Back from the Future

Dear Past Me,
It feels like just yesterday that I was finishing the Spring Semester of my second year at UP. So much has happened in the ten years since then. Because I don’t want to spoil anything about your future life, here are five pop culture highlights that have happened in the past decade. Enjoy!

1. More and more reboots and remakes

That’s right! The trend of reimagining classics has continued. Thankfully, we’ve still gotten some original ideas from larger production companies like DreamWorks and Warner Brothers. However, in the grand scheme, there is still a strong surge of Disney live action remakes as well as reboots of book to movie adaptations. Starting with Percy Jackson and the Olympians, which was set to come out in 2024, the Riordanverse has expanded in TV show adaptations. So far, The Kane Chronicles and Magnus Chase have joined the Percy Jackson and the Heroes of Olympus on the tube (yes, old slang has come back). We’ve also seen TV adaptations of some of your favorite book series from grade school such as Cryptid Hunters, Kingdom Keepers, and, of course, The Missing Series. Hollywood finally figured out that books, specifically book series, should become TV shows, not movies.

2. Continued Franchises

Remember watching a great movie and thinking, wow, that was such a great story just the way it was, and then next thing you know some big production company treats it like the goose that laid the golden eggs? Welp, creators just don’t know when to stop. Remember when Frozen 2 came out six years after the first one? Well, now we’ve had Frozen 3 and Frozen 4 as well as an Olaf and Sven spinoff. There have also been two more Pirates of the Carribean movies as well as many TV show “epilogues” to other long-lasting franchises such as Shrek, James Bond, and Jurassic Park/World.

3. Slang change!

So long slay, period, and queen! Let’s face it, you know the slang was way better back in middle school and high school. Roasted, legit, and tea hit hard. I don’t want to spoil what the kids are saying now, but I will say that Gretchen Weiners was 30 years ahead of her time.

4. And the new historical American Girl is…

You might remember that way back in 2023, the American Girl company added the newest historical American Girl dolls: Isabel and Nicki from 1999. Well, this year they are releasing the next doll in the Historical collection: Madison from the 2000s. After adding 3 more dolls from the late 80s and early 90s between 2026 and 2029, the company is releasing their first doll from the 21st century!

5. Flying cars in 2015? More like 2030

That’s right! Back to the Future 2 was only off by fifteen years. While we aren’t quite at the level of The Jetsons just yet, there have been fast advances in the realm of transportation. With the increase of electric cars that were released in the late 2020’s, the first actual flying car was patented three years ago. Flying cars are set to hit local dealerships within the next five years.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this sneak peek into the future! See you in ten years! -Your Future Self

Feature Image by Blanca Díaz from Pixabay