History UsefulNotes / TheNewTens

* There was a boom in light, happy, or extravagant entertainment as the world looked for distractions: According to the Sekhmet Hypothesis, 2010 marks the beginning of the new "hippie" era, in contrast to the dark and gloom of the previous decade. [[MemeticMutation Internet memes]] now enjoy national exposure in every form of media. JamesCameron overturned [[{{Film/Titanic}} his own record]] with ''Film/{{Avatar}}'', and reignited the 3D craze which had lain fallow since the 1980's. ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'' became a household name. ''Series/{{Glee}}'' harkens to [[NostalgiaFilter days gone by]] while simultaneously [[HopeSpringsEternal capturing the enthusiasm and optimism of youth.]] LighterAndSofter remakes such as ''[[TotalRecall2012 Total Recall]]'' gave birth to the "[[SlidingScaleOfShinyVersusGritty shiny reboot]]." DarkerAndEdgier has also done well in the current environment: Consider the progression of the ''Film/HarryPotter'' films, as per their source novels, the explosion of YoungAdultLiterature set in {{dystopia}}n settings, i.e. ''TheHungerGames'' series, the trend of gritty FirstPersonShooter games like ''ModernWarfare'', and zombies becoming a genre fiction mainstay almost as popular as vampires. In TV, the laugh track, currently associated with "campy" sitcoms targeted to younger audiences, went out of fashion, leading to an era of [[TheSeventies cynical and quirky humor]].

** The debate over gun control in the U.S. may be approaching a turning point thanks to several mass shootings in 2012, particularly the Aurora, CO movie theater shooting (15 deaths at a midnight premiere of ''TheDarkKnightRises'') and the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre in Newtown, CT (26 deaths, 20 of whom were children, some as young as five years old). This has also called the issues of mental illness and, to a lesser extent, the increasingly angry tenor of Americans in general into question.

** Things went FromBadToWorse when Hurricane Sandy caused significant mayhem in the Eastern United States at the cost of '''over $63 billion'''. ''Especially'' NewYorkCity, where [[BigBlackOut power cut outs]] in said city and the flood prevalent in streets and tunnels were enough to lead flight cancellations and the two-day closure of NASDAQ to happen and affect the 2012 Presidential Election. Even the subway station lines were flooded. Since Sandy, scientists and politicians alike discuss climate change amplifies storms and sea level rise has had made the coasts less attractive. Meanwhile, citizens relocated from New York and other effected states because the storm was too severe, to the point you could read articles calling it [[BrokeTheRatingScale "Superstorm Sandy"]] and [[FrankenX "Frankenstorm"]][[note]]"Frankenstorm" was named for Sandy's dissipation on Halloween, but later media coverage used "Superstorm Sandy" due to its extremely powerful winds.[[/note]]
* In the Middle East, long-standing dictatorships in Egypt and Tunisia were overturned by massive protests, sparking a wave of protests for democracy and/or Sharia[[note]]The two are ''quite'' compatible, especially considering that [[http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/1322/what-is-sharia the latter is so damned slippery it might as well be meaningless]].[[/note]] across the region. Libya's Gadaffi was overthrown in a civil war, while Bahrain crushed the revolutionaries and Syria's crackdown has reached brutal and horrifying levels. Time will tell how this all plays out, especially where these countries' attitudes towards the West, and America in particular, are concerned.

** Things went FromBadToWorse when Hurricane Sandy caused significant mayhem in the Eastern United States at the cost of '''over $63 billion'''. ''Especially'' NewYorkCity, where [[BigBlackOut power cut outs]] in said city and the flood prevalent in streets and tunnels were enough to lead flight cancellations and the two-day closure of NASDAQ to happen and affect the 2012 Presidential Election. Even the subway station lines were flooded. Since Sandy, scientists and politicians alike discuss climate change amplifies storms and sea level rise has had made the coasts less attractive. Meanwhile, citizens relocated from New York and other effected states because the storm was too severe, to the point you could read articles calling it [[BrokeTheRatingScale "Superstorm Sandy"]] and [[FrankenX "Frankenstorm"]].

