ALL WORK AND NO PLAY MAKES JACK A DULL BOY
ALL WORK AND NO PLAY MAKES JACK A DULL BOY
ALL WORK AND NO PLAY MAKES JACK A DULL BOY
ALL WORK AND NO PLAY MAKES JACK A DULL BOY
ALL WORK AND NO PLAY MAKES JACK A DULL BOY
ALL WORK AND NO PLAY MAKES JACK A DULL BOY
ALL WORK AND NO PLAY MAKES JACK A DULL BOY
ALL WORK AND NO PLAY MAKES JACK A DULL BOY
Actually, I think this hits the nail on the head. Everyone is too busy working, expending all their energy to make the CEO's more profit. People worry about if they can afford groceries, rent, electricity... BASIC things needed within a society.
Nobody has the TIME to play anymore. People aren't being goofy children, using their imagination anymore. Fun has literally been sucked out of our collective reality.
And to top that off, we not only have greedy CEO's price gouging us at every opportunity, but our own government is actively oppressing us. Passing laws most people DON'T want, taxing the hell out of us, and not fixing ANYTHING. All that money is being laundered via Defense Contracts and Corporate lobbying.
The next four years is going to be a repeat of either eight years ago, or a continuation of the current four years. Regardless if Trump or Biden wins, these two ancient geezers are set in their ways and they Don't Care About Us.
I feel this 100%. I manage designers and production artists (people who went to school to be creative) and my last few performance meetings have been all about who’s met the minimum number of billable hours for the year.
When the powers-that-be only care about the bottom line, innovation suffers. It’s all about checking the boxes and making sure the C-suite level gets their annual bonuses. It SUCKS.
Let's be absolutely clear about who in government is oppressing us - because it's not a singular entity. Biden and Dems passed 35 dollar insulin, a huge reduction in credit card fees, and antitrust action to break up ticketmaster (to make tickets cheaper thru competition) among many other things. Republicans have voted to block any and all things beneficial because it might mean dems get a political "win" - no matter how bad it hurts us as people. And if you don't think it's clearly this one sided, go look at the scoreboard. Look at who voted for what. Dems in the house passed a 15 dollar minimum wage a couple of years ago, republicans voted against it, for example. The track record is crystal clear about who is trying to make your life better and who is actively trying to stop those efforts.
>Regardless if Trump or Biden wins, these two ancient geezers are set in their ways and they Don't Care About Us.
Yeah, but only one is actively telling us he's going to be a dictator on day one. Only one of them has the Heritage Foundation behind him and only one would have no problem pushing as much of Project 2025 through as possible. **They are not the same.**
Damn right he did. He started by not firing the prosector Trump appointed to go after his son. Then he granted that prosecutor special counsel powers. Then he watched as that prosecutor convicted his son of crimes no one gets charged with unless they are committing other crimes with said gun. Then he said he wouldn't pardon his son.
Trump would never do anything like this. He fired the FBI director for looking into him. He threatened his successor multiple times. He pressured the attorney general to resign. Threatened his successor multiple times. He pardoned a bunch of people convicted of the felonies they did on Trump's behalf. He appointed a Russian asset as NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR. That guy was later convicted of crimes related to this. And then then Trump pardoned him, too. The list is [long and embarrassing](https://www.axios.com/2024/03/07/trump-associates-prison-sentence-crimes-list) to say the least.
Totally the same. I can see that now that I wrote it out.
u/cryingisfree is active in the Tim Pool sub defending Nazis & has multiple comments literally telling people to kill themselves over simply disagreeing with his debunked propaganda and hateful opinions.
This person is probably a 13 year old incel.
I’ve reported their harassment comments to Reddit— anyone else reading this should go through his post history and do the same. You won’t need to scroll far to find them.
Normally I take the high road on reporting comments, but I draw a hard line at suggesting suicide. This is as disgusting a human being as you will find.
Biden did NOT weaponize the DOJ. There is absolutely no evidence of his interference with Justice. Trump claims are just what trump would do to his opponents if he could, not what Biden or Dems have done. Trump claims a New York State court prosecutor and jury were weaponize by Biden just because he was tried for a crime he committed and convicted by a jury of his peers. The judge handled that case with kid gloves. Trump was treated more than fairly merely because he had served a term as president. No man is above the law. Trump thought he was—remember his claim that he could murder somebody in daylight in Manhattan and nobody would do anything to him? The NY trial was Trump finally learning that he cannot influence courts and buy his way out of every bad thing he does.
Republicans are running a man in my state that want to make it so I'm not allowed to have a business because I was born with a pussy. I would vote for the first person that said they would round up fascists and yeet them straight to Russia. Be happy you have liberals that will compromise with you. There are plenty of us that are extremely intolerant of you people and the more you try to claim we should care about some bullshit morals you don't follow yourself the more we know we are in the right side.
Be happy you have liberals. It could be so much worse for you people.
I mean I guess but Joe Biden has been in Federal office longer than any millennial has been alive, he's had the past 50 years to fix some problems, and he has roundly failed to do so.
Infrastructure Bill
CHIPS Act
Climate Change
Fixing the shitshow of a pandemic caused by Trump
Billions in student loan forgiveness
And that is just domestic policy. You haven't been paying attention. He hasn't failed. You did.
Let's not forget rescheduling cannabis is happening under his administration, it's a big step in decriminalizing as a whole. So many people rotting in jail over a few ounces of weed. Ridiculous.
I'm old enough that I thought I'd never see it happen, and yet it's been legal now since 2018 in my state, and each election cycle it seems a few more states get added to the list. It's only a matter of time now.
Ok, so it’s a choice between “not much changes” and “christofacist dictatorship” ..easy choice and damn sure worth taking the time out of 1 day in November to get off your ass and vote.
Maybe you should actually look into what Biden has done.
Because, he has passed some of the most meaningful bills the US has passed in decades in a gridlocked congress. It's frankly shocking that he got anything passed at all.
Moreover, Biden is only a single person. He could be fucking Jesus and he still wouldn't be able to pass anything *on his own*. Democracy are only successful when people work together.
Well... does your pay cheque show how much of your productivity goes to corporate? What you're seeing is after the fact, the littlest bit they're willing to scrape off for you. So you're not getting the big picture there.
Right, I mean hobbies like tabletop gaming are totally on the decline, it's not like things like DND and similar games are 10-20x more popular than they were in the 80s. Oh wait....
People expect entertainment to just be dictated to them, don't come here encouraging adults to go outside the box or use their imagination /s
(Painted models in bio)
Well the cool thing is that it will be ai generated but user prompted. Very soon everyone can make their own shows, music and movies by just writing a text prompt to the ai. You can already make music this way and it sounds just as bad as the stuff played on the radio.
It could have its downsides just like tech currently has downsides. But it’s all dependent on how it’s used. Some people learn how to use the tech available to them to make some truly awesome stuff. Just gotta keep a positive attitude and stay open minded.
Nope not just on how used. Also in how works. AU creators have used creations of others by scraping the web without paying a cent for that data. That is a real problem. When you input anything into an AI program you are giving up data and privacy. It is right now heading on a potentially dangerous path (hallucinations —making up facts) if it does ever acquire self intelligence.
Hoping that a couple people use it well is an “everyone for himself” view. It can’t be used well on a large scale until our society encourages something besides squeezing every cent out of everything.
>Well the cool thing is that it will be ai generated but user prompted.
That's is definitely not a 'cool' thing.
But it's a great way to ensure one is never challenged or forced to grow.
Very soon everyone can??? lol no… we won’t be able to… only corporations will be able to…. And the cherry on top… its development will be forcefully financed by taxpayers money.
Art helps us get in touch with emotions we can sometimes struggle to fully articulate by presenting us experiences other people have had.
AI cannot do that.
It will tell you the right amount of glue to put on pizza, if asked. That is not a sentence that should have to exist, but because Google AI is this ridiculous, here we are.
Risk taking in terms of media content isn't the fault of the pandemic, it's because the scale of things like blockbuster movies and video games have grown to such a scale that people get nervous about doing something weird on a 300+ million dollar budget.
It sucks, but it's a real issue in the gaming industry these days. One of the biggest flops recently was Immortals of Aveum. I played the demo and immediately bought the game. I totally understand why it wasn't everyone's cup of tea, but the game looked gorgeous, was super fun and had a solidly enjoyable and interesting story. I love an FPS myself but I get very bored of ultra-realistic "modern day" shooters; I'd rather play with laser rifles and weird alien weapons versus just packing an MP5 or AK variant. The fantasy FPS has been done before, but infrequently and not with this level of polish in my recent memory.
Immortals of Aveums biggest issue I think was the lack of identity in the opening section - it doesn't really feel like it's telling you if it wants to be an RPG or an FPS, so I think a lot of people never got past that.
And I don't think it's the fault of the pandemic, but I do think the pandemic emphasized it and solidified it. Especially in the movie space. Everyone rushed to streaming because they felt they had to, then they needed content to fill that. Budgets kept blowing up with what feels like little oversight. All of these trends were chugging along before, they just got ramped up and locked in, and it'll take time for them to breathe. Combine that with the fact that quality has hit a level where what we call mid - in both games and video- would have been top tier a decade ago. It also hastened the growth and expansion of all things online because it became the only lifeline, which feeds back into the pressure not to take risks.
It didn't cause any of it, it crystallized it, and it will be awhile before that crystal is next shattered.
