Influence of Multimedia on Millennials

By Frank Manriquez

Whether we believe it or not, social media, music, and movies have all had a lasting influence. For instance, I saw a video on Twitter that was titled, “The father, the son, and the holy Tebow.” As most people know, Tim Tebow, who is a devout Christian, often times gets mocked for his beliefs. We see the media frequently  create this picture that Christians are naive and narrow minded dummys. In turn, this has a positive or negative influence on many people. Some may see it and be frustrated, while others might not even know Tebow and because of this, they think he is some kook! In this blog we will see how the media as a whole has affected  millennials.  

Social Media:

It is a powerful source, with a lot of force behind it. People are able to voice their own opinions, disagreements, and beliefs. First, let's take Twitter for an example of the influence it may have. When one makes a profile on Twitter, they are able to follow whoever they want, and have whoever they want follow them back. So a newsfeed could only consist of celebrities, or just political news feeds, or even religious accounts or people. Therefore one could have a biased opinion, or be influenced by other media sources within their news feed. On the other hand you have Facebook, which nowadays mostly  consists of viral videos and shared posts by thousands. For the most part, the posts shared are one sided and most viewers, unless they took the time to research, would only believe the content at face value. Therefore, these posts influence their opinions and or views on the subject. Lastly, Instagram! Let’s face it, it is a huge influence on millennials today, especially on young women and how instagram portrays what a female body is “supposed to look like.” It’s terrible and not realistic in any way!! I covered the negative influences social media might have, but it’s not all bad. Social media could be used as an important tool to receive and see news at the tip of our fingers. We could see something and it could impact us to want to change our eating habits, beliefs, or even our lifestyle.

Music:

It plays a vital role on our generation today. We have access to various sources such as Spotify and Apple music, which allows users to stream any and all music immediately. Millions of millennials listen to all styles of music which have a lasting influence on them. For example, many hip-hop artists rap about sex, drugs, and alcohol in their lyrics. They also degrade women and feel the need to flaunt their money, making it seem like these materialistic possessions are the most important assets in life. We the listeners may not feel like it influences our lives, but it does. The way sex is portrayed and spoke about in music is a complete distortion of what it really is and it also takes away the value of how it’s supposed to be.

Movies:

Let’s go rob a building, flip a car, or even get the cutest girl in school! No...no that’s just what they do in movies. But for real, why do movies make it seem so easy to do these things? Regardless if movies are over the top or not, they are extremely influential. This could be a good thing and a bad thing too. Movies can help someone muster up some courage to talk to their crush, or could help someone find their way to jail after drifting their car down mainstreet!

Although the media can be very influential in a negative way, it also can have a positive influence on some as well. I myself think that the media itself is a great tool, it is just used in the wrong way. This in turn, creates this negative influence on many young adults. Through what goes into our eyes on social media, what we hear in music lyrics, and how we feel about movies, they all paint a picture of what kind of person we are. People may not believe that the media influences their lives, I disagree. How we speak publicly says a lot, what we listen to says a lot, and what we watch says a lot. As Christians, we have to be careful what goes into our eyes and ears and let God be the powerful influence that directs our lives.

GIF or JIF

By Noah Norred

It’s pronounced JIF. NO ITS PRONOUNCED GIFNOITSPRONOUNCEDJIFTNOITSPRON- chill out people. There is a raging war of keyboard warriors fighting online whether or not they can change people from pronouncing GIF to JIF. If you are anything close to as cool and internet savvy as I, you will know what the whole debate is about. First question: why do I care? You don’t. Close the laptop.

Okay you do care. Y’all will be delighted to know that there is a history behind this stupid debate. Sadly it does not involve pulling hair and gnashing of teeth, but something even more exhilarating! It’s called talking lameeee. But surprisingly if you don't fall asleep reading through it and pay attention, I’ll explain to you why it’s much more than just a debate over pronouncing an acronym, and why it shows more character of your opponent than you think.

Alright, so how did this cluster of madness start? This began with the actual creator of the Graphics Interchange Format (Steve Wilhite), coming out and telling people that it’s pronounced “JIF” and not “GIF” at The Webby Awards (ensue shock and riots in the streets). People started to immediately pour out the constant reasons why “GIF” (with the hard “G”) would be proper pronunciation. They used the whole Jif peanut butter argument; the fact that the Webster Dictionary accepts both pronunciations and that by giving you a gift I am not going to say “here is your jift.” That’s weird dude.