** Things went FromBadToWorse when Hurricane Sandy caused significant mayhem in the Eastern United States at the cost of '''over $63 billion'''. ''Especially'' NewYorkCity, where [[BigBlackOut power cut outs]] in said city and the flood prevalent in streets and tunnels were enough to lead flight cancellations and the two-day closure of NASDAQ to happen and affect the 2012 Presidential Election. Even the subway station lines were flooded. Since Sandy, scientists and politicians alike discuss climate change amplifies storms and sea level rise has had made the coasts less attractive. Meanwhile, citizens relocated from New York and other effected states because the storm was too severe, to the point you could read articles calling it [[BrokeTheRatingScale "Superstorm Sandy"]].

** Things went FromBadToWorse when Hurricane Sandy caused significant mayhem in the Eastern United States at the cost of '''over $63 billion'''. ''Especially'' NewYorkCity, where [[BigBlackOut power cut outs]] in said city and the flood prevalent in streets and tunnels were enough to lead flight cancellations and the two-day closure of NASDAQ to happen and affect the 2012 Presidential Election. Even the subway station lines were flooded. Since Sandy, scientists and politicians alike discuss climate change amplifies storms and sea level rise has had made the coasts less attractive. Meanwhile, citizens relocated from New York and other effected states because the storm was too severe.

** Things went FromBadToWorse when Hurricane Sandy caused significant mayhem in the Eastern United States at the cost of '''over $63 billion'''. ''Especially'' NewYorkCity, where [[BigBlackOut power cut outs]] in said city and the flood prevalent in streets and tunnels were enough to lead flight cancellations and the two-day closure of NASDAQ to happen and affect the 2012 Presidential Election. Even the subway station lines were flooded. Since Sandy, scientists and politicians alike discuss climate change amplifies storms and sea level rise has had made the coasts less attractive. Meanwhile, citizens relocated from New York because the storm was too severe.

** Things went FromBadToWorse when Hurricane Sandy caused significant mayhem in the Eastern United States at the cost of '''over $63 billion'''. ''Especially'' NewYorkCity, where [[BigBlackOut power cut outs]] in said city and the flood prevalent in streets and tunnels were enough to lead flight cancellations and the two-day closure of NASDAQ to happen and affect the 2012 Presidential Election. Even the subway station lines were flooded. Since Sandy, scientists and politicians alike discuss climate change amplifies storms and sea level rise has had made the coasts less attractive. On another hand, there are people who relocated from New York because the storm was too severe.

** Things went FromBadToWorse when Hurricane Sandy caused significant mayhem in the Eastern United States at the cost of '''over $63 billion'''. ''Especially'' NewYorkCity, where [[BigBlackOut power cut outs]] in said city and the flood prevalent in streets and tunnels were enough to lead flight cancellations and the two-day closure of NASDAQ to happen and affect the 2012 Presidential Election. Even the subway station lines were flooded. Since Sandy, scientists and politicians alike discuss climate change amplifies storms and sea level rise has had made the coasts less attractive.

** Things went FromBadToWorse when Hurricane Sandy caused significant mayhem in the Eastern United States at the cost of '''over $63 billion'''. ''Especially'' NewYorkCity, where [[BigBlackOut power cut outs]] in Manhattan and the flood prevalent in streets and tunnels were enough to lead flight cancellations and the two-day closure of NASDAQ to happen and affect the 2012 Presidential Election. Even the subway station lines were flooded. Since Sandy, scientists and politicians alike discuss climate change amplifies storms and sea level rise has had made the coasts less attractive.

** Things went FromBadToWorse when Hurricane Sandy caused significant mayhem in the Eastern United States at the cost of over $63 billion. ''Especially'' NewYorkCity, where [[BigBlackOut power cut outs]] in Manhattan and the flood prevalent in streets and tunnels were enough to lead flight cancellations and the two-day closure of NASDAQ to happen and affect the 2012 Presidential Election. Even the subway station lines were flooded. Since Sandy, scientists and politicians alike discuss climate change amplifies storms and sea level rise has had made the coasts less attractive.