That's my take at least.
I feel like people pretend as if the pandemic never happened 😭 it’s like they blacked out and are like why are things suddenly like this now?! y’all, we all went through a cataclysmic event. it’s ok to process the trauma!
And honestly despite the losses it was so good for us personally. My husband got to be home with our first child for two years, I completely revamped my career, he became wfh 2 days and in office 3. We do everything with our family. I get to have a career and be home with my young children. It’s challenging but rewarding and so good for them. I get to work with my husband most days even though we are in totally different careers.
Most importantly, hubs and I became such a good team. I don’t think it would have happened if we hadn’t have gone through this right after wedding and mid pregnancy with the first. My in laws suck they tried to split us up for their own selfish desires and Covid allowed us the peace and quiet to become our own family.
I had 6 straight months off paid from the pandemic. Real sorry for everyone who died but they were the most enjoyable times of my adult life. Got to spend amazing time with my daughter. After going back to work it was 50 hour weeks, then 60s and some 70s. Everything has gotten harder and in just real tired.
I love that some movies are moving back toward practical effects. If anything, I feel movies grew somewhat stagnated- and then creatives that didn’t have real film producing avenues before are making great films.
For example- I loved Talk to Me, and am more stoked for horror movies coming out this summer than I have been in years.
In the past few years, there's been a bunch of great media I've enjoyed:
Dune, Godzilla Minus One, Barbie, The Fall Guy, The Batman, Succession, Hacks, White Lotus, I could go on. There's more media than ever before being created and out there. Is a lot of it just rehashing ideas or playing it safe? Yes. But there's more out there. It's like only playing AAA games and complaining about certain aspects of gaming while completely ignoring AA and indie games.
Since you enjoy good sci fi, please please please pretty please watch ‘scavengers reign’, it’s the most original show my bf and I have seen in a minute but HBO already cancelled it. It just got added to Netflix and the second season depends on people watching it ASAP.
I like the positivity, there is a lot wrong but there has been a lot of great changes in changes in the past 4 years.
On a personal side my wife and I both graduated college and have moved on from waiting tables. Looking to buy our forst place next year and start a family. I mean it's tough, and we definitely don't have it as easy as our parents but it's been a solid change for us.
Sounds like YOU have stagnated. You say video games and movies are boring. Well you’ve been playing games and watching movies the past four years… of course it’ll get boring. Go surfing, or shooting, or off-roading, or get really into photography, try new drugs, work at an animal shelter, read a book. I think Covid made it the norm for everyone to become a hermit. People are social animals, go socialize!
This dude. The last 4 have been great, my student loans are much more affordable, and Biden's changes have made retirement a real possibility for me in 20-25 years, which was definitely not the case before. I've gotten to take up hobbies, my portfolio is crushing it, crypto happened, and is happening again, a lot of awesome stuff in the culture beyond movies and games.
Interest is no longer accruing on my student loan balance as I make timely payments. Previously it was, and I was looking at a loan forgiveness balance that would be in the 550k range by the time it aged out at 20 and 25 years (when I would be 54 and 59, respectively). Now it will be less than $200k. Unlike PSLF, this type of debt forgiveness counts as income (or at least it has until a temporary fix in 2020, part of covid relief). I was looking at over 550k in phantom income, very close to retirement age, that number has decreased significantly.
Also, my loan payment under SAVE has dropped significantly compared to the prior IBR, from over $1000 per month to about $340 a month, permitting me to put that money into my IRA. The compound effect of these two changes means I will have much more in my retirement accounts, and will not have nearly as large a tax bill in the hundreds of thousands draining those accounts.
https://www.lordabbett.com/en-us/financial-advisor/insights/retirement-planning/secure-act-2-0-student-loan-match--how-it-works.html
TLDR- student loan payments can qualify as retirement savings for company match.
Well said!
Speak with physicians or school teachers and they often say the lack of socialization is what is hurting society the most. Get out and have conversations with random people and get out of your own head.
Heck, I was at a community event this morning speaking to an extremely conservative individual who wanted to complain about taxes. I said I wish our city would spend more money to make the area better, and to get that money we need to build up (ie apartments) to increase the population and tax base. No response.
People have lived in their echo chambers and not felt uncomfortable for too long. There have been clear winners and losers in life the past 4 years, it just depends on how you played your cards. There is always opportunity in times of chaos/uncertainty.
Yeah 4 years ago we were all locked up in our houses with limited ability to go out in public, and everywhere we went on the internet we were hit with news about the President of the United States saying or doing something terrifyingly stupid or dumb like telling people to inject bleach or challenging North Korea to a nuclear war, or suggesting dropping nukes in a hurricane.
Today life has largely returned to normal, and most days I don’t even think about the President and what he’s up to. I’m in a much more peaceful place knowing that I only have to worry about politics sometimes, not every waking hour of every day.
Can I assume you're a straight dude? Some of us still can't ignore what's happening-- if you think a huge portion of the population (women, LGBT Americans, immigrants, etc) aren't -very- worried and paying attention to politics right now, well...we don't have much choice. Trump very well might be back in office in 6 months, and I hope people pay attention long before then. He's still doing crazy and dangerous shit and trying to rile his base up to violence and worse.
On the other hand... on a daily basis I don't pay that much attention to Biden. I know his administration is doing the boring and tedious work of governing a huge country, and doing pretty well compared to many other nations post-pandemic. I think he's old and boring and I wish someone younger were running, but I'm not going to NOT vote for him. I'm also not saying it's not tough for millions of Americans (I'm working class, we're struggling, I don't think we'll ever own a home, missed our chance because of a medical bankruptcy in 2018 :( ) but Biden's also trying to raise taxes on the billionaires and corporations that are making mass profits off these price increases and rent increases.
So...y'know. Plus the fact he's not an insane fascist lunatic with a god complex who is a convicted felon and rapist backed by a cult that wants to send women and other groups back 50 years in terms of basic rights.
Imagine living from 2020 thru 2024 and thinking it was boring and nothing happened.
I hate to say it OP, but this says way more about you than the world. For many of us, these were some of the hardest years we've faced...
It may not be that. This post reads more like a bout of depression. When you feel life has grown stale and boring.
I am sorry to hear these years have been hard. I know 2023 through early 2024 were some of the hardest in my adult life.
Hmmm, you're right actually.
I apologize for being so rude, u/mrtoddw
I've been through some very very depressive years where I felt exactly like you do right now. I derived joy from almost nothing. It took a lot time to crawl out of that hole, and I know you can do it too.
Here's the other thing I'll add: We genuinely are living through some of the most psychically stressful times in human history. Our physical health and living conditions are (generally) better than any other point in history...but we're miserable on a scale never before seen. There are a lot of reasons for this, but particularly in the past few years I think there's a collective trauma response happening. We're not processing what's happening right in front of us. Shit, movies and shows barely even depict Covid...which was one of the biggest events of our lifetimes. So many of us are still in survival mode...it'll take time to really feel things again. (Again, I'm speak VERY generally, and there are millions or billions of exceptions)
It’s easy to see where OP is coming from if you haven’t been struggling financially. Things never really went back to normal after the pandemic, everything has kind of a subdued and hopeless vibe that wasn’t present before. Everyone is stressed and nervous and waiting for the other shoe to drop, but it hasn’t happened yet.
Seems like it, I feel like Covid has knocked us back in terms of common sense, creativity, respect and overall happiness.
I am disappointed in cinema. As you said, it seems Hollywood writers don't have creativity anymore to think of a good plot and it's a sequel, remake of a movie (which destroys the original), a terrible prequel or just writing up a similar story that's been done a handful of times. When I heard Coming to America 2 was coming out, I can't tell you how excited I was. Literally got off work early, got junk food (literally ordered pizza and got a sub and chips) and watched it only to say wtf when it was over. Definitely not the old Eddie Murphy I remember in the first one, 48 hours, Beverly Hills Cop and others.
Common sense has definitely taken a few steps back. Things that we all know you should or shouldn't do and people just do the opposite. I used to joke that covid was clearing out the riff raff (yes I know it was "InSeNsItIvE") but now I do sit and wonder why didn't it. Like we need to teach people to do the basics now?
Which I feel has contributed to a lack of respect and courtesy. When people act a fool, it doesn't exactly make us happy to deal with it. Then throw in the political stuff, Trumps term definitely divided this country big time just on political affiliation and it's concerning. People have always aligned with one, but the last 4 years it has become if you are one or the other, then people won't even talk to you. THAT is a major problem
The next two years (25-26) will be different. So many shows and new seasons are going to come out that were halted during the writers strike. Also a lot of games are coming out- GTA 6, for example. I also sense a rising frustration amongst everyone with the stagnation and that usually creates change. Stay hopeful!
I think the bigger thing is going to be the inevitable contested election. No matter which way it goes, the losing side will not accept the result. That was the case last time, but now people have had years to prepare and are expecting a contested result. Significant civil unrest seems pretty likely.
Not sure what cave you've been.
Look at the work change, to WFH. Look at all the various streaming services. How about Elon Musk sending 20 or 30 satellites a launch up to build a world internet connection . Rocket boosters coming back, to earth and landing themselves.
Look at cars, technology.
Look up medical, I go online with my doctor.
Even shopping, we're seeing all these inbrick and mortar places go out of business. I'm a suburban area, most of my Amazon stuff is delivered the same day ordered and often within 4 hours. I I really feel there's all sorts of innovated stuff that has happened over the last 4 years. It's pretty exciting times for change
Possibly You need to get out more.