But I, being the nice guy I am, have some ammo for Wilhite argument. First, there are examples in the world where the “G” at the beginning of a word is pronounced like a “J”, such as “Giant” and “Giraffe.” The grammatical exception usually comes from the origins of where on the globe the word originated. But second, the creator himself also said that “JIF“ with a soft “G” sound is the correct pronunciation of the word. This brings in the whole idea of judging someone’s character by whether or not they use “JIF” or “GIF”.

The people that received the first waves of Graphics Interchange Format images on their computer monitors saw the file as a “.gif” file. The vast majority of people who will read this post will be Americans who, using basic (and correct) ‘Merican grammar, will see this and pronounce it as “GIF” as we usually do not see a G on an unfamiliar word and pronounce it like a J. Fast forward a couple decades and today we have been saying “GIF” this whole freakin time, just for Steve Wilhite in 2013 to say that it’s pronounced with a J.  *TRIGGERED*

Now it’s a whole new battle: Creator vs. consumers. Daddy vs. rebellious kids. Government vs. the people. One could make the assumption that whatever pronunciation they select is what they depend on. Do they trust superiors/government? Or do they take the voice of the people more seriously?

Dude. You can even ask a girl you are taking out to coffee this question and learn a lot from that one question. “Do you pronounce GIF with a G or a J?” She/He says “JIF”, then you know that person pays attention, but is mostly a “yes” man or woman to authorities and anyone holding an award. That person is  influenced by people with more than $1 million in their pocket. That person is okay if you are just “feeling the water,” but not a keeper. Mostly because you don’t have a million dollars.

If, however, the person pronounces it with a G, that person is a people person. They have their head on straight and have been informed throughout history and their lifespan. They fact check and pay more attention to the voice of the masses and are open minded. This person is sane.

They say “What’s a GIF?” Just leave dude. Just get out. That’s just sad.

Tru.

Simon Sinek's Millennials Analysis

By Presence Massie

The Millennial Manifesto from two weeks ago was based on Simon Sinek’s theories concerning our generation. He argues for four characteristics which play major factors in some of the issues we face:

1. Parenting
2. Technology
3. Patience
4. Environment

His talk is insightful yet, as with any theories regarding a whole generation, filled with generalizations. This does not mean however, that it is without value.

Watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MC2X-LRbkE

What No One has Realized about Millennials: We are Adults

By Haley Aguirre

If you are reading this, thank you! Below I have provided a well-researched list of four qualities in millennials that no one seems to notice (hint: they are mostly good). This is not bragging about how great our generation is, that will come in a later post so be on the LOOKOUT; rather it is a serious discussion on legit life problems we deal with as young adults and the skills we utilize to get through it all.

First for the problems,

The struggle to establish ourselves is real, mostly because we are poor. Older millennials actually do have jobs and are starting families already, but the youngest of millennials (currently between age 18 and 22) are in the midst of college. That technically makes us grown ups, which means there is pressure to get our own life going. A simple expectation for our age, right? Wrong. Getting our own life implies embarking on a career, buying a house, starting a family, and building up our own assets. According to Student Loan Hero, “The average Class of 2016 graduate has $37,172 in student loan debt.” If we enter our first chance at independence with debt up to our elbows, then NO, establishing ourselves is not a simple task. It was never easy to begin with, but there is something different going on here. Catherine Rampell from the Washington Post dives into the issue a little deeper. She finds that homeownership among 35 year olds and younger is at 34.1%, “And for the first time since 1880, a greater share of this age group is bunking up with Mom and Dad,” instead of other living arrangements.

This is kind of a crazy situation...so what do we do? Take the qualities no one has noticed we have, and use them to our advantage.

Ironically, we have it good. Okay, maybe this one is already known, but the effects are not. First I will put it all out there blatantly. Millennials are privileged. They are most likely to grow up well nourished, educated, somewhat wealthy, and they can, “Enjoy freedoms that their predecessors could have barely imagined,” (The Economist). With the exception of poverty, most young adults today have experienced a good, comfortable life. That is why adulthood is so shocking, yet so great at the same time. We are privileged to have the resources that allow us to be successful. A great pedestal of advantage has formed under our feet, and I believe we can leap off this pedestal into the world of responsibility. Sounds better than the usual smack-talk about being lazy, right?