* Thanks to the ponderous success of Music/LadyGaga, {{Synthpop}} has had recieved a comeback in the United States (at least) after two decades worth of AlternativeRock and HipHop despite the declining CD sales attributed to the rise of the MP3 format's popularity. Many a pop star has cashed in the craze at least once, [[BrokenBase with mixed results]]. And has anyone heard of "[[Music/JustinBieber Bieber Fever]]"? If you like it, [[InternetBackdraft be prepared to be tortured to death]] when Justin Bieber's {{Hatedom}} criticizes that not only you're one of his fans, but [[ItsPopularNowItSucks he's]] '''''[[ItsPopularNowItSucks LUNATICALLY]]''''' [[ItsPopularNowItSucks popular among high school students (especially if you're female)]] [[HypeBacklash and looks or sounds too young to make music appealing to such audiences]]. If you don't like it, check out {{Music/Adele}}, for whom she earned a Grammy Award lottery as a result from the records she broke on her sophomore album ''21'', or Indie Rock band fun., whose single "We Are Young" is the first rock song to hit number one on the ''Billboard 200'' in nearly four years.

** Things went FromBadToWorse when Hurricane Sandy caused significant mayhem in the Eastern United States at the cost of over $63 billion. ''Especially'' NewYorkCity, where [[BigBlackOut power cut outs]] in Manhattan and the flood prevalent in streets and tunnels were enough to lead flight cancellations and the two-day closure of NASDAQ to happen. Even the subway station lines were flooded.

** Main/ItGotWorse when Hurricane Sandy caused significant mayhem in the Eastern United States at the cost of over $63 billion. ''Especially'' NewYorkCity, where [[BigBlackOut power cut outs]] in Manhattan and the flood prevalent in streets and tunnels were enough to lead flight cancellations and the two-day closure of NASDAQ to happen. Even the subway station lines were flooded.

** ItGotWorse when Hurricane Sandy caused significant mayhem in the Eastern United States at the cost of over $63 billion. ''Especially'' NewYorkCity, where [[BigBlackOut power cut outs]] in Manhattan and the flood prevalent in streets and tunnels were enough to lead flight cancellations and the two-day closure of NASDAQ to happen. Even the subway station lines were flooded.

** ItGotWorse when Hurricane Sandy caused significant mayhem in the Eastern United States at the cost of over $63 billion. ''Especially'' NewYorkCity, where a [[Main/BigBlackOut]] in Manhattan and the flood prevalent in streets and tunnels were enough to lead flight cancellations and the two-day closure of NASDAQ to happen. Even the subway station lines were flooded.

** ItGotWorse when Hurricane Sandy caused significant mayhem in the Eastern United States at the cost of over $63 billion. ''Especially'' NewYorkCity, where there was a [[BigBlackOut]] in Manhattan and flooding enough streets and tunnels to lead flight cancellations and the two-day closure of NASDAQ to happen. Even the subway station lines were flooded.

* Thanks to the ponderous success of Music/LadyGaga, {{Synthpop}} has had recieved a comeback in the United States (at least) after two decades worth of AlternativeRock and HipHop despite the declining CD sales attributed to the rise of the MP3 format's popularity. Many a pop star has cashed in the craze at least once, [[BrokenBase with mixed results]]. And has anyone heard of "[[Music/JustinBieber Bieber Fever]]"? If you like it, Justin Bieber's {{Hatedom}} will criticize the fact that not only you're one of his fans, but [[ItsPopularNowItSucks he's]] '''''[[ItsPopularNowItSucks LUNATICALLY]]''''' [[ItsPopularNowItSucks popular among high school students (especially if you're female)]] [[HypeBacklash and looks or sounds too young to make music appealing to such audiences]]. If you don't like it, check out {{Music/Adele}}, for whom she earned a Grammy Award lottery as a result from the records she broke on her sophomore album ''21'', or Indie Rock band fun., whose single "We Are Young" is the first rock song to hit number one on the ''Billboard 200'' in nearly four years.

