How Pop Culture Trapped Millennials in the Phantom Zone
Spend enough time with Millennials, and you’ll notice their conversations often gravitate toward their favorite pop culture franchises. For many, these brands aren’t just entertainment—they’ve become extensions of their identities.It’s not unusual for people of any age to fantasize about being part of their beloved stories, and that goes double for Generation Y. However, what sets Millennials apart is how central self-projection has become to their engagement with fiction. For many, self-immersive participation in a narrative isn’t just a pastime; it’s the only way they know how to connect with stories.
This phenomenon has grown so pervasive that younger adults might struggle to understand how to enjoy fiction without inserting themselves into it.How did this loss of narrative objectivity take root?Related: Millennial Snot and the Pop Cult: Worship in a Soulless AgeThe answer is as straightforward as it is unsettling: This phenomenon is a byproduct of emotional manipulation–the same strategy that makes propaganda so effective.Propaganda thrives on creating characters who act as blank slates designed for the audience to project their own desires, fears, and identities onto. These characters aren’t just relatable; they become extensions of the viewer. So when the character triumphs, often by espousing values carefully selected by the creators, the audience gets a dopamine hit.For Millennials raised on this form of storytelling, other approaches to fiction can feel alien. The saturation of propagandistic Narratives has dulled their ability to appreciate heroes driven by ideals greater than themselves.
Traditional myths and legends once provided moral and cultural frameworks for society. Stories like the Odyssey, the tales of King Arthur, and even pulp classics like John Carter and Tarzan offered heroes who pursued universal truths or noble ideals.In contrast, many of today’s stories cater to niche demographics, reducing heroes to surface-level traits. Take the Star Wars sequels as an example: Their protagonists are more identifiable by their representation of certain groups than by any moral depth. Similarly, Marvel Studios has gone all in on identity-focused storytelling to diminishing returns.The problem isn’t just the characters; it’s the worldview that's shaping them. For a generation trained to see morality as relative and subjective, heroes driven by objective good seem unrelatable; even, paraodoxically enough, immoral.Related: Millennials' Generational PovertyThe demolition of shared cultural and moral foundations has fed into a storytelling cycle of increasingly shallow protagonists. As societies become more fragmented, stories reflect that division, offering characters designed to appeal to specific, isolated audiences.This fragmentation leaves Millennials trapped in a phantom zone of applauding mirrors. Stories reflect their own identities back at them but offer little of substance.Despite this generational fracturing, there’s reason for optimism. The string of failures from the big movie, game, and comic book studios suggests that cracks in the Pop Cult are beginning to show. Audiences are tiring of formulaic Narratives and hollow characters.Human nature has a way of rejecting the superficial. The enduring popularity of timeless legends and even pulp fiction suggests that people crave stories with depth, universal truths, and heroes who pursue a greater good.Perhaps the next generation of creators will turn away from the mirror, look to the window, and rediscover the richness of storytelling.
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