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It was the older generation that was wise, but now Generation Z prefers to see less sex on TV and less “straight” sex between men and women.
Gen Z teens and Gen Alpha teens are also tired of over-sexualized characters, cliche “love triangle” plot lines, franchises and remakes — partly related to previous research showing that young people are having less sex than ever before.
That’s the finding of a new psychological survey that questioned 1,500 young people between the ages of 10 and 24 about their evolving media tastes.
Nearly half of 13-24 year olds surveyed, 47.5%, said they felt sex was unnecessary to develop the story of most TV shows and movies.
The majority, 51.5%, wanted to see more images of friendship and platonic relationships on their screens.
But while researchers acknowledged that part of this shift is due to the age-old problem of studios recycling plots and relying on sex to attract attention, psychologists who took part in the survey also linked it to a “loneliness epidemic” among teens, post-Covid.
Gen Z teens and Gen Alpha teens are tired of over-sexualized characters, cliche “love triangle” plot lines, franchises, and remakes. Nearly half of 13- to 24-year-olds surveyed, 47.5 percent, said they felt sex was unnecessary to advance the story of most content.
The majority of teens, 35.7%, reported that they turned to television and movies to “escape and take my mind off things.” The researchers attributed this shift, in part, to “scary headlines about climate change, pandemics, and global destabilization.”
Generation Z, usually defined as people born between 1997 and 2010, has been called the “Reasonable Generation” due to their disinterest in drinking, smoking and bad behavior compared to those before them.
But they are also dealing with a harsher world.
“As a member of Generation Z, I’m not surprised by some of what we’re seeing this year,” said the study’s first author, Stephanie Rivas Lara.
“There has been widespread discourse among young people about the meaning of community in the wake of Covid-19, and the isolation that has come with it,” Rivas Lara noted.
Rivas Lara, director of youth engagement at the Center for Scholars and Storytellers at UCLA, noted that the majority of teens from this year’s survey reported that they chose entertainment to escape reality.
The majority of teens, 35.7%, reported that they turned to entertainment to “escape and take my mind off things.” 33.9% said they simply watch to “entertain” themselves.
Only 8.4% said they watch these forms of content to “gather information about something.”
“Teenagers look to media as a ‘third place’ where they can connect and feel a sense of belonging,” Rivas-Lara said. “With scary headlines about climate change, pandemics and global destabilization, it makes sense that they would gravitate toward it.” What is most familiar in those spaces.
Last year, teens confirmed that the topic they wanted to see on screen could be described as “a life different from mine.” But this year in the University of California’s Teens and Screens report, this dropped to the ninth most common reason. Now, the second reason for tweens and teens, according to the survey, was just the opposite: to enjoy “a life like mine.”
This desire for comfortable viewing represents a dramatic shift from the 2022 edition of UCLA’s CSS survey.
Last year, teens confirmed that the topic they wanted to see on screen could be described as “a life different from mine.” But this year in UCLA Adolescents and Screens ReportExploring other people’s lives dropped to the ninth most common reason.
Now, the second reason tweens and teens watch a movie or a movie, according to the survey, was exactly the opposite: enjoyment.”Live like my life.
In light of this trend, APerhaps unsurprisingly, inspiring stories about the rich and famous were at the bottom of teens’ wish list, with only about 10% choosing them as their top favorite.
Unrealistic stories, showing that hard work always equals success, for example, or that everything always works out well, were the second most disliked stereotype.
Dr. Yalda Ols, co-author of the survey report, noted that recent studies show that young people are having less sex than their parents did at their age, and many prefer to remain celibate.
“We know that young people are suffering from an epidemic of loneliness and seek to become role models in the art they consume,” Dr. Ols said in a press release.
“While some storytellers use sex and romance as shorthand for communication between characters,” Dr. Ols noted, “it is important for Hollywood to recognize that teens want stories that reflect the full range of relationships.”
Film series like Twilight and the Hunger Games may have once delighted young audiences with stories containing romance and love triangles, but new generations view them with more skepticism.
On the report’s list of the media stereotypes most disliked by teens, romantic themes ranked fourth, with love matches often seeming “forced,” “unnatural” or “toxic.”
The top stereotypes mentioned in this category included love triangles, where the main male and female characters always have to end up together romantically, and relationships are necessary to be happy.
“As described in this report, they are tired of stereotypical and heteronormative stories that valorize romantic and/or sexual relationships – especially toxic ones – and are looking for more representations of friendship, which is a fundamental aspect of adolescence and social life.” “Luxury,” the authors write in the 2023 Teens & Screens report.
A dramatic shift in generational ideas about gender, sexuality and politics has also played a role in this shift, going beyond Hollywood clichés.
“Gen Z’s values and desires reach depths beyond what society typically explores,” say the report’s authors.
Among 13- to 24-year-olds, 39% wanted to see more asexual or “romantic” characters, that is, people who have little or no romantic attraction toward others and who have no or barely any desire to be in a relationship.
“Teenagers also reject the dominant image of traditional heteronormative relationships and demand more diverse types of relationships in the media,” they wrote.
Meanwhile, young people surveyed also said they consider social media to be the most authentic form of media, above television and traditional media, with 38 percent choosing TikTok as the most authentic social media platform.
“AroAce is a term used to describe someone who identifies as both aromantic and asexual,” report the authors of a dive into the new Teen Dictionary.
Dr. Ols added as a warning: “Although teens want less sex on TV and in movies, what the survey is really saying is that they want more of the different types of relationships that are reflected in the media they watch.”
Meanwhile, young people surveyed also said they consider social media to be the most authentic form of media, above television and traditional media, with 38% choosing TikTok as the most authentic social media platform.
In terms of viewing habits, half of those surveyed preferred TV shows to be available to watch, while only a quarter preferred a show with a new episode every week.
(Tags for translation) Daily Mail