http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheNewTens

A decade of spectrums, when there were protesters on the streets and superheroes on the screen...

Shunsaku Ban (to Osamu Tezuka), ), Astro Boy "2013? I'm sick of hearing about 2013! If it's supposed to be 2013, how come I'm stuck driving this old beater instead of a flying car, eh? And why am I still wearing this threadbare old suit? Couldn't you give me something more dashing?"

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The Twenty-Tens or Two-Thousand (and) Tens.

The first uses of the year 2010 surged late in the 20th century as a 20 Minutes into the Future date as the year 2000 was getting closer, apart from looking for something more original. The word "New" is used to distinguish the 2010s from the 1910s — arguably unnecessary since there are few people alive who remember The Edwardian Era (the current oldest living person as of 2019 was 7 when King Edward died, and just 11 when WWI began, and the oldest-known living Brit was 6).

In political terms, the decade began between 2008 and 2012, with the collapse of Lehman Brothers in September 2008 and Barack Obama's election as the first African American President of the United States in November. This was quickly followed by the first UK coalition government since WWII, the rise of WikiLeaks, the American Tea Party, the British UKIP, the Spaniard "Indignados" and the BP oil spill (2010); "Occupy Wall Street", the Arab Spring, the death of Osama bin Laden, Anonymous, the first American government shutdown since The '90s, the Tucson and Oslo massacres (2011); Vladimir Putin becoming President of Russia—for the second time, the Aurora and Sandy Hook massacres, and Barack Obama's reelection (2012). In popular culture terms, the decade began in 2010-12 with the rise of Hipster culture, which coincided with rock being replaced by electronic and urban music as the driving force of pop music. Smartphones and tablets quickly became commonplace, and Netflix and Spotify surged as major players, kickstarting the streaming business.

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In the West, the decade began with young, cosmopolitan and progressive leaders being voted to replace the folksy, "gut feeling"-centered and conventional politicians that marked the 2000s. Their modernizing ambitions however ended up colliding with the realities brought upon by the economic downturn of 2005-10 and the Pyrrhic outcome of The War on Terror, which led to a widespread climate of distrust towards the establishment, embodied by the surge of populist movements both on the left and the right, gradually leading to a level of political confrontation not seen in decades. "Homegrown terrorism" became increasingly common, with politicians engaging into an endless debate about a response.

Social reforms (primarily regarding same-sex marriage) met with little approval and fierce criticism both from conservatives who did not ask for them as well from progressives who felt short-changed. The loss of economic certainty following the 2008-09 financial crisis led to calls for wider welfare provisions as well as the return of high-paying manufacturing jobs as the rise of the tech industry generated a long period of economic growth offset by little improvement at best for those not in said sector. A number of controversies regarding digital piracy and net neutrality generated more suspicion over the relationship between political and corporate interests, and the uncovering of the National Security Agency led to concerns about surveillance. Cases of police brutality against blacks, anti-immigration policies, and hate crimes against minorities reduced faith on law and order among these groups. Feminism returned to prominence as the "gender gap" became a major source of concern. Towards the end of the decade, the exposure of prolific film producer Harvey Weinstein as a serial sexual abuser and anger over U.S. President Donald Trumps alleged treatment of women kick-started the #MeToo movement,note The term was coined by black civil rights activist Tarana Burke in 2006 but was popularized by actress Alyssa Milano shortly after the Weinstein revelations went public in which women (and some men) in Hollywood and beyond opened up about their experiences of sexual abuse, leading to the resignations and ostracism of many powerful men and the demand for greater sexual equality.

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In the Arab world, the death of Osama bin Laden in 2011 did not end Islamic extremism. The Arab Spring, which began as a pro-democracy protest movement, soon gave way to civil war and brutal suppression in most places, particularly Syria and Libya. Many rebel groups sprang up (with those fighting the Syrian government being supported either by oil-rich Persian Gulf States, Western countries, or both) and began occupying territories that fell into anarchy after the U.S. pulled out of Iraq. Before long, the militant "Islamic State" had not only spread over numerous Arab countries, but also became infamous for taking hostages and beheading them. Their deeds also led to a massive exodus from those countries towards Europe and North America. The migrant crisis generated even more tensions, with anti-Muslim sentiments gaining traction over the ensuing rise in crime rates and fears that terrorists were trying to break through.