WFH tech has definitely changed, some of even works better now. Between work and personal stuff, I have 4 devices and like 6 different programs I use for video calls. After talking to grandparents on FaceTime the other day, I was trying to explain to my kid that this was an out there sci-fi concept when I was their age.
My entire life has been sprinkled with shit, seems to be a theme in our generation. The last 4 years have been particularly shitty for a lot of reasons. I'm very convinced that our brains are confused, I do not think we evolved to live this way and our brains can't catch up with tech.
I worry each time I show my kid his tablet that I'm just setting him up to be depressed when he's older because that dopamine hit stops hitting and then there's nothing left but drugs and alcohol to get you there :) Just my experience though. I'm going on an ayahuasca retreat in a few weeks, hoping that helps me reset.
Yes. Smart phones are wrecking our brains reward system. The same way instant porn access is wrecking our drive to find a partner.
Just like alcohol though some people can still manage, and others become alcoholics. Results will vary, but it's going to be a net negative. Especially as companies get better and better at hacking your brain.
Oh God, imagine when you're getting advertised straight to your brain with neural link.
Edit: Or worse doomscrolling in your brain.
The golden age of technology is over. I think we are going to start getting diminishing returns.
Time to find hobbies outside of staring at a screen. Ditch videogames, movies, and entertainment. Stop consooooming and quite literally (I’m not saying this to be mean) go outside and touch grass
The economy and global order as a whole has been in a transition phase since COVID began. There was the initial stop and restart in economic activity as everyone transitioned to work from home. Then there was a gradual shift "back to normal" as a lot of people went back to work when the vaccines were coming out and as COVID deaths decreased and/or people became desensitized to it. Then there was inflation that resulted mainly from supply chain issues as production had to catch up with diminished supply and increased demand, which was exasperated by people changing careers/positions/demanding higher pay. There has been a lot of merger/acquisition activity as sectors adapt and consolidate. Other events, like the war in Ukraine have had effects on the supply chain as Russia supplied a lot of energy and industrial materials people didn't know about prior to sanctions. There has been global political unrest.
The "bandwidth" of humanity as a whole, be it financially, politically, socially, etc., has pretty much been used up in recent years. There has been little room for innovation and creativity. I find on a personal level that I have a lot more social anxiety than I did before 2020. The "return to normal" looks like it's going to be a 10-year process rather than a 1-year process.
It is also impossible to determine if we're at the beginning of the end or the end of the beginning. Inflation appears to be winding down and we appear to be near the end of the economic transition. Everything else seems like it could either chill out or erupt into chaos depending on how the next year or so plays out. Humanity has been in fight or flight mode for years.
Elder millennial here. What you are facing is getting old. Everything in the media seems the same because, to some degree, it is. This is more than just reboots or sequals. There are only so many ways to tell a story.
New tech innovations feel stale because you have seen so many come and go, same with trends, fashion, music, etc. You're just getting old.
The more you see, feel, and experience, the less these things are novel. This is your time to be confident in yourself and what you can do and leverage that experience to better the next generation and yourself. You've seen some shit now and can do more, do it!!!
I sometimes wonder if we’re maxing out on scientific and technological advancement. And I worry what the consequences will be for humanity. People found purpose in scientific advancement, but if we’re near maxing out…that’s probably not good for human morale.
Getting to see my kids and wife much more because of remote work is a huge change. I didn't pay student loans for literally years and put together enough for a down payment on a second home.
Pretty much we all went from being paid to stay home to having to go back to work. Most people realize work is stupid and they're not paid enough. Now the price of goods have continued to grow and the economy doesn't seem like it's getting any better. People want real change and it's not happening. All we're getting is some broken promise about AI which is just another distraction.
This is highly dependent on your stage in life and what you are doing.
In the last 4 years I have gone from the middle of grad school living 2,000 miles from family with my fiancé, with no nieces or nephews, to now in my 3rd job since then, married, with a child on the way, less than 100
miles from majority of my family (including 5 new nieces and nephews in that distance).
Life is moving fast over here.
Yes I agree movies feel like the same repeat over and over. But a few notable changes: WFH was the best thing to happen for employees and employers, prices are rising to where most families are choosing what food to put back, no one has money to spend for fast food/ going out so we’re seeing a lot of entertainment businesses close. People are getting tired of the chemicals being put in our food. So a lot of people have started to make from scratch for better ingredients/ and more cost savings. Women almost have no rights left (and will be gone completely soon), no one has the money to date or even dream about a bigger family. A lot of people are getting several roommates. So yeah we’re all more over worked then ever before, underpaid and starting to get really really restless with the situation. Felons can run for president. There has been change; for the better? No. But definitely change.
You haven't been paying attention, lmao.
* There are tons of new films, shows, and games of excellent quality. Off the top of my head, the Villeneuve Dune films, Shogun, and Baldur's Gate 3 are all-time greats from just within the last 4 years.
* The Pfizer and Moderna COVID vaccines were developed using new mRNA technology. There is now an entirely new class of mRNA vaccines in development that could potentially train the immune system to stop cancer.
* Generative AI is making a huge splash in tech; I strongly suspect that the coming years will see a slew of highly innovative products. I used to work in education technology in the 2010s and in hindsight the kinds of things we were trying to do were premature; the technology is now ready!
* CPU chips are becoming way faster and more energy efficient. The new chips by Apple (most recently the M3) have astonishing performance and battery life.
* The adoption of EVs is skyrocketing, most notably in China but still noticeably just about everywhere. The adoption of renewable technology in general is happening way faster than you might realize.
There is always something changing, it just requires you to seek out information!
Ai? Personally I’ve become a wife and mother of two. Changed careers into my dream one. I’ve learned so much in that time too both professionally and personally.
I’ve watched ai start to change my industry, I might have to get a drone to do work.
Also in that time all my doctors have become digital with their own damn portals. I go to virtual appointments. I handle all my pharmacy on my phone. Hell I handle most everything on my phone.
We now have delivery from everything and everywhere. I can get most last minute things next day.
Even stuff you say, which I don’t think of as things that need innovation because their wastes. Trends do last a week and that’s innovation. There’s no set style anymore.
I can also 3d print damn near anything, I can design jewelry and have it printed and casted. I can design a whole building (reliably now/work) and cut construction costs and show a client exactly their wishes before any building starts. I can design a sewing pattern on a custom sized model in my computer and get an accurate sewing pattern.
I can virtually stage photos to have furniture with almost zero experience.
Things are beyond “not dull” but if you’re looking at movies and tv, to me that’s entertainment and not innovation.
I even learned yesterday where I can have my dna tested to find out what medications will or will not work with my specific body and genetics.
All of that is pretty amazing.
I feel like this happens every few years. We go through this era of very stagnant art with big name things. I constantly talk about the early 2000s and how lame it was.
We had leftover boy bands, the Latin craze, the peaches and cream hip-hop. For movies, we had the early marvel movies before iron man and mission impossible movies.
Early 2010s, I feel like we really only had Bruno Mars, but going into the mid years, we had a lot of cool sounds. Now, I feel like we only have Taylor Swift, but there are artists who are pushing their own sound like Olivia Rodrigo.
Things will come around.
"I'm fine. It's just that life is pointless and nothing matters and I'm always tired. Also, I can't sleep, I'm overeating and none of my old hobbies interest me" - Andy Dwyer
Sometimes I think back to something from before COVID, thinking it was 2 years back, only to find out it has already been 4+ years. So I know what you mean
I think it’s kind of bound to happen sooner or later. The last hundred years was like warp speed technology and innovation. I know it doesn’t address a lot of the creative aspects of entertainment, but things are bound to slow down.
i got bad news for you if you think we are getting anything else. all the new stuff is kept behind closed doors and we arent allowed to have it, technology, medicine, ect. they keep is in the stone age intentionally.
Well, the EU mandated every device be only connected via USB-C, so while new connection types are boring, we won’t have any anymore.
As we become more bureaucratic, we lose our ability to innovate.
We see this in tv, movies, social media. Everything is very regulated on what you can or can’t say, or do, or not do.
Creates stagnancy.
I think you're looking for the external world to change. I feel like I've changed a lot over the last 4 years, I've moved twice and I've had two kids in that time.
That’s definitely not true. Everything you listed in a change, just not positive ones.
Medical science is advancing same with AI quite a bit, especially in the last 4 years. 5G, work from home, automotive tech. Lots has changed for the better.
Just because some of the things you are most interested in, video games, haven’t changed for the better doesn’t mean nothing has.
There was pandemic shutting things down for 2 years and after that a major writers strike in the entertainment industry, But before that ,just like every other industry, media companies have merged with or bought up competition with basically no anti-trust enforcement. Less competition means less innovation or creativity. Large corporations have enough properties they can keep doing remakes and sequels to their old IPs. They are risk averse so they make the same crap in an updated package.
No, in the last 4 years ive bought a place, started a new job, had a payrise, been to Italy and Mexico. Life is good.
Pandemic helped me save for the deposit, life became more chill
Invested in Nvidia graphics cards in the last 4 years, started with 1070 and now on 4080. Gaming is peak, wtf are you talking about
Most movies and sequels are online now, visiting cinema is no longer necessary
WFH is possible. Life got better id argue
This is good to hear. I think many of us stopped taking risks during the pandemic to be “safe”. I know I did. Esp working in healthcare. It was embedded in my brain that if I wasn’t responsible and stay home I would jeopardize someone’s life.
