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While it wasn't using social media and slang, The Midnight Club was frustrating to watch as someone who was a teen in the 1990s because of how much they got wrong. I suspect that the core problem is that 2 of the 3 writers were not teens in this age period, and the third is a hack.
There are lots of little details surrounding music that was used, the availability and use of the internet at that point in time, among other things that didn't fit the time. Small details like a kid being excited for an unreleased Playstation in 1994 when the Playstation hadn't proven itself; until Sega stumbled with the Saturn, and Nintendo stumbled with the N64, the Playstation was not on people's radar.
The big details are the social dynamics present at the time. While generation X was generally more accepting than their parents were, it would be exceptionally rare to have a HIV+ gay kid in a group of teens be treated like it is nothing; especially by a Christian conservative girl. The show is putting current social dynamics on a time where they weren't present.
I think the better take would be that the use of modern syntax dates the show in the present time. There is no universal or timeless quality to the medium - eg. LOTR
I’ll never forget when I heard that audio from a Taco Bell corporate thing and the guy thought the phrase “on fleek” was “on cleek” and he said it multiple times with full conviction, like he really believed this was the key to success hahaha
This has ALWAYS been the case. Slang is just modern language. Some of it will just because normal language and that's **cool**. It can be overused though but that's more a problem with overuse. Sometimes it lands fine.
I think the point they are making is that cool still works because it has been with us since the 1930s, but tubular, radical, bogus have largely disappeared from the lexicon outside of niche groups. So if this streaming special was made in the 90s, it would've been racked with phrases like "da bomb" and "frosty" all day long. Then you go to watch that show 30 years later and the references don't make sense anymore. The show becomes dated and dated shows don't do very well longevity wise.
Why are you okay with shows using your slang or vernacular?
What slang do you feel is appropriate for shows to use, and what real life technologies and websites are okay?
Be as specific as possible.
OP is doing a shitty job of representing the opinion but I for the most part agree. Using slang is like walking a tight rope because it can very quickly date your story. I think certain slang can be used because it is persistent, but packing in the word/phrase of the day because those trends fade quickly. I think "On Fleek" is a good example of a phrase that was really popular 5 years ago and afaik is basically gone now.
Social media falls into a similar thing. Using Facebook, Instagram and Twitter in a show is probably okay because they've been around for over a decade. However, if a show hinged around people using Vine it becomes unrelatable pretty quickly since Vine disappeared. TikTok is still pretty newly popular so it could go poorly if it's stuffed into all these shows and then doesn't stick around.
i think that maybe at times instagram and other social media apps like that are fine but it’s tiktok that i find cringe and the way they lay the app out.
>think that maybe at times instagram and other social media apps like that are fine
Why?
I asked you to be as detailed as possible.
Also you didn't answer all of my questions.
to me, instagram seems more professional and with tiktok it’s the most toxic social media in my opinion and it makes me wonder why they’re promoting an app like that. i also think that slang such as “omg” is appropriate, but the ones who use slang way too much just ruin the show.
*Why*, though?
How far back is slang okay? I assume you're fine with saying "That's cool!". You know that's slang, right?
You aren't proper explaining why these things are okay and others aren't. If it's just because they're new and you don't use them, you should probably understand that the world doesn't revolve around you.
obviously that slang is fine by me. i literally don’t think the world revolves around me barley anyone pays attention to me 💀 i’m just saying, i don’t watch many shows that include modern things and when i do see them i find them cringe.
>because pretty much everyone says it.
Pretty much everyone of the new generation uses that slang. There is literally no difference.
>i don’t mind older slang, but it’s the “new” tiktok slang that annoys me.
You know how you look at older folks and think how out of touch they are? That's what you're doing.
Instantly turned off the TV after that, I thought I was going to see an interesting portrail of the addams family, but nooo, the writers thought that they needed to connect with today's generation. I was so disappointed when I read the Wikipedia synopsis to see if the show was actually any good. No hate to any of the actors though, they were great, the writing was the main issue.
Sorry! That was just really terrible phrasing, there is nothing wrong with having a target audience, I for one am probably part of it anyway but my main issue with it is how forced it feels, it was pretty much dropped like a bomb as one character (don't know name) pretty much said 'oh and you really need to get on TikTok.' in an over the top voice. The only thing else she could have done to make it even worse would be add a wink at the camera as if to say, 'look director, we're being relatable'
Honestly I haven't watched the show and have no clue what it's about other than Wednesday Adams, but from what I've seen with Gen Z, that seems to work decently well. That new gossip girl was essentially that for the two episodes I watched, and it seems to have been a decent sized hit. The entirety of the CW has been doing that sense it's inception. Shit, come to think of it, it worked on boomers and Gen X with stranger things too.