The East saw an increased influence over global affairs: China and (to a lesser extent) India largely avoided the Great Recession, becoming economic powerhouses, which seemed to make China Takes Over the World closer to reality. Russia recovered some of its Cold War-era power (becoming decisive over the Syrian conflict and supporting rightist populist movements throughout the West), and North Korea had the world worrying about a nuclear conflict with the West. In cultural terms, Japan's place as the continent's cultural and economic powerhouse became disputed by South Korea.

For the first time in over 70 or 80 years, the political and economic climate has impacted the socio-cultural in an inescapable fashionnote This particular "decade page" is unique (along with the 30s and 40s) for listing politics before culture, becoming more watered-down and risk-averse compared to the "alternative" trends of the late 90s and 2000s, with an important focus on political correctness in society. On the one hand, the early years of the decade were marked by escapist fare, such as Glee, the Marvel Cinematic Universe films, young adult-geared romantic dramas and "shiny reboots". However, sordid settings and cynical attitudes thrived in media, reflecting the turbulent sign of the times. Dystopian fiction (The Hunger Games, The Last of Us, Divergent) and horror films (The Purge) served as allegories for the growing social and economic divisions in American society. Dark cable dramas (Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead, Breaking Bad) took away the spotlight from broadcast network shows, and several franchises got acclaimed grim-and-gritty interpretations in the vein of The Dark Knight Trilogy. Even nostalgia got an ironic twist thanks to the Hipster subculture, ironically popularizing the past like never before, most markedly indicated by a noticeable burst in newfound enthusiasm for analog audiovisual media such as vinyl records, film stock, and CRT televisions. As the social climate became even more tense by the second half of the decade, escapism not only became totally unfashionable outside of kid-geared works, but also triggered a raging debate about works becoming either too politicized or not political enough.

The earlier years of the decade saw a change on what "manliness" meant in the West, while "lipstick feminism" popularized terms such as "empowerment" and "mansplaining", also reclaiming others previously used as slurs such as "witch" and "bitch", although by the end of it, gender conventions in general became openly questioned and defied. Similarly, LGBT characters began popping up in fiction and a number of celebrities came out/transitioned to little controversy, whereas the mere presence of gays in mainstream media had been an extremely touchy subject as recently as the end of the previous decade.

After almost a half-century defining popular music, rock vanished from the mainstream (with only a few crossover hits), being replaced by Electronic Dance Music and Hip-Hop, as pop culture became increasingly centered on affluent urban, non-white and female audiences. Electronic Dance Music replaced the more upbeat Eurodance and Disco genres, and both cynicism and escapism were seen in this era of music videos. Whereas more adult-oriented music videos of the past tended to be upbeat and exciting, in this era they were often marked by the aesthetics of being tired or depressed. The beginning of the decade also marked the revival of the "musical heartthrob" phenomenon — but, this time, American acts took a backseat to those coming from Great Britain, whose culture became popular again as it gained a reputation as being highly sophisticated relative to more lowbrow North American counterparts. During the second half of the decade, Hispanic "Reggaeton" and Korean "KPop" acts became popular around the world after years of unabated dominance of their home bases.