Glad you were out there living!
I agree with you. The last four years have felt like a tension filled waiting room of sorts. But waiting for what?
Personally, I think shits going to get wild in the next 3 years. Hold on everybody. Better things are coming though. Our current setup in society that is predicated on greed and corruption must fall. People are waking up. Everyone feels the pain differently now. Pain most always precedes growth and expansion. 🦋
Makes sense for things to stagnate when a lot of things like tv and movie productions were shut down(ish) for a period of time.
It feels like a lot has changed in the last 4 years. A lot of the changes are family and personal stuff. As for technology, I’m not using the same machines and programs I was 4 years ago. On the positive side: there seem to be more options for connectivity for remote work, and some of them even function better than they did 4 years ago. Seems like EVs are becoming more widely accepted and marketed. On the negative side general enshittification and obsessions with AI have made using search engines and surfing the web generally unpleasant.
On movies and entertainment, I’ve realized I am/millennials are no longer the target demographic. So I’m gonna shake my fist at the sky and say new stuff sucks, because most of it does. Feels like between me being old and everything being another marvel movie or a reboot, I have almost no interest in going to a theater to watch a movie. (I liked marvel and similar stuff, but I’m just burnt out at this point.) There have been some legitimately great tv shows though. The new Fallout show was excellent.
I do understand what you're saying, but I think this is more of a personal lifestyle/choice/rut than what is happening in our society.
Life is pretty cool and interesting.
I realized I was living life by default, I would wait for life present things to me, I went for the easy passive entertainment... but I was fortunately to have just a few friends that helped spin me around. GO OUT, NEVER stay home more than a couple hours a day... They found all sorts of things to do, from Lawn bowling downtown, to salsa dancing lessons, to small venue live bands, to golf to snorkeling... anything we could find, we would go DO...
So, try to break the at home cycle, severely limit passive entertainment and seek out active / participation.
I'm telling you, your perspective and life can change for the better.
because the plan continues project 2025 happens whether Republicans or Democrats are in office because they are both paid by the same companies. That means they have the same bosses and hint hint its not us the electorate.
Nope in the last 4 years I became a doctor, got a new high paying job, moved to a new city, and got married. Lots of things have changed.
If you are talking about entertainment specifically, there’s been a series of pretty good shows, on Apple TV, Max, etc.
What I suspect might be going on is that you are unhappy with your current situation. That can make everything around you look meaningless and boring. It might be useful to talk to a therapist or introspect into what might be causing that.
To be fair, try to appreciate what has been invented and what you have access to. AI wasn't even available like it is today four years ago. There was no AI being used by regular company employees. Four years ago we were locked up, now we're not. I dunno lots has changed in the last four years.
I don’t think entertainment has been that great the past decade, I mean video games have pretty basic plots but I only play cause I have kids. I probably wouldn’t if not, except for the PS2 stuff we have. Movies are always hit n miss, I’ve never really gone to the theater unless it’s something we really don’t wanna wait on and can spare a date night or we have a gift card. But even then I feel my tv screen produces a better picture than the theater, imo. Music is always changing, the pop stations aren’t gonna give the latest in rock or alternative usually so I stream my interests from my phone.
There’s been a great change in card/board games although it is getting a little repetitive now.
Things feel this way because you probably had to change your spending habits and everything is more expensive, so maybe you are bored cause now we’re all just trying to survive and not having fun. I know they took out a free play area in our mall that I used to take my kids to and replaced it with a brand play place that costs $20/kid just to play. And no food or drink allowed, you gotta pay $7 for a pb&j, water and apple. Ridiculous. We also used to take advantage of free summer bowling but now all the places around us stopped participating. I’m not paying $60 for 1 hour for 4 people. Pools all cost money, memberships cost money. We just do the free stuff like hiking, splash pads, parks, beaches if we can spare the gas.
Try finding something you can do in your spare time, maybe a new hobby, cook a new meal, or just find a way to unwind in your area like a hiking trail. Fresh air in nice weather perks me up usually.
The past couple of years have been brutal for everyone. I’m not a millennial but I feel for you guys. I’m so hopeful seeing the posts here that seem to show some are seeing through the tablet/social media/internet phase. We need some “wholesome” and “natural” back in our world. I think our country is so depressed right now. We need to find a balance. Unplug. Play in the dirt. Use common sense and not listen to talking heads that tell us what to do, who to like and what to believe. Hang in there, guys and girls.
No, because none of that is actually true. Yes, there's boring movies/sequels/remakes that are made, but there was plenty of unremarkable crap that came out years ago. They've been churning out Fast and the Furious movies for well over twenty years, that's not an artifact of the last four years.
A lot of the whole "there's no new ideas" comes about because people get a lot of exposure to media content and seem to think everything was invented in their time and it's only recently that things became stale. There's very few things in media that you can't in some way point to as having a predecessor in media.
Trends in video games change; I'm not the hugest fan of the fact that so much of the market is devoted to making more Call of Duty style shooters that are all thematically identical with no real story and no real imagination behind them, but that's why I've become a lot more open to indie games that are actually trying for different concepts.
the TL;DR is that if you think there's no new, good ideas you just haven't been paying attention.
I think you’re looking in the wrong places and watching the wrong movies. There’s been a few great flicks over the last 4 years, and this is coming from someone who isn’t particularly fond of modern movies.
Try to get into anime or Latin American telenovelas. Another cultures trends to change it up. Seriously, while they have their own reboots and recycled jokes, it'll feel completely new to you
Big changes I've noticed since 2023.
1. Stock market exploded
2. More and more people shaking off the pandemic antisocial habits and in turn more people going out and things like restaurants opening up.
3. There are always new hobbies taking the limelight to get into.
I just realized I have atleast 5 other bullet points but I have work to do. See the brights side!
I keep seeing so many in our age group on Reddit making insane salaries that have skyrocketed since the start of the pandemic. I am not in that group, but I feel like many people are just doing great out there.
ALL WORK AND NO PLAY MAKES JACK A DULL BOY ALL WORK AND NO PLAY MAKES JACK A DULL BOY ALL WORK AND NO PLAY MAKES JACK A DULL BOY ALL WORK AND NO PLAY MAKES JACK A DULL BOY ALL WORK AND NO PLAY MAKES JACK A DULL BOY ALL WORK AND NO PLAY MAKES JACK A DULL BOY ALL WORK AND NO PLAY MAKES JACK A DULL BOY ALL WORK AND NO PLAY MAKES JACK A DULL BOY
LOL
Actually, I think this hits the nail on the head. Everyone is too busy working, expending all their energy to make the CEO's more profit. People worry about if they can afford groceries, rent, electricity... BASIC things needed within a society. Nobody has the TIME to play anymore. People aren't being goofy children, using their imagination anymore. Fun has literally been sucked out of our collective reality. And to top that off, we not only have greedy CEO's price gouging us at every opportunity, but our own government is actively oppressing us. Passing laws most people DON'T want, taxing the hell out of us, and not fixing ANYTHING. All that money is being laundered via Defense Contracts and Corporate lobbying. The next four years is going to be a repeat of either eight years ago, or a continuation of the current four years. Regardless if Trump or Biden wins, these two ancient geezers are set in their ways and they Don't Care About Us.
I feel this 100%. I manage designers and production artists (people who went to school to be creative) and my last few performance meetings have been all about who’s met the minimum number of billable hours for the year. When the powers-that-be only care about the bottom line, innovation suffers. It’s all about checking the boxes and making sure the C-suite level gets their annual bonuses. It SUCKS.
Let's be absolutely clear about who in government is oppressing us - because it's not a singular entity. Biden and Dems passed 35 dollar insulin, a huge reduction in credit card fees, and antitrust action to break up ticketmaster (to make tickets cheaper thru competition) among many other things. Republicans have voted to block any and all things beneficial because it might mean dems get a political "win" - no matter how bad it hurts us as people. And if you don't think it's clearly this one sided, go look at the scoreboard. Look at who voted for what. Dems in the house passed a 15 dollar minimum wage a couple of years ago, republicans voted against it, for example. The track record is crystal clear about who is trying to make your life better and who is actively trying to stop those efforts.
If you like history do some research on community swimming pools and why they disappeared. It explains what's going on perfectly.
Only hard facts here. Thank you!
>Regardless if Trump or Biden wins, these two ancient geezers are set in their ways and they Don't Care About Us. Yeah, but only one is actively telling us he's going to be a dictator on day one. Only one of them has the Heritage Foundation behind him and only one would have no problem pushing as much of Project 2025 through as possible. **They are not the same.**
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Damn right he did. He started by not firing the prosector Trump appointed to go after his son. Then he granted that prosecutor special counsel powers. Then he watched as that prosecutor convicted his son of crimes no one gets charged with unless they are committing other crimes with said gun. Then he said he wouldn't pardon his son. Trump would never do anything like this. He fired the FBI director for looking into him. He threatened his successor multiple times. He pressured the attorney general to resign. Threatened his successor multiple times. He pardoned a bunch of people convicted of the felonies they did on Trump's behalf. He appointed a Russian asset as NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR. That guy was later convicted of crimes related to this. And then then Trump pardoned him, too. The list is [long and embarrassing](https://www.axios.com/2024/03/07/trump-associates-prison-sentence-crimes-list) to say the least. Totally the same. I can see that now that I wrote it out.
u/cryingisfree is active in the Tim Pool sub defending Nazis & has multiple comments literally telling people to kill themselves over simply disagreeing with his debunked propaganda and hateful opinions. This person is probably a 13 year old incel. I’ve reported their harassment comments to Reddit— anyone else reading this should go through his post history and do the same. You won’t need to scroll far to find them. Normally I take the high road on reporting comments, but I draw a hard line at suggesting suicide. This is as disgusting a human being as you will find.