* Thanks to the ponderous success of Music/LadyGaga, {{Synthpop}} has had recieved a comeback in the United States (at least) after two decades worth of AlternativeRock and HipHop despite the declining CD sales attributed to the rise of the MP3 format's popularity. Many a pop star has cashed in the craze at least once, [[BrokenBase with mixed results]]. And has anyone heard of "[[Music/JustinBieber Bieber Fever]]"? If you like it, Justin Bieber's {{Hatedom}} will criticize the fact that not only you're one of his fans, but [[ItsPopularNowItSucks he's]] '''''[[ItsPopularNowItSucks LUNATICALLY]]''''' [[ItsPopularNowItSucks popular among high school students (especially if you're female)]] [[HypeBacklash and looks or sounds too young to make music appealing to such audiences]]. If you don't like it, check out {{Music/Adele}}, for whom she earned a Grammy Award lottery as a result from the records she broke on her sophomore album ''21'', or Music/IndieRock band fun., whose single "We Are Young" is the first rock song to hit number one on the ''Billboard 200'' in nearly four years.

* Thanks to the ponderous success of Music/LadyGaga, {{Synthpop}} has had recieved a comeback in the United States (at least) after two decades worth of AlternativeRock and HipHop despite the declining CD sales attributed to the rise of the MP3 format's popularity. Many a pop star has cashed in the craze at least once, [[BrokenBase with mixed results]]. And has anyone heard of "[[Music/JustinBieber Bieber Fever]]"? If you like it, Justin Bieber's {{Hatedom}} will criticize the fact that not only you're one of his fans, but [[ItsPopularNowItSucks he's]] '''''[[ItsPopularNowItSucks LUNATICALLY]]''''' [[ItsPopularNowItSucks popular among high school students (especially if you're female)]] [[HypeBacklash and looks or sounds too young to make music appealing to such audiences]]. If you don't like it, check out Main/Adele, for whom she earned a Grammy Award lottery as per her record-breaking album ''21'', or Main/IndieRock band fun., whose single "We Are Young" is the first rock song to hit number one on the ''Billboard 200'' in nearly four years.

* Thanks to the ponderous success of Music/LadyGaga, {{Synthpop}} has had recieved a comeback in the United States (at least) after two decades worth of Main/AlternativeRock and Main/HipHop. Many a pop star has cashed in on the craze at least once, with mixed results. And has anyone heard of "[[Music/JustinBieber Bieber Fever]]"? If you don't like that, check out Music/Adele, for whom she earned her Grammy Award lottery for ''21'', or Main/IndieRock band fun., whose single "We Are Young" is the first rock song to hit number one on the ''Billboard 200'' in four years.

* Thanks to the ponderous success of Music/LadyGaga, {{Synthpop}} has had recieved a comeback in the United States (at least) after two decades worth of Main/AlterntiveRock and {{Main/HipHop}}. Many a pop star has cashed in on the craze at least once, with mixed results. And has anyone heard of "[[Music/JustinBieber Bieber Fever]]"? If you don't like that, check out Main/IndieRock fun., whose single "We Are Young" is the first rock song to hit number one on the ''Billboard 200'' in four years.

** Newer anime series, with [[Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica a]] [[{{Durarara}} few]] [[Anime/TigerAndBunny notable]] [[Anime/PantyAndStockingWithGarterbelt exceptions]], received lukewarm receptions thanks to what some see as an over-saturation of generic adaptations of Harem, {{Moe}}, or Romantic Comedy titles; while many Mecha series were relegated to OVA status, and the television format is heavily laden with [[SteinsGate adaptations of]] [[FateZero established franchises]] and little to no original properties, though when they do crop up, [[{{Bakemonogatari}} they]] [[HanasakuIroha proved]] [[Anime/AnoHanaTheFlowerWeSawThatDay to]] [[EdenOfTheEast be]] [[Anime/AngelBeats fairly]] [[Anime/TokyoMagnitude8 competent]] [[MobileSuitGundamAGE at]] [[SakamichiNoApollon least]]. Some blame this on the increasing availability of anime on the internet, which exposes audiences to [[SturgeonsLaw more mediocre works]] in contrast to the [[NostalgiaFilter relatively-filtered novelties]] of TheNineties, along with [[BiasSteamroller the apparent lack of reliable, professional critics' references]], [[AnimationAgeGhetto a result of inadequate and prejudiced public attention]] making the 10% of SturgeonsLaw in this medium almost indistinguishable to general audiences. Others blame the industry's decision to [[PanderingToTheBase pander more and more to the hardcore]] {{Otaku}} market at the expense of casual and foreign fans. Whatever the reason, its effect has been felt on the Western anime industry, as Creator/BandaiEntertainment left the business, [[FourKidsEntertainment 4Kids]] entered into bankruptcy and sold off to Saban, and {{Funimation}} and SentaiFilmworks suing each other, threatening the existence of one or both companies.

