Do other countries in the world have the same experience?
Because being an adult in the U.S. sucks. Many people work right out of high school until they retire/die without ever going on a real vacation.
So people fantasize about the time when they weren’t wage slaves.
Because most people peaked in HS.
Unlike me, I peaked in middle school 😎
I peaked at birth, every choice from that point has been dubious.
I don’t think I see anyone else saying it: Because High School was the last school for the vast majority of people. It was the transition into adult life and responsibilities.
In American history a lot of people didn’t even make it to High School. You got enough of an education to work whatever job, or were forced to quit schooling and start working because of family financial needs.
College wasn’t needed for a good paying job that would be enough to own a home, car, have a family, etc.
So High School was the end of the line for being a kid in school and whatever freedoms came with that. Especially for the Boomer generation the economy at the time really allowed a lot more freedoms for High School kids than had ever been available before.
This is one of the signs of stagnation. Sure, high school was enough education half a century ago but the world continues to get more and more complicated. Why haven’t basic education requirements ever risen to match?
Free public school needs to be through an additional two years of what is currently called college/vocational/trade school
Children are not particularly discriminating consumers. They’ll watch pretty much anything shiny that you put in front of them, because they don’t know any better. A moderately well written film to an adult will literally be “the best thing” a teen has ever seen. When you catch a teen’s interest early, they’ll probably continue be interested in your brand for the next 10-20 years, at least. That money adds up. The attention they get from sharing everything with each other adds up.
Adults need to be impressed, and even then their interest will be moderated. It’s a lot harder to make something a lot of adults are excited about.
It’s also a “milestone” in everyones lives that most people have in common. Not as many people have gone to college and colleges can vary more. So I think they believe it to be relatable. Personally I wish movies were more focused on 25-30 age group, because I feel uncomfortable with how many movies and shows focus around romance/ people getting together or just outright hooking up, and as much as I want to engage in a movie and celebrate character/plot growth cheering on someone kissing a minor isn’t for me.
Like I understand people say “it’s a fantasy world” but Khaleesi was 13 in the first Games of Thrones book. Celebrating her growing a meaningful connection to a man who abducted and raped her is just… Yeah
that’s how life was in those cultures. it still is in afganistan and other undeveloped peoples where brides are married off at 12.
the concept of adulthood being 18 or later is modern teenagerhood only really existed as a concept post ww2. post secondary education wasn’t mandated across the entire usa until 1950, and only started getting adopted in 1920.
in the 20th century in europe and the USA lots of people were being married off before 18, especially in rural communities/countries that had not made secondary education mandatory.
Brother, no. Please stop apologizing for pedophilia. It was wrong then and it’s wrong now to sexualize minors, even if it was socially acceptable. Also the “then” were referring to is most generously applied to like 800AD or something, but it didn’t exist. And this whole comment you’re replying to is about disliking fictional shows about romance. It’s okay to find fictional romance with minors a line you won’t cross, because it’s entertainment and doesn’t matter, only watch what you like. It doesn’t make you better for liking things that are “more realistic” because it glamorizes pedophilia of an analogous real culture.
It doesn’t read as pedophilia apologia to me, and more like a statement that it is unfortunately still done in some cultures on Earth
dumb people think if you acknowledge that something exists, you support it.
Sure, still gross.
it’s ok. the dothraki would have not raped you, just cut off your head because you’re weak and can’t ride a horse.
I believe Marx wrote about this. And the reason I believe that is so many people on Lemmy have a ready answer.
Marx died in 1883, but secondary education in America was very rare at the start of the 20th century and the typical American high school experience, that OP refers to, did not exist until the middle of the 20th century
It is when Americans are most indoctrinated by state propaganda