We are the most educated generation for our age. It makes sense. The norm for a typical millennial is to graduate high school, then go to college. The first eighteen years of life are basically training us for post-secondary education, and establishing eligibility for getting accepted into major universities. While research is beginning to show that college is not the best route for everyone, we cannot help the fact that a mass number of today’s young adult population already have at least a bachelor’s degree and will certainly use this knowledge in the field. Pew Research Center compares the education levels of four generations of young adults in this basic diagram:

We read! Yes, print books included. All that education is a result from hours upon hours and pages upon pages of reading. Somehow though, we find even more books to read for our leisure. Ok, maybe not everyone is a book worm, but on average millennials access print and digital reading material more often than older generations did at our age. Neil Howe even wrote a Forbes article titled, "Millennials: A Generation of Page Turners," and basically dismantled popular beliefs that said otherwise. To be clear, digital material includes eBooks and apps such as Hooked which put novels in the form of text messages. Test out this habit for yourself: How many of these books have you read? Was it for school or fun? Hmm. That should come in handy sometime in life.

So there you have it. The next phase for this entire generation is to start their own life, which looks like an impossible feat. But with our steady backgrounds, well-educated minds, history of reading, (and the good things that will be listed in an article to come) we are bound to turn out just fine. There is every reason to have faith in ourselves as we take on new responsibilities and learn to survive the “real world.”

It is funny, all this talk about millennials in comparison to older generations makes me wonder… what about the younger generations?

I’ll leave that up to you.

The Millennial Manifesto; An Aim for Authenticity

By Presence Massie

The history of all hitherto existing millennials is the history of inauthenticity.

I, _____________, did nothing to deserve this. I was dealt these cards. I will, however, aim to rise above my social conditions.

I, a millennial, admit I was raised to be entitled, self-interested, and impatient.

Firstly, I recognize I am a product of the generation who raised me. As a result of their parenting strategies, I was unrealistically told I could become that which I had dreamed. The tyranny of the “I can achieve anything I set my mind to” ideology was fed to me endlessly by my parent(s) so much so that sitting with failure was not a viable option. It was impossible for me to fail. The counterfeit trophies and medals, which I won for losing games and competitions, were designed to lure me from defeat. This is why I am entitled. I was convinced I was deserving of anything I desired while failure was veiled by rewards.

It is the great beast of my age, however, where my battle is truly waging: on the plains of technology. There is no one individual to blame for this. History followed this path. Having been raised in the Digital Revolution’s full swing, social media and other forms of communication such as texting, have completely altered my reality. Authentic relationships are increasingly difficult for me to build and maintain. My perceptions of others are formed through their filtered, edited lives on social media. The abundance of internet and communicative technology at a young age provided my brain with dopamine as I coped with  the stresses of adolescence. Now I fall prey to the unexplainable pleasures of facebook responses and text tones in place of quality time with living, breathing individuals. I mindlessly scroll through my phone in moments of boredom rather than speaking to the person by my side. Deep, meaningful-relationships are increasingly elusive. Inauthenticity runs and roams unfettered and I recognize this.

Thirdly, as a product of instant gratification following the digital age, I recognize I have developed a character of impatience. Microwaves, fast food restaurants, and high speed internet of 300 Mbit/s are all too.slow.for.me. Instead of waiting week by week for a tv show to air, I binge-watch another on Hulu. Rather than sitting in a movie theater simultaneously laughing and crying with complete strangers as we are affected by the same film, I lay in my bed, in my dark room, by myself, watching Netflix. This is my happy place and I abhor it.

Furthermore, my impatience causes me to be lazy and ultimately give in to my social anxiety by escaping human interaction. Instead of going to a store, I purchase items on Amazon with a mouse-click and am likewise able to avoid uncomfortable small talk with the cashier.

____

I, a millennial, recognize I am entitled, self-interested, and impatient. In spite of the social conditions into which I was born and the lies with which I was instilled, in my search for authenticity, I will commit myself to the realization that life is to be lived through arduous and onerous work, the pursuit of genuine relationships, and the practice of long-suffering in my day to day life.

I will ardently strive to remove hindrances which keep me from pursuing deep, meaningful relationships and living authentically.

I, _____________, choose authenticity.

***One great step I can take is ridding my life of the temptations aroused by my smartphone. I can purchase a flip phone instead. Here are ten reasons to convince me:

http://beingmillennials.blogspot.com/2017/02/making-flip.html




__

Increasing in Complexity

By Ria Bulthuis

There have been so many fantastic video games out lately--Horizon: Zero Dawn, Nier:Automata, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild--take your pick. Graphics in games have come ridiculously far in the past twenty years, and there’s a lot less of the original Doom’s “just shoot things” mentality and a lot more focus on story as well.