* In the United States, healthcare reform was also pushed through intense controversy, but Americans' first concern remains the lackluster economy. This led to a rebuff of the Democrats, the arrival of the Tea Party movement in 2009, the birth of the Occupy movement in 2011[[note]]protests began near Wall Street and spread to cities across the nation. Protests have died down and their methods remain heavily disputed, but the movement had considerable impact on political discourse[[/note]], seemingly-endless deadlocks on every issue under the sun, and deeply unpopular copyright bills which some fear could bring the ''1984'' {{Dystopia}} to life. The net result is ''even [[UpToEleven more]]'' hatred and distrust aimed at politicians. In 2012, Obama was still re-elected in an electoral landslide. [[note]] Obama's victory owed much to the enthusiasm of minorities and women, while he only gained 39% of the white vote. Some commentators argued the country is far more racially polarized than commonly believed, and others such as Ann Coulter and Herman Cain openly argue that the GOP is a dying party.[[/note]]

* In video games, the New Tens became a source of cynicism and discontent, as delayed releases, cancellations, disappointing results, and [[BrokenBase base-fracturing]] content saw the gaming community fracture. The long-awaited ''DukeNukemForever'' didn't quite live up to the [[DevelopmentHistory/DukeNukemForever anticipation]], ''Postal III'' was panned, and the ending to ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'' was so universally reviled that {{Bioware}} completely overhauled said ending into something more satisfying. The cancellation of ''MegamanLegends 3'' generated further animosity towards {{Capcom}}, and even ValveSoftware saw fans divide themselves over opinions on ''VideoGame/{{Portal 2}}'' and when ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'' became Free to Play. Then there were the [[ReviewsAreTheGospel Metacritic bombs]]... On the other hand, despite ongoing debates over the nostalgic past of video games, and the onslaught of gritty shooters saturating the market, the success of games like ''Battlefield 3,'' ''Modern Warfare 3'', ''Skyrim'', ''Skyward Sword'', ''Halo4'' and ''[[CallOfDutyBlackOps2 Black Ops 2]]'' demonstrate that the industry is not as feeble as [[UnpleasableFanbase more cynical gamers]] make it out to be.

* In video games, the New Tens became a source of cynicism and discontent, as delayed releases, cancellations, disappointing results, and [[BrokenBase base-fracturing]] content saw the gaming community fracture. The long-awaited ''DukeNukemForever'' didn't quite live up to the [[DevelopmentHistory/DukeNukemForever anticipation]], ''Postal III'' was panned, and the ending to ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'' was so universally reviled that {{Bioware}} completely overhauled said ending into something more satisfying. The cancellation of ''MegamanLegends 3'' generated further animosity towards {{Capcom}}, and even ValveSoftware saw fans divide themselves over opinions on ''VideoGame/{{Portal 2}}'' and when ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'' became Free to Play. Then there were the [[ReviewsAreTheGospel Metacritic bombs]]... On the other hand, despite ongoing debates over the nostalgic past of video games, and the onslaught of gritty shooters saturating the market, the success of games like ''Battlefield 3,'' ''Modern Warfare 3'', ''Skyrim'', ''Skyward Sword'' and ''CallOfDutyBlackOps2'' demonstrate that the industry is not as feeble as [[UnpleasableFanbase more cynical gamers]] make it out to be.

* In Africa, the most dramatic change was the creation of a new nation in 2011 when UsefulNotes/SouthSudan split from Sudan. The Islamic insurgency known as al-Shabab, which had turned Somalia into one of the most violent and anarchic places on Earth, lost control of Somalia's towns and cities. Crucially, it was forced out of the capital, Mogadishu, in August 2011. It left the vital port of Kismayo in September 2012. The early 2010s marked a period in which surrounding African nations started to take the threat of Islamic terrorism in their neighbour seriously. Kenya, worried that al-Shabab was kidnapping truckloads of its tourists, took a lead in the African Union's fight to push the enemy back South, while Ethiopia attacked from the west and seized towns in Somalia's centre.