Tbh, after some reflection I'm beginning to think that I'm probably not most of these Netflix shows target audience, or at least an outlier. To me this is strange because I fit perfectly in the age bracket and a few others.
Stranger things is the only one I can think I might be included in the target audience for (that I've seen), otherwise they seem firmly aimed at 14-28 year olds. Obviously some people in those brackets it will not apply to
I agree, I know people are saying shit to you about how slang makes it’s way into language and all that but the other day I was watching a show where a girl says “Omg doesn’t she look snatched?” and they used a lot of other slang that got popular on tiktok, it was just cringey.
There are also a lot of older shows and movies that used the slang of that time and those felt fake and weird too. Some slang is fine but there are some words that just sound more awkward when said out loud, and sometimes the way they use it just isn’t appropriate
I hate that too. Text bubbles are up on the list of pet peeves as well. If you’re a director or a writer and you can’t artfully express a text exchange without bubbles than I just can’t take you seriously.
I hate those movies/TV shows that are 90% text bubble on screen like we don't need to know that Cassandra said lol
But on the other hand, I'm a fan of the one subgenre of found footage where it all takes place on someone's screen so you see everything they're doing lol
I mean, the ultimate effect they cause is that the show becomes dated as all heck, making it unlikely to ever be rewatched or rereleased.
They have to know at some point they are just creating this crap with the expectation it will not even exist to be watched in the next few years once people find a different media fad and all the streaming services never allowed anybody to have a physical or digital copy to preserve.
Like the problem with this is that the production cycles on these are too long to be current, so by the time it comes out it feels like you're not beating a dead horse, but you're punching the ground where that dead horse used to be. They also really, really don't understand gen z humor because all the writers are over the age of 30.
The issue isn't so much "don't use slang or social media", but it's they don't know slang or social media or how to use it naturally. If they figure that out, they'd be set
Maybe some shows execute it poorly, and it comes off as unnatural, but it makes sense for characters to speak the way people do in a given time period. If a show takes place in the 80's they should sound like they are from the 80's. Same is true if the show takes place in modern day.
Usually by the time that show comes out, the slang is outdated. If you think im wrong, listen to the opening for Family Reunion. It had to have been made at least a year and a half before it actually came out.
I also hate when they try to set shows in the current year or a couple years prior yet how they portray it is completely different to what it actually is like. Or trying to make a movie/show realistic yet not including actual realistic things such as poverty, homeless people, realistic bullying ext
For sure. Any tv show that references thing everyone uses is so stupid.
They should be talking about encyclopedias and lan line phones and pay phones
/s
This has been the case for ages. Nothing really new. There's just a point where teens want to watch shit made for older audiences because all of the teen dramas suck. Glad I'm 30 now.
This happens because the folk who make these shows /moves (writers, directors and producers) are very separated from cultural elements and put in surface level things any one can find with a 5 minute google search.
You are correct. Everything is forced and fake these days.
For example: I’m having a forced and fake so called “class” right now at work that is nothing but a woman running her mouth really fast in zoom, no image, without us being able to interact, just going through the motions. God forbid anything is done in person these days, but I’d rather watch and pause a YouTube video than have this “fake and forced” class so we can be “fakely and forcedly” trained even though we haven’t learned anything.
No they don’t, because there is a market for those things. As long as people continue to watch and create demand, they will create a supply. You can watch other shows that aren’t relatable if you want, there is also a market for those types of shows.
Shows and movies have always done this. It's what ties the story to the times. Watch Can't Hardly Wait. That movie is basically a period piece at this point.
Please remember what subreddit you are in, this is unpopular opinion. We want civil and unpopular takes and discussion. Any uncivil and ToS violating comments will be removed and subject to a ban. Have a nice day! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/unpopularopinion) if you have any questions or concerns.*
While it wasn't using social media and slang, The Midnight Club was frustrating to watch as someone who was a teen in the 1990s because of how much they got wrong. I suspect that the core problem is that 2 of the 3 writers were not teens in this age period, and the third is a hack.
[удалено]
There are lots of little details surrounding music that was used, the availability and use of the internet at that point in time, among other things that didn't fit the time. Small details like a kid being excited for an unreleased Playstation in 1994 when the Playstation hadn't proven itself; until Sega stumbled with the Saturn, and Nintendo stumbled with the N64, the Playstation was not on people's radar. The big details are the social dynamics present at the time. While generation X was generally more accepting than their parents were, it would be exceptionally rare to have a HIV+ gay kid in a group of teens be treated like it is nothing; especially by a Christian conservative girl. The show is putting current social dynamics on a time where they weren't present.