My first console was a Nintendo 64 that my parents bought for the family when I was around 6. It came with games like Super Mario 64, Star Fox 64, Mario Kart, NBA Jam, and Banjo Kazooie. A large portion of my childhood was spent with them. In more recent years, I’ve moved on to games that are like the ones I mentioned previously, and I’m amazed at the differences.

We millennials grew up primarily with games meant to entertain. Technology was much more limited when we were younger, and the main audience of a lot of games was still kids. Because of these two things, gameplay was a lot more important--they had to be fun. It wasn’t a major goal of game creators to tear a player’s heart into tiny pieces, like a few recent games I could mention have tried, and occasionally succeeded, to do. Most of the storylines that I remember consisted of “the princess is in another castle,” without ever meeting the princess or having any knowledge of why we needed to rescue her other than the fact that she mentioned cake.

There are exceptions to every rule of course, but even complex stories from twenty-year-old games seem quite simple in comparison to the ones we’ve grown accustomed to recently. As technology evolves and graphics get better, it seems to me like they’ve been getting more cinematic with their storylines as well. The Last of Us is one example from four years ago, and some readers might know exactly what I mean. At the most basic level, it’s a zombie game. It’s a lot less about zombies, though, than it is about the relationship between a snarky teenager and her decreasingly reluctant caretaker. Not everyone cried at the end, but I happen to know a number of people who did.

What I’m saying is that we’ve reached a new era of video games. Gameplay is still important, but it’s no longer necessarily the priority. Creators have learned to use the technology to create relatable, flawed characters that a player can have relationships with.

Our Obsession with Everything Old School

By Noah Norred

Yeah yeah we know the Baby Boomers/Generation X messed up the economy (supposedly but that's economics and I am not here to chat about that),  and be influenced by them. What? I’m talking about the way we dress up, act, and find enjoyment the way they did. Ever swing by that basic blonde girl’s Instagram and see that “I was born in the wrong generation” poster with a background of a buggy or mountains? That’s what I am talking about. Now I am not saying we are all the stereotypical millennial, but we are Generation Y, and we do tend to look and do everything our parents did back in the day.

Kids, we take after our parents a little more than we understand. More often these days, we see the trends going back to the 70s and the 80s of rock and pop at their hey-days. We see kids wearing Converse more often than with the latest Air Force Ones. We take more delight in getting records and big speakers than throwing ourselves over for the new Apple bluetooth earbuds (if you have seen them, I don’t think anyone would). As said in an earlier blog post, we don't want to embrace the new stuff just yet. We want the bronco, the beetle bus, and old Mustangs back. We find favor in the minimal, low maintenance home decor with light bulbs and 50’s furniture styling.

We are so obsessed with these things, but why? Well we (generation Y, the cooler millennials) had a freaking good childhood. We grew up with parents that inspired us to live like them with the coolest toys (back when Nintendo was pulling the Color and the 64) and the greatest icons of the day such as Michael Jackson, Britney Spears (Pre-cocaine), and when MTV was still slightly good.

You woke up on a Sunday morning and went to church. Then you came back home and put on Cartoon Network. I’m talking Tom and Jerry, Scooby Doo, Sponge Bomb, Bugs Bunny, Flintstones. What is this Adventure Time crap? Now it's called Boomerang? We had it best with these classy, good vibe, save the day kinda cartoons. Now we have 12 year olds on Netflix watching Rick and Morty on a massive iPhone with those stupid Apple earbuds I mentioned a bit ago. It’s not that I care if some kid is watching adult swim at a not-so-adult age, it’s that the kids today are not stopping to check what generation X and Y liked back in the day. They don’t check out cartoons, they don't rock converse, and they don't even try the old school music we grew up with and adored.

This newer generation is growing up too fast. They are being influenced too easily to be set to the newest and best stuff. They do not care about the old stuff. They do not care what influenced this generation of (mildly) cool people. They are the ones who care for the newest pair of Sperry's, social justice, and whatever Kim Kardashian is wearing (if anything). Those annoying Snapchat discover stories that fill up more than half your screen? The next generation is clicking those. Girls are being given higher standards than ever. Boys are getting their priorities all wrong. They are being taught that complaining and pettiness is what gets them attraction. This is much different than the “get over it and suck it up” method we were brought up with (this doesn't mean all Generation Z kids are like this).