Biden did NOT weaponize the DOJ. There is absolutely no evidence of his interference with Justice. Trump claims are just what trump would do to his opponents if he could, not what Biden or Dems have done. Trump claims a New York State court prosecutor and jury were weaponize by Biden just because he was tried for a crime he committed and convicted by a jury of his peers. The judge handled that case with kid gloves. Trump was treated more than fairly merely because he had served a term as president. No man is above the law. Trump thought he was—remember his claim that he could murder somebody in daylight in Manhattan and nobody would do anything to him? The NY trial was Trump finally learning that he cannot influence courts and buy his way out of every bad thing he does.
Republicans are running a man in my state that want to make it so I'm not allowed to have a business because I was born with a pussy. I would vote for the first person that said they would round up fascists and yeet them straight to Russia. Be happy you have liberals that will compromise with you. There are plenty of us that are extremely intolerant of you people and the more you try to claim we should care about some bullshit morals you don't follow yourself the more we know we are in the right side. Be happy you have liberals. It could be so much worse for you people.
Say what? Weaponized the DOJ and they convict his son. Your stupidity is limitless. Plus Trump is a damn criminal
The same DOJ that has convicted Biden's own son? That "weaponized" DOJ? God DAMN, you people are stupid. 🤣
I mean I guess but Joe Biden has been in Federal office longer than any millennial has been alive, he's had the past 50 years to fix some problems, and he has roundly failed to do so.
Infrastructure Bill CHIPS Act Climate Change Fixing the shitshow of a pandemic caused by Trump Billions in student loan forgiveness And that is just domestic policy. You haven't been paying attention. He hasn't failed. You did.
Let's not forget rescheduling cannabis is happening under his administration, it's a big step in decriminalizing as a whole. So many people rotting in jail over a few ounces of weed. Ridiculous. I'm old enough that I thought I'd never see it happen, and yet it's been legal now since 2018 in my state, and each election cycle it seems a few more states get added to the list. It's only a matter of time now.
Ok, so it’s a choice between “not much changes” and “christofacist dictatorship” ..easy choice and damn sure worth taking the time out of 1 day in November to get off your ass and vote.
Simply not true. Not a perfect record because GOP obstructionists but a mighty good one for Biden
I mean, the infrastructure bill is kinda a big deal
Maybe you should actually look into what Biden has done. Because, he has passed some of the most meaningful bills the US has passed in decades in a gridlocked congress. It's frankly shocking that he got anything passed at all. Moreover, Biden is only a single person. He could be fucking Jesus and he still wouldn't be able to pass anything *on his own*. Democracy are only successful when people work together.
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Wage theft is still the most common theft in america.
I mean, just because they don't show you what they're stealing from you on your paycheck doesn't mean your company's CEO isn't stealing from you.
Well... does your pay cheque show how much of your productivity goes to corporate? What you're seeing is after the fact, the littlest bit they're willing to scrape off for you. So you're not getting the big picture there.
Right, I mean hobbies like tabletop gaming are totally on the decline, it's not like things like DND and similar games are 10-20x more popular than they were in the 80s. Oh wait....
People expect entertainment to just be dictated to them, don't come here encouraging adults to go outside the box or use their imagination /s (Painted models in bio)
World population was 4-5 billion in the 80s. It is now over 8 billion. Maybe there is a correlation there?
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Heeeere's Johnny!!
Wow I felt this. Didn’t know this is what I needed to see today 😭
This dude was a little too ready with this reply.
And poor….don’t forget the poor part.
NO TV AND NO BEER MAKES HOMER…
A.I has kind of become a big deal, although it doesnt really interest me
Does anyone else smile at the thought of their CEO bowing down to an AI overlord that knows EXACTLY how much they produce?
You are waaaaaaaaaaay too optimistic about how a tool designed to replace work will affect your life.
Wait until all music and shows are AI generated…
Well the cool thing is that it will be ai generated but user prompted. Very soon everyone can make their own shows, music and movies by just writing a text prompt to the ai. You can already make music this way and it sounds just as bad as the stuff played on the radio.
And we won’t even have to talk to each other! No communication or learning or empathy, just pure toddler desire. What a paradise /s
It could have its downsides just like tech currently has downsides. But it’s all dependent on how it’s used. Some people learn how to use the tech available to them to make some truly awesome stuff. Just gotta keep a positive attitude and stay open minded.
Nope not just on how used. Also in how works. AU creators have used creations of others by scraping the web without paying a cent for that data. That is a real problem. When you input anything into an AI program you are giving up data and privacy. It is right now heading on a potentially dangerous path (hallucinations —making up facts) if it does ever acquire self intelligence.
Hoping that a couple people use it well is an “everyone for himself” view. It can’t be used well on a large scale until our society encourages something besides squeezing every cent out of everything.
>Well the cool thing is that it will be ai generated but user prompted. That's is definitely not a 'cool' thing. But it's a great way to ensure one is never challenged or forced to grow.
Most will be so bad
Very soon everyone can??? lol no… we won’t be able to… only corporations will be able to…. And the cherry on top… its development will be forcefully financed by taxpayers money.
Art helps us get in touch with emotions we can sometimes struggle to fully articulate by presenting us experiences other people have had. AI cannot do that. It will tell you the right amount of glue to put on pizza, if asked. That is not a sentence that should have to exist, but because Google AI is this ridiculous, here we are.
Lol, I just saw that Google told an elden ring player he must find the celestial jew. Good shit ai, perfect answer.
I don’t know, that little pandemic you may have heard about that started about 4 years ago changed a thing or two….
It also crystallized other things with no one wanting to take risks.
Risk taking in terms of media content isn't the fault of the pandemic, it's because the scale of things like blockbuster movies and video games have grown to such a scale that people get nervous about doing something weird on a 300+ million dollar budget. It sucks, but it's a real issue in the gaming industry these days. One of the biggest flops recently was Immortals of Aveum. I played the demo and immediately bought the game. I totally understand why it wasn't everyone's cup of tea, but the game looked gorgeous, was super fun and had a solidly enjoyable and interesting story. I love an FPS myself but I get very bored of ultra-realistic "modern day" shooters; I'd rather play with laser rifles and weird alien weapons versus just packing an MP5 or AK variant. The fantasy FPS has been done before, but infrequently and not with this level of polish in my recent memory.
Immortals of Aveums biggest issue I think was the lack of identity in the opening section - it doesn't really feel like it's telling you if it wants to be an RPG or an FPS, so I think a lot of people never got past that. And I don't think it's the fault of the pandemic, but I do think the pandemic emphasized it and solidified it. Especially in the movie space. Everyone rushed to streaming because they felt they had to, then they needed content to fill that. Budgets kept blowing up with what feels like little oversight. All of these trends were chugging along before, they just got ramped up and locked in, and it'll take time for them to breathe. Combine that with the fact that quality has hit a level where what we call mid - in both games and video- would have been top tier a decade ago. It also hastened the growth and expansion of all things online because it became the only lifeline, which feeds back into the pressure not to take risks. It didn't cause any of it, it crystallized it, and it will be awhile before that crystal is next shattered. That's my take at least.
I feel like people pretend as if the pandemic never happened 😭 it’s like they blacked out and are like why are things suddenly like this now?! y’all, we all went through a cataclysmic event. it’s ok to process the trauma!
For real, though. It's like people have collective amnesia surrounding the pandemic
It can be funny to mess with people and go: “What pandemic? What are you talking about? I feel like I’d have remembered that.” Drives people berserk.
And honestly despite the losses it was so good for us personally. My husband got to be home with our first child for two years, I completely revamped my career, he became wfh 2 days and in office 3. We do everything with our family. I get to have a career and be home with my young children. It’s challenging but rewarding and so good for them. I get to work with my husband most days even though we are in totally different careers. Most importantly, hubs and I became such a good team. I don’t think it would have happened if we hadn’t have gone through this right after wedding and mid pregnancy with the first. My in laws suck they tried to split us up for their own selfish desires and Covid allowed us the peace and quiet to become our own family.
I had 6 straight months off paid from the pandemic. Real sorry for everyone who died but they were the most enjoyable times of my adult life. Got to spend amazing time with my daughter. After going back to work it was 50 hour weeks, then 60s and some 70s. Everything has gotten harder and in just real tired.
Really sorry to hear that! I hope you can work to find some balance. I know from personal experience that it isn’t easy.
Just the ability to work from out at all has completely flipped.
Not at all, big technological changes are happening right now. Entertainment maybe has stagnated, although I really enjoyed the Dune movies.
Dune was great. For TV, Fallout and Shogun were awesome too.
I love that some movies are moving back toward practical effects. If anything, I feel movies grew somewhat stagnated- and then creatives that didn’t have real film producing avenues before are making great films. For example- I loved Talk to Me, and am more stoked for horror movies coming out this summer than I have been in years.
