some pundits had gone so far as to label him "America's Dad." While a humorous comparison, it did help to cement him as among the favorites in the peoples' hearts, fulfilling the need for a strong and invulnerable father figure who could do wrong. This reframing of his approach meant that he was taken more serious, even by some of the jokesters.
This in part led to his eco-crusade taken more seriously. While some took it with an exaseperated grin, others began taking it more seriously and enough to do research on the subject matter. People ebgan recycling more and becoming more accepting of the compromises needed to maintain the environment. The Exxon-Mobil Scandal turned this gradually growing flames into a colossal firestorm. The presence of solid evidence for climate change and the juicy news of said evidence being repressed for the sake of profit was way too tantilizing for people to ignore. The concerns for the environment and the global climate got hammered into the mainstream and greater calls were made to reign in the fossil fuel industry while looking for appropriate solutions. Algae fuel became viewed as a growing promising venue though it was years away from commercial viability, at least with the technology of the early 2000s. Though, tax credits and the race for funding meant that further research could accelerate the process. As such, books, movies, shows and games began following suit and reflecting the following times. Where heroes and anti-heroes needed to fight against megacorps or terrorists funded by corporations. This gave away to a new development of an eco-friendly future nonetheless spurred on by science.
Video Games
The landscape of video games changed with the merger of Microsoft Operations and SEGA. While the new joint-company worked on transferring the classics of the Dreamcast to the new Xbox, SEGA followed on some previous contracts with Nintendo and finished several ports of their games to the Nintendo GameCube and Game Boy Advance. While the latter succeeded in sales, the former did not do as well, especially compared to the newer consoles. Nonetheless, the variety of many fasincating games such as Super Mario Sunshine, The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker and other classics alongside the opportunity to own Sonic games on a Nintendo console did assist in the sales. The latter especially as many would keep their GameCubes to be able to play Sonic Adventure DX, Sonic Adventure 2 Battle & Sonic Mega Collection. However, new IPs such as Pikmin, Animal Crossing, and Dinosaur Planet, have brought more successes to the company, especially the latter, becoming one of the last big hits of the Nintendo 64. Decisions were made to allow the game to come out on time, including reducing the role of Krystal's adopted brother Sabre. However, the influence was notable in how Krysal from Dinosaur Planet would be brought in Super Smash Bros Melee. While a last minute entry, it did not delay the game fortunately. The Playstation 2 meanwhile continued the success of its predecessor though Sony would be caught off-guard by the unexpected success of the Xbox and their various collection of Sonic games. While it didn't truly deter the success of the console, it was a fascinating sign for the unexpectedly troublesome next few years for Sony as a whole. Nonetheless, the sixth generation of gaming consoles became large influences on their companies and in pop culture as a whole over the various years, captivating people with wonder, charm and imagination. The migration of games from the Dreamcast to the Xbox introduced to the West to games they wouldv'e otherwised have missed, such as Shenmue, Panzer Dragoon and Sakura Wars while more well-known games like Crazy Taxi was given a new home. Perhaps most of all was Phantasy Star Online. It was an opportunity for Microsoft to make an MMORPG on its own, especially with the release of World of Warcraft becoming a ground-breaking phenomenon. The revelations of Microsoft Operations (or sometimes called MicroSega) making a move toward the computer realm did have Nintendo and Sony wondering if they should try and make a move toward it in the future.
Film
Film for the most part remained the same, but began shifting away from comical films and onto more serious ventures or at least more dramatic ones. While there was a brief period of fervor through patriotism, it ended up dying down over time. Fantasy and stories of spectacle and wonder became the dominant films over the next few years. Superhero films began their revival with Spider-Man and Xmen and their amazing profitability along with film politics set dominos into effect that would change the comic landscape. Films also began gradually going into examining the environment as a theme. The largest example was the Day After Tomorrow, which focused on a supervolcano erupting and throwing the world into chaos. The science was largely sound and it was a surprisingly bleak picture in an otherwise optimistic time and even then, the ending was one filled with hope. Animated films continued to dominate in presence though many have noted that non-Pixar Disney films were initially struggling. That all changed with The White Deer, released in 2004. Developed as a way to take advantage of the greater public domain, the advertisements and so on proved it to be a classic success and showed that classic animation still had some life into it though rumors speculated that the execs at Disney had been trying to sabotage classic animation, becoming one of the first big rumors on Myspace. As such, it became something of an asking question for exec heads and in the era where corporations were growing to be subjected under greater scrutiny, it began embolding some animators and creative voices to speak up. On the upside though, it did mean a resurgence in popularity for works such as Atlantis Lost Empire and Treasure Planet, films that were not given much support by Disney and instead grew in popularity thanks to word-of-mouth expanded upon by social media. The satirical approach to fairy tales that have made Shrek and Shrek 2 popular successes began wearing out. Or rather, it was more accurate to say that the cultural landscape had changed to where such approaches weren't popular. They were entertaining sure, but it was not something they were looking for.
Television
Television for the most part, mirrored what film had been undergoing. Action and crime shows experienced a bit of terrorism plots, but the success of the Gore campaign in Afghanistan along with the growing epace in the Middle East left these rather awkward and so they turned toward corporations. While primarily fossil fuel companies, white collar crime also became something of an intriguing point. From the subtle moves to the complicated plots and to the unsatisfactory conclusion of how many of them get scot-free or lightly (with showrunners and writers pointing out how much to real life this was no less) fed the growing scrutiny. Additionally, there was also a sense of doing more of the same, but better. In much how the Gore administration followed the work of the Clinton administration, albeit better and more seriously, the same was done with television, including on children channels. The plans to pull the plug on Snick were shelved for the time being and given a few more years along with some changes to the shows to appeal to the time. Meanwhile, the end of the beloved show known as Friends still signaled a form of changing times and people were looking for the new big thing to fill in for the show.However, rumors circulated on a new show being imported from Britain to try and take its place. Beyond that though, animation continued to thrive, even as things began changing. After all, what worked in the 90s was working so just refine and improve on it.