So this is the deal folks: we gotta start being better mentors. Generation Z is almost entirely influenced by social media. They basically use the camera lens of their iPhone as a second pair of glasses. Technology is how they see the world, and they connect through what we all hate the most: Social Media. Guess who is influencing people through social media? Buzzfeed and modern day MTV.

So let’s step it up and tell them what’s good. We have to get them off their phones and let them smell the coffee. There are kids walking around that never would bat an eye towards a Nintendo, VHS, or something without bluetooth, and would never dare just walk up to a girl out of pure confidence. We need to show them what the Gen X and the baby boomers did for us so we don’t have to deal with our “post-millennials” later.

Reading Technology

But You Really Don't Need to Pick a Side

By Ria Bulthuis

There’s a bookstore in the town where I grew up called the “Used Book Emporium.” I spent a lot of time there because my mom traded in old books that she’d finished reading for new ones. It was one of those cool old buildings with really tall wooden bookshelves, and dark wood floors that were all warped and creaky and still have the brass measurement markings from when the building was a hardware store.  When I was really young, I sat in this tiny rocking chair in the kid’s section and just read until my mom was finished.

This is my actual bookshelf. Thought you might appreciate that.

Books have changed a lot since then--ebooks have become a lot more popular and accessible. I’m the Chief Creative Officer who was mentioned in “Making ‘The Flip,’” because I’ve only ever had a flip phone. Since I don’t have a smartphone, or any other devices, I haven’t read a lot of ebooks recently, but last year I was reading them almost exclusively. Here are the pros and cons of ebooks, based on my personal experience:

Convenience

Libraries have a lot of books online that you can get without actually going anywhere. I discovered this great app called Overdrive, which lets you sign into libraries with your card number and download books from wherever to read on your phone. I actually read one on my laptop recently because I didn’t have easy access to a physical library. While I don’t actually recommend reading books on your laptop, considering the size and impracticality of it, apps like this are great on smaller devices. There’s also the fact that most people carry their phones with them, so taking a book along doesn’t require extra effort.

Weight and Size

This one is pretty obvious, but ebooks take up a lot less physical space than paper books. I have shelves full of my paper books, but if I wanted to read them all in a different country, I could download all of them and loads more without taking up more space than something I’m already taking with me. I’ve found this a huge advantage when I’m traveling. When I was younger--or, I suppose, when I was the same age as I am now--I’ve filled my luggage almost completely with books until I have very little room left over for “the necessities.” You know, clothes, toothbrush, all those things you don’t really need.

For people who want convenience, ebooks are probably the way to go. They’re more portable and easy to get your hands on, for sure. Even though I spent most of a year reading them when I actually had a device, there’s still something about paper books that really appeals to me.

Meaning

Reading paper books requires more planning and thought. Since you need to remember to take a book with you and think more about taking it out to read, it gives more meaning to the story, as well as to the action of reading itself. They can also be more immersive--there’s a feel to paper that a glass screen doesn’t have, and formatting is much more individual to the book--maps, pictures, and the decorations around chapter breaks all add to the feel of the story.

Other People

I carry a paper book with me most of the time, so I have something to do if I have five minutes to spare. This has resulted in multiple people saying to me that I inspire them because I read so much. Although this reason is rather shallow, it’s not likely that’s a compliment you’ll get if you read on your phone, since people will probably assume you’re doing something else.

Whether you read ebooks, or paper books, or both, reading is great. It can give you something to do if you’ve got any spare time, even if it’s only a few minutes. It can give you life experience from the sort of life that doesn’t really exist, so you don’t really need to go out and fight bad guys, do magic, or lose friends in order to gain very real experiences and lessons from those things. You can be waiting in line, or on a bus, or in an old, creaky bookstore, but at the same time you can be in a completely different, impossible world. All I’m saying is give books a chance, either way. It’s worth it.

Generation Identification

By Presence Massie

I am twenty-one, but call me an old soul. According to my results on this PEW Research quiz, I was born between 1946 and 1964 placing me in the Baby Boomer Generation. My dad, a Gen. Xer, is considered more of a millennial than I am, having received a score of 69 while I had a 32.

Do you identify with your generation?

Take the quiz, then comment below and give us your thoughts!

http://www.pewresearch.org/quiz/how-millennial-are-you/

A Letter? For Me?

By Haley Aguirre

I have tried hard to remember which birthday it was when I was gifted my first set of personalized greeting cards. There was an elegant lavender “H” on each card, with a single vine of leaves decorating the letter. The white background gave me room to write and draw on them. They seem to have been a constant presence in my life, lacking a beginning. The art of letter writing in general however, has just about come to an end.