While globalization became increasingly unpopular in politics, entertainment in general became more international (a notorious example being the influence of the Chinese market over Hollywood and sports), something attributable to the rise of mobile technology, which allowed anyone to keep "in touch" anywhere, absorbing social lives to a degree unimaginable ten years earlier. This has allowed "selfies" and "memes" to spread worldwide instantly. From a commercial point of view, online advertising has encouraged some authors to prioritize the work over the earnings, and developing closer relationships with their fanbases. Content-wise, this has also led to a substantial increase in creative freedom compared to the increased scrutiny in the mainstream, a development made visible by the explosion of streaming services, with series such as House of Cards, Orange Is the New Black, Stranger Things and The Handmaid's Tale becoming huge hits. The success of apps like Uber and Airbnb led to hopes about the rise of the "collaborative economy," while Amazon was thought to solve whatever problem consumers could have. By the second half of the decade however, technological optimism gave way to skepticism (in the best of cases), as tech giants were blamed for the tribulations of numerous trades, and social media was now seen as a soapbox of sorts for scurrilous information and social engineering. The fact that start-ups from Twitter to Airbnb have spent their entire existences in the red has only flared alarms further.

While chronologically the 2010s ended on December 31, 2019, under a sociopolitical lens, a number of events from 20142019 marked a turning point that changed the cultural landscape into a vastly different one compared to 20102013. There was the Islamic migrant crisis in 2015, the normalization of terrorism in the West with ISIS in 2014, the populist wave that elected Donald Trump and decided Brexit in 201516, the rise of social justice warriors and the alt-right in 201415, and the start of what Vox calls the "Great Awokening" in 2014. Meanwhile, there was also the Hollywood #MeToo scandals, questioning of gender conventions, the dominance of sci-fi/superhero, musical, and animated films over the box-office with more serious productions turned to streaming, the rise of trap and non-English pop music along with the quick decline of EDM and electropop divas, the various internet controversies and their lasting impact on media discourse (and arguably online discourse in general), and the general politicization of media. Given this, it's likely that the impact of the mid-late 2010s will be conspicuously felt well beyond the first half of the 2020s. The end of the era both culturally and politically, even with its two different halves, is almost certainly The COVID-19 Pandemic of 2020; in fact, December 31, 2019 was literally the day the World Health Organization was first informed about the virus.

Check out the Useful Notes page for more details on notable aspects of this era. For current events that occurred during this decade, see its real life page.

See Also: The Turn of the Millennium and The New '20s, and The Millennium Age of Animation.

Tropes associated with the 2010s:

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Examples of Media set in this decade:

Unclear/Several years

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

Films In Ghostbusters II, one of the guests on Peter Venkman's show "World of the Psychic" predicts that the end of the world would happen on February 14, 2016. Venkman: Valentine's Day. Bummer.

Assassin's Creed (2016) is set in 2016, with Templar Ellen Kaye outright stating the year. Live-Action TV How I Met Your Mother: The flashforward to Barney Stinson and Robin Scherbatsky's divorce, as well as the selling of the apartment which served as the setting of the show for much of the series's run, happened in this year. Western Animation Young Justice: Invasion is set in 2016. Video Games Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and 3 are set in 2016, 5 years after the first game, though the final mission of the latter game extends out to late January of 2017.

The Ace Attorney series is for the most part set in this decade, with the first game starting off in the fall of 2016.

Persona 5 says it's set in 20XX, but uses the same calendar dates as 2016.

2017

2018

2019

Works made during the 2010s

Advertising

Animated Shows

Asian Animation

Comic Strips

Arrowhead started in 2018.

Big Nate celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2011.

Bloom County returned in 2015 after a 25-year absence.

Brenda Starr ended in 2011.

Dogs of C-Kennel, started syndication in 2010.

Doonesbury: The daily strips entered a hiatus in 2014, being replaced by a recollection of noted continuities from the strip's history.

Dustin, started in 2010.

Gasoline Alley hit the 100-year mark in 2018, with Walt alive and kickin'.

Macanudo was first syndicated in North America in 2014.

Phoebe and Her Unicorn, started as a webcomic in 2013 and became a syndicated strip in 2015.

(Barney Google and) Snuffy Smith celebrated its centennial in 2019.

Wallace, the Brave, started in 2018.

Wizard of Id celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2014.

Han-guk Manhwa Aenimeisyeon

Puppet Shows

Radio