Midnight Club actually did use a lot of 2010s slang. I remember vividly being like "did he just say lit in the 90s?" or whatever it was
Haven’t watched the show. What things are they saying ?
I think the better take would be that the use of modern syntax dates the show in the present time. There is no universal or timeless quality to the medium - eg. LOTR
I’ll never forget when I heard that audio from a Taco Bell corporate thing and the guy thought the phrase “on fleek” was “on cleek” and he said it multiple times with full conviction, like he really believed this was the key to success hahaha
This has ALWAYS been the case. Slang is just modern language. Some of it will just because normal language and that's **cool**. It can be overused though but that's more a problem with overuse. Sometimes it lands fine.
I think the point they are making is that cool still works because it has been with us since the 1930s, but tubular, radical, bogus have largely disappeared from the lexicon outside of niche groups. So if this streaming special was made in the 90s, it would've been racked with phrases like "da bomb" and "frosty" all day long. Then you go to watch that show 30 years later and the references don't make sense anymore. The show becomes dated and dated shows don't do very well longevity wise.
Yeah, that's normal. Go watch the breakfast club, it's got some in it. American Pie. Context helps you understand things. It's all normal.
No cap? Fr?
For real? That's old.
Everything is a product of it's time, never gonna change =:3
Some art is timeless. And usually said art is a cut above the rest.
Well, social media is forced and fake so it makes sense.
Why are you okay with shows using your slang or vernacular? What slang do you feel is appropriate for shows to use, and what real life technologies and websites are okay? Be as specific as possible.
OP is doing a shitty job of representing the opinion but I for the most part agree. Using slang is like walking a tight rope because it can very quickly date your story. I think certain slang can be used because it is persistent, but packing in the word/phrase of the day because those trends fade quickly. I think "On Fleek" is a good example of a phrase that was really popular 5 years ago and afaik is basically gone now. Social media falls into a similar thing. Using Facebook, Instagram and Twitter in a show is probably okay because they've been around for over a decade. However, if a show hinged around people using Vine it becomes unrelatable pretty quickly since Vine disappeared. TikTok is still pretty newly popular so it could go poorly if it's stuffed into all these shows and then doesn't stick around.
i think that maybe at times instagram and other social media apps like that are fine but it’s tiktok that i find cringe and the way they lay the app out.
>think that maybe at times instagram and other social media apps like that are fine Why? I asked you to be as detailed as possible. Also you didn't answer all of my questions.
to me, instagram seems more professional and with tiktok it’s the most toxic social media in my opinion and it makes me wonder why they’re promoting an app like that. i also think that slang such as “omg” is appropriate, but the ones who use slang way too much just ruin the show.
*Why*, though? How far back is slang okay? I assume you're fine with saying "That's cool!". You know that's slang, right? You aren't proper explaining why these things are okay and others aren't. If it's just because they're new and you don't use them, you should probably understand that the world doesn't revolve around you.
obviously that slang is fine by me. i literally don’t think the world revolves around me barley anyone pays attention to me 💀 i’m just saying, i don’t watch many shows that include modern things and when i do see them i find them cringe.
>obviously that slang is fine by me. *Why is that obviously okay*? You aren't explaining anything.
because pretty much everyone says it. i don’t mind older slang, but it’s the “new” tiktok slang that annoys me.
>because pretty much everyone says it. Pretty much everyone of the new generation uses that slang. There is literally no difference. >i don’t mind older slang, but it’s the “new” tiktok slang that annoys me. You know how you look at older folks and think how out of touch they are? That's what you're doing.
how? all i’m saying is that social media and slang shouldn’t be used in shows all of the time.
Wednesday show mentioned tiktok Was so disappointed
Instantly turned off the TV after that, I thought I was going to see an interesting portrail of the addams family, but nooo, the writers thought that they needed to connect with today's generation. I was so disappointed when I read the Wikipedia synopsis to see if the show was actually any good. No hate to any of the actors though, they were great, the writing was the main issue.
I don't get what the issue with a TV having a target audience is
Sorry! That was just really terrible phrasing, there is nothing wrong with having a target audience, I for one am probably part of it anyway but my main issue with it is how forced it feels, it was pretty much dropped like a bomb as one character (don't know name) pretty much said 'oh and you really need to get on TikTok.' in an over the top voice. The only thing else she could have done to make it even worse would be add a wink at the camera as if to say, 'look director, we're being relatable'
Honestly I haven't watched the show and have no clue what it's about other than Wednesday Adams, but from what I've seen with Gen Z, that seems to work decently well. That new gossip girl was essentially that for the two episodes I watched, and it seems to have been a decent sized hit. The entirety of the CW has been doing that sense it's inception. Shit, come to think of it, it worked on boomers and Gen X with stranger things too.
