Hollywood may think young people care only about social media, but they actually watch more movies and shows than older generations think — and they’d watch more if they felt the content was relatable, according to a new UCLA study.
More than half of the young people surveyed, or 57%, said they watch more television and films than older generations think they do, though they watch that content differently than their elders. Nearly half of respondents said they mostly watch TV and movies on personal devices, such as tablets, phones or laptops.
And about 78% said they “at least sometimes” watch movies and shows via YouTube, TikTok or other social platforms, according to the annual Teens and Screens report from the Center for Scholars and Storytellers in UCLA’s department of psychology. (The report surveyed 1,500 people ages 10 to 24 located across the U.S.)
Unlike last year, when young people preferred fantasy over other genres, they now want to see stories that reflect lives like theirs and are more relatable, as opposed to more magical content or aspirational narratives about rich or famous people, the report said.
More than half of those surveyed said they want to see more stories where friendship is the central relationship — and especially mixed-gender friendships, rather than those relationships always becoming romantic.
“From a developmental perspective, from a neuroscience perspective, they’re really focused on learning how to be a friend,” said Yalda T. Uhls, senior author of the study and founder and chief executive of the UCLA Center for Scholars and Storytellers. “They want to have an accurate reflection of their reality.”
That sentiment is reflected in the types of movies and shows that the young respondents said they watched. Netflix’s ensemble teen hit “Stranger Things” topped the list, followed by the Jenna Ortega-led “Wednesday” and the Nickelodeon animated show “SpongeBob SquarePants.”
Shows that center romance, such as “The Vampire Diaries” and “The Summer I Turned Pretty” are lower on the list, according to the report.
Young people are also tired of tropes, including love triangles, toxic relationships that become romantic and relationships based mostly on physical attraction.
These findings point to the types of stories that would increasingly bring young people out to theaters or to their screens, Uhls said.
“There isn’t enough out there that really resonates for them,” she said. “When there is, like ‘Wicked,’ which is about friendships, and ‘Barbie,’ which is about friendships, they go and see it.”
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