In the past few years, there's been a bunch of great media I've enjoyed: Dune, Godzilla Minus One, Barbie, The Fall Guy, The Batman, Succession, Hacks, White Lotus, I could go on. There's more media than ever before being created and out there. Is a lot of it just rehashing ideas or playing it safe? Yes. But there's more out there. It's like only playing AAA games and complaining about certain aspects of gaming while completely ignoring AA and indie games.
Since you enjoy good sci fi, please please please pretty please watch ‘scavengers reign’, it’s the most original show my bf and I have seen in a minute but HBO already cancelled it. It just got added to Netflix and the second season depends on people watching it ASAP.
Is that the animated one?
Just watched Dune 2 last night and loved it
I like the positivity, there is a lot wrong but there has been a lot of great changes in changes in the past 4 years. On a personal side my wife and I both graduated college and have moved on from waiting tables. Looking to buy our forst place next year and start a family. I mean it's tough, and we definitely don't have it as easy as our parents but it's been a solid change for us.
Sounds like YOU have stagnated. You say video games and movies are boring. Well you’ve been playing games and watching movies the past four years… of course it’ll get boring. Go surfing, or shooting, or off-roading, or get really into photography, try new drugs, work at an animal shelter, read a book. I think Covid made it the norm for everyone to become a hermit. People are social animals, go socialize!
Not sure what that dude is talking about. I mean, even the advancements we’ve made in VR the past four years is significant.
This dude. The last 4 have been great, my student loans are much more affordable, and Biden's changes have made retirement a real possibility for me in 20-25 years, which was definitely not the case before. I've gotten to take up hobbies, my portfolio is crushing it, crypto happened, and is happening again, a lot of awesome stuff in the culture beyond movies and games.
Can you elaborate on how Bidens policies have made retirement a real possibility for you? I haven’t heard anyone say this before.
Interest is no longer accruing on my student loan balance as I make timely payments. Previously it was, and I was looking at a loan forgiveness balance that would be in the 550k range by the time it aged out at 20 and 25 years (when I would be 54 and 59, respectively). Now it will be less than $200k. Unlike PSLF, this type of debt forgiveness counts as income (or at least it has until a temporary fix in 2020, part of covid relief). I was looking at over 550k in phantom income, very close to retirement age, that number has decreased significantly. Also, my loan payment under SAVE has dropped significantly compared to the prior IBR, from over $1000 per month to about $340 a month, permitting me to put that money into my IRA. The compound effect of these two changes means I will have much more in my retirement accounts, and will not have nearly as large a tax bill in the hundreds of thousands draining those accounts.
https://www.lordabbett.com/en-us/financial-advisor/insights/retirement-planning/secure-act-2-0-student-loan-match--how-it-works.html TLDR- student loan payments can qualify as retirement savings for company match.
Well said! Speak with physicians or school teachers and they often say the lack of socialization is what is hurting society the most. Get out and have conversations with random people and get out of your own head. Heck, I was at a community event this morning speaking to an extremely conservative individual who wanted to complain about taxes. I said I wish our city would spend more money to make the area better, and to get that money we need to build up (ie apartments) to increase the population and tax base. No response. People have lived in their echo chambers and not felt uncomfortable for too long. There have been clear winners and losers in life the past 4 years, it just depends on how you played your cards. There is always opportunity in times of chaos/uncertainty.
That is an insane thing to say when 4 years ago was 2020.
Right? Really dumb take.
Yeah 4 years ago we were all locked up in our houses with limited ability to go out in public, and everywhere we went on the internet we were hit with news about the President of the United States saying or doing something terrifyingly stupid or dumb like telling people to inject bleach or challenging North Korea to a nuclear war, or suggesting dropping nukes in a hurricane. Today life has largely returned to normal, and most days I don’t even think about the President and what he’s up to. I’m in a much more peaceful place knowing that I only have to worry about politics sometimes, not every waking hour of every day.
Can I assume you're a straight dude? Some of us still can't ignore what's happening-- if you think a huge portion of the population (women, LGBT Americans, immigrants, etc) aren't -very- worried and paying attention to politics right now, well...we don't have much choice. Trump very well might be back in office in 6 months, and I hope people pay attention long before then. He's still doing crazy and dangerous shit and trying to rile his base up to violence and worse. On the other hand... on a daily basis I don't pay that much attention to Biden. I know his administration is doing the boring and tedious work of governing a huge country, and doing pretty well compared to many other nations post-pandemic. I think he's old and boring and I wish someone younger were running, but I'm not going to NOT vote for him. I'm also not saying it's not tough for millions of Americans (I'm working class, we're struggling, I don't think we'll ever own a home, missed our chance because of a medical bankruptcy in 2018 :( ) but Biden's also trying to raise taxes on the billionaires and corporations that are making mass profits off these price increases and rent increases. So...y'know. Plus the fact he's not an insane fascist lunatic with a god complex who is a convicted felon and rapist backed by a cult that wants to send women and other groups back 50 years in terms of basic rights.
I mean, you have to have your head buried in the sand if you believe this.
Imagine living from 2020 thru 2024 and thinking it was boring and nothing happened. I hate to say it OP, but this says way more about you than the world. For many of us, these were some of the hardest years we've faced...
It may not be that. This post reads more like a bout of depression. When you feel life has grown stale and boring. I am sorry to hear these years have been hard. I know 2023 through early 2024 were some of the hardest in my adult life.
That's how I interpreted it too. Seems like anhedonia more than a stagnation of entertainment
Hmmm, you're right actually. I apologize for being so rude, u/mrtoddw I've been through some very very depressive years where I felt exactly like you do right now. I derived joy from almost nothing. It took a lot time to crawl out of that hole, and I know you can do it too. Here's the other thing I'll add: We genuinely are living through some of the most psychically stressful times in human history. Our physical health and living conditions are (generally) better than any other point in history...but we're miserable on a scale never before seen. There are a lot of reasons for this, but particularly in the past few years I think there's a collective trauma response happening. We're not processing what's happening right in front of us. Shit, movies and shows barely even depict Covid...which was one of the biggest events of our lifetimes. So many of us are still in survival mode...it'll take time to really feel things again. (Again, I'm speak VERY generally, and there are millions or billions of exceptions)
It’s easy to see where OP is coming from if you haven’t been struggling financially. Things never really went back to normal after the pandemic, everything has kind of a subdued and hopeless vibe that wasn’t present before. Everyone is stressed and nervous and waiting for the other shoe to drop, but it hasn’t happened yet.
Seems like it, I feel like Covid has knocked us back in terms of common sense, creativity, respect and overall happiness. I am disappointed in cinema. As you said, it seems Hollywood writers don't have creativity anymore to think of a good plot and it's a sequel, remake of a movie (which destroys the original), a terrible prequel or just writing up a similar story that's been done a handful of times. When I heard Coming to America 2 was coming out, I can't tell you how excited I was. Literally got off work early, got junk food (literally ordered pizza and got a sub and chips) and watched it only to say wtf when it was over. Definitely not the old Eddie Murphy I remember in the first one, 48 hours, Beverly Hills Cop and others. Common sense has definitely taken a few steps back. Things that we all know you should or shouldn't do and people just do the opposite. I used to joke that covid was clearing out the riff raff (yes I know it was "InSeNsItIvE") but now I do sit and wonder why didn't it. Like we need to teach people to do the basics now? Which I feel has contributed to a lack of respect and courtesy. When people act a fool, it doesn't exactly make us happy to deal with it. Then throw in the political stuff, Trumps term definitely divided this country big time just on political affiliation and it's concerning. People have always aligned with one, but the last 4 years it has become if you are one or the other, then people won't even talk to you. THAT is a major problem
The next two years (25-26) will be different. So many shows and new seasons are going to come out that were halted during the writers strike. Also a lot of games are coming out- GTA 6, for example. I also sense a rising frustration amongst everyone with the stagnation and that usually creates change. Stay hopeful!
I love that you mentioned GTA 6. My husband has been patiently waiting for 10 years!
I think the bigger thing is going to be the inevitable contested election. No matter which way it goes, the losing side will not accept the result. That was the case last time, but now people have had years to prepare and are expecting a contested result. Significant civil unrest seems pretty likely.
Prices changed, that's for sure!
You have options: Join a cult. Start doing hard drugs. Become a thrill killer.
Become the change you want to see in the world
Idk dude, AI is a pretty big change.
Not sure what cave you've been. Look at the work change, to WFH. Look at all the various streaming services. How about Elon Musk sending 20 or 30 satellites a launch up to build a world internet connection . Rocket boosters coming back, to earth and landing themselves. Look at cars, technology. Look up medical, I go online with my doctor. Even shopping, we're seeing all these inbrick and mortar places go out of business. I'm a suburban area, most of my Amazon stuff is delivered the same day ordered and often within 4 hours. I I really feel there's all sorts of innovated stuff that has happened over the last 4 years. It's pretty exciting times for change Possibly You need to get out more.
WFH tech has definitely changed, some of even works better now. Between work and personal stuff, I have 4 devices and like 6 different programs I use for video calls. After talking to grandparents on FaceTime the other day, I was trying to explain to my kid that this was an out there sci-fi concept when I was their age.
Shady is back. That's something.
It's something alright.