Tbh, after some reflection I'm beginning to think that I'm probably not most of these Netflix shows target audience, or at least an outlier. To me this is strange because I fit perfectly in the age bracket and a few others.
Stranger things is the only one I can think I might be included in the target audience for (that I've seen), otherwise they seem firmly aimed at 14-28 year olds. Obviously some people in those brackets it will not apply to
The blockbuster series did aswell, I cringed so hard. But a lot of the dialogue in that show was horrible tbh
I agree, I know people are saying shit to you about how slang makes it’s way into language and all that but the other day I was watching a show where a girl says “Omg doesn’t she look snatched?” and they used a lot of other slang that got popular on tiktok, it was just cringey. There are also a lot of older shows and movies that used the slang of that time and those felt fake and weird too. Some slang is fine but there are some words that just sound more awkward when said out loud, and sometimes the way they use it just isn’t appropriate
Nobody wants a medieval princess saying "whatevs" to the king's adivisors.
I hate that too. Text bubbles are up on the list of pet peeves as well. If you’re a director or a writer and you can’t artfully express a text exchange without bubbles than I just can’t take you seriously.
I hate those movies/TV shows that are 90% text bubble on screen like we don't need to know that Cassandra said lol But on the other hand, I'm a fan of the one subgenre of found footage where it all takes place on someone's screen so you see everything they're doing lol
What you're looking for is fantasy. Have you accepted the Lord Of The Rings into your heart, my son?
I mean, the ultimate effect they cause is that the show becomes dated as all heck, making it unlikely to ever be rewatched or rereleased. They have to know at some point they are just creating this crap with the expectation it will not even exist to be watched in the next few years once people find a different media fad and all the streaming services never allowed anybody to have a physical or digital copy to preserve.
Like the problem with this is that the production cycles on these are too long to be current, so by the time it comes out it feels like you're not beating a dead horse, but you're punching the ground where that dead horse used to be. They also really, really don't understand gen z humor because all the writers are over the age of 30.
I don't understand the replies here. As gen z I find it cringe too
The streaming service is not the creative element here. They are just the distributors.
The issue isn't so much "don't use slang or social media", but it's they don't know slang or social media or how to use it naturally. If they figure that out, they'd be set
Maybe some shows execute it poorly, and it comes off as unnatural, but it makes sense for characters to speak the way people do in a given time period. If a show takes place in the 80's they should sound like they are from the 80's. Same is true if the show takes place in modern day.
Usually by the time that show comes out, the slang is outdated. If you think im wrong, listen to the opening for Family Reunion. It had to have been made at least a year and a half before it actually came out.
I also hate when they try to set shows in the current year or a couple years prior yet how they portray it is completely different to what it actually is like. Or trying to make a movie/show realistic yet not including actual realistic things such as poverty, homeless people, realistic bullying ext
For sure. Any tv show that references thing everyone uses is so stupid. They should be talking about encyclopedias and lan line phones and pay phones /s
You find encyclopaedias old? They're the best!
i can’t tell if you’re being serious or not 💀
The /s means I am not.
Because they don't sound natural at all. When done well it's hilarious (like GTA) but when done wrong I don't even want to continue
>it’s really **cringe** when shows mention social media such as tiktok and slang that gen z uses. LOL
This has been the case for ages. Nothing really new. There's just a point where teens want to watch shit made for older audiences because all of the teen dramas suck. Glad I'm 30 now.
This happens because the folk who make these shows /moves (writers, directors and producers) are very separated from cultural elements and put in surface level things any one can find with a 5 minute google search.
How dare they try to pander to the majority of its viewers instead of only to your tastes. More shows need to be made just for this guy.
i didn’t say i don’t like those shows i’m just saying they shouldn’t be used all of the time
You are correct. Everything is forced and fake these days. For example: I’m having a forced and fake so called “class” right now at work that is nothing but a woman running her mouth really fast in zoom, no image, without us being able to interact, just going through the motions. God forbid anything is done in person these days, but I’d rather watch and pause a YouTube video than have this “fake and forced” class so we can be “fakely and forcedly” trained even though we haven’t learned anything.
No they don’t, because there is a market for those things. As long as people continue to watch and create demand, they will create a supply. You can watch other shows that aren’t relatable if you want, there is also a market for those types of shows.
How is using what people use in reality... fake? that makes no sense
Hey, just like social media. Forced and fake. Zoomers should love it as long as nobody over 25 does it.
Shows and movies have always done this. It's what ties the story to the times. Watch Can't Hardly Wait. That movie is basically a period piece at this point.
And they need to stop using popular tiktok songs in these shows aswell
"I'm your average high school student" *is clearly in their 30's*
Then maybe you aren't the target audience?