It was not any day in particular, just sometime during elementary school, not too long ago. In my first five years I wrote letters to my cousins who lived abroad. We struggled to form complete sentences at that age, but loved the idea of sending things half way across the globe to a friend and receiving something in return. In a way, it was a gift exchange, which made running out to the mailbox everyday a bit of an exciting mystery. In first and second grade, my class wrote to pen pals. We never met those whom we addressed letters to, but they were students our age attending a school just like ours. Somehow we could talk to them and get to know them by putting pen to paper. Quite fascinating when you think about it! By the end of elementary school, most thoughts or efforts to write letters had fizzled out. My lavender greeting cards remained in my in my desk, however, in case any opportunity rose to write again.

Okay, enough of the nostalgic talk. There is real discussion going on about this. Could writing letters be a forgotten pastime, a dying breed of communication, a sad reminder of how technical everything seems to be becoming? Or has it become more appreciated than it ever was before? The image to the right helps explain it.

It all depends on the norm of the time. Which is new, rare, and exciting: instant message or paper mail? Which one do you anxiously anticipate receiving while stuck at school, work, or on the bus? But then again, it does not have to be what is cool at the time...letters can just mean a lot because they naturally do mean a lot. The Art of Manliness authors Brett & Kate McKay write, “Sending a letter is the next best thing to showing up personally at someone’s door.” They are practically artifacts or heirlooms, nothing virtual. We’re talking real paper you can grasp in your hands and cherish longer than 10 seconds. Communicating this way can be the sincerest way to display how much you care, because writing a letter takes time and effort. It is a chance to be artistic in language, thoughtful in message, and caring in penmanship.

This does not require a melted red wax seal, fountain pen, or even personalized paper. No one needs to send four pages of reading to their peers and loved ones. The fact of the matter is that writing letters is pretty cool, and it will always be there as a creative and joyful outlet for conversation…a weeks-to-months long conversation. Lol, like millennials have the patience for that!

So though you don’t have to, I encourage you, write away my friends. Write away...

Millennial Movies

By Nick Ryor

Millennials are very important to the industries that run America. This generation is progressing in technology, business, and entertainment industries. For example, the taxi industry changed drastically when services like Uber and Lyft entered the game and took over with better prices and convenience with an opportunity for young people to make money. Specifically, millennials have a major influence on the movie industry by purchasing the most movie theater tickets and being the most popular users on Netflix.

The way most people watch movies in the 21st century is changing entirely. At first, there was Blockbuster, the library, the movie theaters, and DVD’s. After Blockbuster, there was Redbox. After Redbox started to decline, there was the uprising of Netflix. One could speculate that this trend would eventually lead to the downfall of the movie theater. Not only is the way we watch movies changing, but movie theater ticket prices have also skyrocketed and are now at their highest price of all time. This skyrocketing is a result of people losing general interest in movies.

Movie production has gone way up as well, so one would presume that theaters would not last. Statistics would prove otherwise. The statistics show millennials greatly affect the movie industry, with studies showing that 53% of movie ticket purchases are bought by millennials. The movie industry specifically targets millennials and they have done so successfully. Another study shows that per year, the average millennial will go to see 6 movies in the theater. 47% of movie tickets purchased by millennials are bought on opening weekend. This could be a reflection of the fact that young people like to go to events and the latest thing. Young people love group settings and doing things with friends. An opening night screening in a movie theater is a great atmosphere for millennials.

The reason that millennials see so many movies in the theater could also be a reflection of how many commercials millennials see or the amount of television they watch. The most popular films watched by millennials are horror films (like M. Night Shamylan’s Split), urban movies (such as Straight Outta Compton), young adult comedies (like Sausage Party), and huge budget films (such as the Marvel comic book series).

Sequels thrive with the young crowd, probably due to the fact that the original versions of these “sequels” were childhood movies for millennials. Movies like Star Wars, Disney movies, superhero movies, and urban movies like the Friday series, were films that shaped the movie perspective for millennials. The highest grossing films of 2015 and 2016 were both Star Wars movies. The millennials indeed are the primary influence behind these statistics. The previous generations might say that the kids have ruined the film industry and polluted entertainment in general. This is entirely false. The older generation should humble themselves and realize that the millennials are what is keeping the industry alive. If it were not for them, there would be no industry. There is a reason that they are the main targets for directors and producers. Millennials have saved the movie industry and continue to shape it.