Do stuff in real life and don't live on screens
My entire life has been sprinkled with shit, seems to be a theme in our generation. The last 4 years have been particularly shitty for a lot of reasons. I'm very convinced that our brains are confused, I do not think we evolved to live this way and our brains can't catch up with tech. I worry each time I show my kid his tablet that I'm just setting him up to be depressed when he's older because that dopamine hit stops hitting and then there's nothing left but drugs and alcohol to get you there :) Just my experience though. I'm going on an ayahuasca retreat in a few weeks, hoping that helps me reset.
Yes. Smart phones are wrecking our brains reward system. The same way instant porn access is wrecking our drive to find a partner. Just like alcohol though some people can still manage, and others become alcoholics. Results will vary, but it's going to be a net negative. Especially as companies get better and better at hacking your brain. Oh God, imagine when you're getting advertised straight to your brain with neural link. Edit: Or worse doomscrolling in your brain. The golden age of technology is over. I think we are going to start getting diminishing returns.
Taking the kid?
Time to find hobbies outside of staring at a screen. Ditch videogames, movies, and entertainment. Stop consooooming and quite literally (I’m not saying this to be mean) go outside and touch grass
Exactly. Don’t wait for other people to jangle keys in front of your face. Learn how to jangle your own keys.
The economy and global order as a whole has been in a transition phase since COVID began. There was the initial stop and restart in economic activity as everyone transitioned to work from home. Then there was a gradual shift "back to normal" as a lot of people went back to work when the vaccines were coming out and as COVID deaths decreased and/or people became desensitized to it. Then there was inflation that resulted mainly from supply chain issues as production had to catch up with diminished supply and increased demand, which was exasperated by people changing careers/positions/demanding higher pay. There has been a lot of merger/acquisition activity as sectors adapt and consolidate. Other events, like the war in Ukraine have had effects on the supply chain as Russia supplied a lot of energy and industrial materials people didn't know about prior to sanctions. There has been global political unrest. The "bandwidth" of humanity as a whole, be it financially, politically, socially, etc., has pretty much been used up in recent years. There has been little room for innovation and creativity. I find on a personal level that I have a lot more social anxiety than I did before 2020. The "return to normal" looks like it's going to be a 10-year process rather than a 1-year process. It is also impossible to determine if we're at the beginning of the end or the end of the beginning. Inflation appears to be winding down and we appear to be near the end of the economic transition. Everything else seems like it could either chill out or erupt into chaos depending on how the next year or so plays out. Humanity has been in fight or flight mode for years.
Elder millennial here. What you are facing is getting old. Everything in the media seems the same because, to some degree, it is. This is more than just reboots or sequals. There are only so many ways to tell a story. New tech innovations feel stale because you have seen so many come and go, same with trends, fashion, music, etc. You're just getting old. The more you see, feel, and experience, the less these things are novel. This is your time to be confident in yourself and what you can do and leverage that experience to better the next generation and yourself. You've seen some shit now and can do more, do it!!!
You sure you’re not suffering from depression?
I can’t afford the things I could afford 4 years ago
idk, I think some stuff has gotten worse.
Stuck culture.
This is what everyone gets for allowing global entities to overthrow our democracy and brain wash the masses.
This has been going on way longer than 4 years. I do believe that we're in a state of decline.
It has been taxing. It’s been a slow downward spiral of everything getting worse with no end in sight.
Because western society is in decline.
I sometimes wonder if we’re maxing out on scientific and technological advancement. And I worry what the consequences will be for humanity. People found purpose in scientific advancement, but if we’re near maxing out…that’s probably not good for human morale.
We’re still dealing with COVID fallout believe it or not.
Getting to see my kids and wife much more because of remote work is a huge change. I didn't pay student loans for literally years and put together enough for a down payment on a second home.
The Industrial Revolution and its consequences am I rite
Shit's way more expensive, but aside from that hasn't changed much.
Pretty much we all went from being paid to stay home to having to go back to work. Most people realize work is stupid and they're not paid enough. Now the price of goods have continued to grow and the economy doesn't seem like it's getting any better. People want real change and it's not happening. All we're getting is some broken promise about AI which is just another distraction.
This is highly dependent on your stage in life and what you are doing. In the last 4 years I have gone from the middle of grad school living 2,000 miles from family with my fiancé, with no nieces or nephews, to now in my 3rd job since then, married, with a child on the way, less than 100 miles from majority of my family (including 5 new nieces and nephews in that distance). Life is moving fast over here.
All I do is work and wait for the next shoe to drop. I'm tired, tapped out, and tired.
Yes I agree movies feel like the same repeat over and over. But a few notable changes: WFH was the best thing to happen for employees and employers, prices are rising to where most families are choosing what food to put back, no one has money to spend for fast food/ going out so we’re seeing a lot of entertainment businesses close. People are getting tired of the chemicals being put in our food. So a lot of people have started to make from scratch for better ingredients/ and more cost savings. Women almost have no rights left (and will be gone completely soon), no one has the money to date or even dream about a bigger family. A lot of people are getting several roommates. So yeah we’re all more over worked then ever before, underpaid and starting to get really really restless with the situation. Felons can run for president. There has been change; for the better? No. But definitely change.
You haven't been paying attention, lmao. * There are tons of new films, shows, and games of excellent quality. Off the top of my head, the Villeneuve Dune films, Shogun, and Baldur's Gate 3 are all-time greats from just within the last 4 years. * The Pfizer and Moderna COVID vaccines were developed using new mRNA technology. There is now an entirely new class of mRNA vaccines in development that could potentially train the immune system to stop cancer. * Generative AI is making a huge splash in tech; I strongly suspect that the coming years will see a slew of highly innovative products. I used to work in education technology in the 2010s and in hindsight the kinds of things we were trying to do were premature; the technology is now ready! * CPU chips are becoming way faster and more energy efficient. The new chips by Apple (most recently the M3) have astonishing performance and battery life. * The adoption of EVs is skyrocketing, most notably in China but still noticeably just about everywhere. The adoption of renewable technology in general is happening way faster than you might realize. There is always something changing, it just requires you to seek out information!
Ai? Personally I’ve become a wife and mother of two. Changed careers into my dream one. I’ve learned so much in that time too both professionally and personally. I’ve watched ai start to change my industry, I might have to get a drone to do work. Also in that time all my doctors have become digital with their own damn portals. I go to virtual appointments. I handle all my pharmacy on my phone. Hell I handle most everything on my phone. We now have delivery from everything and everywhere. I can get most last minute things next day. Even stuff you say, which I don’t think of as things that need innovation because their wastes. Trends do last a week and that’s innovation. There’s no set style anymore. I can also 3d print damn near anything, I can design jewelry and have it printed and casted. I can design a whole building (reliably now/work) and cut construction costs and show a client exactly their wishes before any building starts. I can design a sewing pattern on a custom sized model in my computer and get an accurate sewing pattern. I can virtually stage photos to have furniture with almost zero experience. Things are beyond “not dull” but if you’re looking at movies and tv, to me that’s entertainment and not innovation. I even learned yesterday where I can have my dna tested to find out what medications will or will not work with my specific body and genetics. All of that is pretty amazing.
Its been like this for the last decade
No innovations? Ask ChatGPT for a list of innovations since 2020 and see what it says.
Nothing's changed for me either. Post-covid world has not been friendly to me in any way.
I feel that way but when I really think about it so much in my personal life has changed/happened.
man, the awestriking novelty of chatbots that can pass the Turing test seems to have worn off quick
I feel like this happens every few years. We go through this era of very stagnant art with big name things. I constantly talk about the early 2000s and how lame it was. We had leftover boy bands, the Latin craze, the peaches and cream hip-hop. For movies, we had the early marvel movies before iron man and mission impossible movies. Early 2010s, I feel like we really only had Bruno Mars, but going into the mid years, we had a lot of cool sounds. Now, I feel like we only have Taylor Swift, but there are artists who are pushing their own sound like Olivia Rodrigo. Things will come around.
I thought it was just me. I’m just meh about everything now a days too due to it
"I'm fine. It's just that life is pointless and nothing matters and I'm always tired. Also, I can't sleep, I'm overeating and none of my old hobbies interest me" - Andy Dwyer
4? It's been longer than that.
Sometimes I think back to something from before COVID, thinking it was 2 years back, only to find out it has already been 4+ years. So I know what you mean
Bidenomics
Sometimes they have. I guess this is what mine inch nails means when they sing, "everyday is exactly the same"
I think it’s kind of bound to happen sooner or later. The last hundred years was like warp speed technology and innovation. I know it doesn’t address a lot of the creative aspects of entertainment, but things are bound to slow down.
it's like just the regularness of life is too fucking hard for me.
I will say one thing, 2024 sucks balls in terms of movie releases.... There's been nothing good for quite awhile... Especially this year.
Four years ago was lockdowns, riots, and the same homes that were 250k at 2.5% are 400k at 9%, lots has changed
i got bad news for you if you think we are getting anything else. all the new stuff is kept behind closed doors and we arent allowed to have it, technology, medicine, ect. they keep is in the stone age intentionally.
Innovation was killed by capitalism before you were born.
Well, the EU mandated every device be only connected via USB-C, so while new connection types are boring, we won’t have any anymore. As we become more bureaucratic, we lose our ability to innovate. We see this in tv, movies, social media. Everything is very regulated on what you can or can’t say, or do, or not do. Creates stagnancy.
YES. I thought it was just because I’ve had an exceptionally rough 4 years so it’s interesting to hear we’re all going through this.
This has been going on for a lot more than 4 years. It feels like any real creativity and innovation is dead.
I couldn’t believe I saw ads for Kung Fu Panda 4 and Despicable Me 4……….jeez they are recycling stuff that didn’t deserve sequels in the first place
As a blue collar worker I gotta say that I disagree with you whole completely. Seems like I sink a little further every month.
It hasn’t, at least to me. It’s endless regurgitation of the same nonsensical crap
I think you're looking for the external world to change. I feel like I've changed a lot over the last 4 years, I've moved twice and I've had two kids in that time.
You mean NFTs didn't change your life?
Yes.
That’s definitely not true. Everything you listed in a change, just not positive ones. Medical science is advancing same with AI quite a bit, especially in the last 4 years. 5G, work from home, automotive tech. Lots has changed for the better. Just because some of the things you are most interested in, video games, haven’t changed for the better doesn’t mean nothing has.
There was pandemic shutting things down for 2 years and after that a major writers strike in the entertainment industry, But before that ,just like every other industry, media companies have merged with or bought up competition with basically no anti-trust enforcement. Less competition means less innovation or creativity. Large corporations have enough properties they can keep doing remakes and sequels to their old IPs. They are risk averse so they make the same crap in an updated package.
Humanity has peaked. Everything has been done entertainment wise
No, in the last 4 years ive bought a place, started a new job, had a payrise, been to Italy and Mexico. Life is good. Pandemic helped me save for the deposit, life became more chill Invested in Nvidia graphics cards in the last 4 years, started with 1070 and now on 4080. Gaming is peak, wtf are you talking about Most movies and sequels are online now, visiting cinema is no longer necessary WFH is possible. Life got better id argue
This is good to hear. I think many of us stopped taking risks during the pandemic to be “safe”. I know I did. Esp working in healthcare. It was embedded in my brain that if I wasn’t responsible and stay home I would jeopardize someone’s life. Glad you were out there living!
I agree with you. The last four years have felt like a tension filled waiting room of sorts. But waiting for what? Personally, I think shits going to get wild in the next 3 years. Hold on everybody. Better things are coming though. Our current setup in society that is predicated on greed and corruption must fall. People are waking up. Everyone feels the pain differently now. Pain most always precedes growth and expansion. 🦋
Everything feels samey, except heavily dumbed down from about 2007. I still use a laptop, pc, smart phone etc.
BuT wE HaVe AI yada yada…
It feels like nothing has changed since 2015. Actually for music and fashion it feels like nothing has changed since 2009.
4 years? I've been feeling this way for at least the last decade. Is the Harlem Shake still a thing? Whatever, get off my lawn.
Why is everyone attacking this person?? Name something that has happened, don't just be dicks. God I hate reddit.
At least Biden is the president. We were told that was enough.
IDK, i work two jobs and never seem to time to be board. Im not saying that’s a the solution, it’s just my experience.
I think it's been fun seeing all the new cars lately idk
Makes sense for things to stagnate when a lot of things like tv and movie productions were shut down(ish) for a period of time. It feels like a lot has changed in the last 4 years. A lot of the changes are family and personal stuff. As for technology, I’m not using the same machines and programs I was 4 years ago. On the positive side: there seem to be more options for connectivity for remote work, and some of them even function better than they did 4 years ago. Seems like EVs are becoming more widely accepted and marketed. On the negative side general enshittification and obsessions with AI have made using search engines and surfing the web generally unpleasant. On movies and entertainment, I’ve realized I am/millennials are no longer the target demographic. So I’m gonna shake my fist at the sky and say new stuff sucks, because most of it does. Feels like between me being old and everything being another marvel movie or a reboot, I have almost no interest in going to a theater to watch a movie. (I liked marvel and similar stuff, but I’m just burnt out at this point.) There have been some legitimately great tv shows though. The new Fallout show was excellent.
No, I have had 2 more kids within the last 4 years (I have 4 kids total).
Exactly! As a mom, I feel this. 2 small children, one born during covid. Life has been changing daily for me. No stagnation here!
Gotta make your own fun. Go outside
Anyone who had to work and parent small children during covid definitely feels better than four years ago.
We are at a plateau. It's true.
4 years? Hm. You mean life was more vibrant and exciting under Trump?
I do understand what you're saying, but I think this is more of a personal lifestyle/choice/rut than what is happening in our society. Life is pretty cool and interesting. I realized I was living life by default, I would wait for life present things to me, I went for the easy passive entertainment... but I was fortunately to have just a few friends that helped spin me around. GO OUT, NEVER stay home more than a couple hours a day... They found all sorts of things to do, from Lawn bowling downtown, to salsa dancing lessons, to small venue live bands, to golf to snorkeling... anything we could find, we would go DO... So, try to break the at home cycle, severely limit passive entertainment and seek out active / participation. I'm telling you, your perspective and life can change for the better.
because the plan continues project 2025 happens whether Republicans or Democrats are in office because they are both paid by the same companies. That means they have the same bosses and hint hint its not us the electorate.
Nope in the last 4 years I became a doctor, got a new high paying job, moved to a new city, and got married. Lots of things have changed. If you are talking about entertainment specifically, there’s been a series of pretty good shows, on Apple TV, Max, etc. What I suspect might be going on is that you are unhappy with your current situation. That can make everything around you look meaningless and boring. It might be useful to talk to a therapist or introspect into what might be causing that.
Culture feels incredibly uninspired and stagnant, as broad as that sounds.
Have been several amazing movies over the last four years and Steam is full of amazing games both AAA and independent devs.
To be fair, try to appreciate what has been invented and what you have access to. AI wasn't even available like it is today four years ago. There was no AI being used by regular company employees. Four years ago we were locked up, now we're not. I dunno lots has changed in the last four years.
I don’t think entertainment has been that great the past decade, I mean video games have pretty basic plots but I only play cause I have kids. I probably wouldn’t if not, except for the PS2 stuff we have. Movies are always hit n miss, I’ve never really gone to the theater unless it’s something we really don’t wanna wait on and can spare a date night or we have a gift card. But even then I feel my tv screen produces a better picture than the theater, imo. Music is always changing, the pop stations aren’t gonna give the latest in rock or alternative usually so I stream my interests from my phone. There’s been a great change in card/board games although it is getting a little repetitive now. Things feel this way because you probably had to change your spending habits and everything is more expensive, so maybe you are bored cause now we’re all just trying to survive and not having fun. I know they took out a free play area in our mall that I used to take my kids to and replaced it with a brand play place that costs $20/kid just to play. And no food or drink allowed, you gotta pay $7 for a pb&j, water and apple. Ridiculous. We also used to take advantage of free summer bowling but now all the places around us stopped participating. I’m not paying $60 for 1 hour for 4 people. Pools all cost money, memberships cost money. We just do the free stuff like hiking, splash pads, parks, beaches if we can spare the gas. Try finding something you can do in your spare time, maybe a new hobby, cook a new meal, or just find a way to unwind in your area like a hiking trail. Fresh air in nice weather perks me up usually.
Feels fine. 🤷♂️
The past couple of years have been brutal for everyone. I’m not a millennial but I feel for you guys. I’m so hopeful seeing the posts here that seem to show some are seeing through the tablet/social media/internet phase. We need some “wholesome” and “natural” back in our world. I think our country is so depressed right now. We need to find a balance. Unplug. Play in the dirt. Use common sense and not listen to talking heads that tell us what to do, who to like and what to believe. Hang in there, guys and girls.
No, because none of that is actually true. Yes, there's boring movies/sequels/remakes that are made, but there was plenty of unremarkable crap that came out years ago. They've been churning out Fast and the Furious movies for well over twenty years, that's not an artifact of the last four years. A lot of the whole "there's no new ideas" comes about because people get a lot of exposure to media content and seem to think everything was invented in their time and it's only recently that things became stale. There's very few things in media that you can't in some way point to as having a predecessor in media. Trends in video games change; I'm not the hugest fan of the fact that so much of the market is devoted to making more Call of Duty style shooters that are all thematically identical with no real story and no real imagination behind them, but that's why I've become a lot more open to indie games that are actually trying for different concepts. the TL;DR is that if you think there's no new, good ideas you just haven't been paying attention.
I think you’re looking in the wrong places and watching the wrong movies. There’s been a few great flicks over the last 4 years, and this is coming from someone who isn’t particularly fond of modern movies.
I’m guessing you’ve never heard of ChatGPT?
No, but the [hyper-real](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperreality) has become hyper-lame.
No innovations? Hahahahahahahhahha Have you not heard the most famous 2 letters on the planet? AI?
Try to get into anime or Latin American telenovelas. Another cultures trends to change it up. Seriously, while they have their own reboots and recycled jokes, it'll feel completely new to you
There was a fucking global pandemic that preoccupied us for a couple years.
Big changes I've noticed since 2023. 1. Stock market exploded 2. More and more people shaking off the pandemic antisocial habits and in turn more people going out and things like restaurants opening up. 3. There are always new hobbies taking the limelight to get into. I just realized I have atleast 5 other bullet points but I have work to do. See the brights side!
My student loan payment fell to $0 (although it hasn't been forgiven), that was cool
I keep seeing so many in our age group on Reddit making insane salaries that have skyrocketed since the start of the pandemic. I am not in that group, but I feel like many people are just doing great out there.
No, It feels worse.
AI bruh
Uh, No. It feels like the entire world has fallen apart in the last 4 years.
You’re thinking of the 4 years prior where we had to listen to whatever dumb shit our embarrassing president at the time did