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Sexual teens, sexual media : investigating media's influence on adolescent sexuality : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

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Many pieces of art (different mediums) that show the many type of relationships these pieces could be portraying. It shows how vast the types of relationships portrayed was, the connection between people. Only in recent years has romance been one of the biggest focus, many pieces of media centered around it or including it in some form. These works show the types of relationships people valued at the time, specifically how these relationships worked and how people saw them. It shows the intensity of relationships and love, the acceptable ways to portray love in that time.

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Love is a significant theme in the canon of art history. Romance is an unavoidable subject that many artists, great masters or even those forgotten by history, have explored. It inspires, it torments, it exalts... Over the centuries, depictions of love in art history have never ceased to evolve and mystify audiences. At Artsper, we believe love can transform in many ways, including - but not exclusively - romantic relationships! We therefore invite you to dive into a chronological exploration of a fundamental subject of art history: Love, in all its forms.
1. A true jewel of the history of art

1908, Austria, near the village of Willendorf. A group of archaeologists discovered a mysterious figurine. It represents a voluptuous woman, who was first mistaken for Venus, the Roman goddess of love. The object is estimated to have been made 25,000 or 30,000 ago, during the Upper Paleolithic period. Its exact use remains unclear to this day, although it is suspected to be related to fertility and reproduction rights. It is said to represent the feminine ideal, because of the woman's figure which recalls pregnancy and maternity.

The Venus of Willendorf is carved in limestone and shows traces of pigments, reminiscent of what it once was, a bold, red pigment. The color of love...

2. An everlasting love

Khnumhotep and Niânkhnum were shared the same role in the palace of Pharaoh Niouserra, the sixth ruler of the Fifth Dynasty, around 2460-2430 B.C. They were qualified as "confidants of the king". It was in 1964 that their common tomb was discovered in the necropolis of Saqqara, in the region of Memphis, in Egypt. For some, Khnumhotep and Niankhkhnum were the first male couple to have left behind a trace of their romance. Indeed, the two servants are sometimes presented as lovers, brothers or even identical twins. Their bond seems intimate and, without a doubt, powerful. To this day, their relationship creates a divide between specialists and ancient history enthusiasts.

The sepulcher they share shows the following epitaph: "Khnumhotep and Niankhkhnum lived together and loved each other with passion."

3. Love set in stone

The depiction of children is a fascinating subject of the history of art. Silenus holding Dionysus demonstrates the complexity around parental love in the Hellenistic period. The sculpture is a Roman marble copy of a Greek bronze work dating back from circa 300 BC. It is one of the few remaining objects from an extremely prolific era of sculptural production.

This piece represents Dionysus, the child of an adulterous relationship between Zeus and Semele, a simple mortal. To avoid the wrath of Hera, the child is placed under the protection of the Nymphs by his father. He then crosses the path of Silenus, the drunkard, who imposes himself as a father figure for the young Dionysus. On their faces, one can read all the complicity which links a father to his son. Their natural and playful expressions refer to the Hellenistic Rococo style, a rendering that features playful children and grotesque characters.

4. An iconic depiction of love in art history

Jan van Eyck, The Arnolfini Portrait, 1434 © National Gallery

An example of secular art and a true staple of the portrait genre, The Arnolfini couple bears witness to a time in history when painters were emancipated from the injunction to represent sacred subjects. Giovanni Arnolfini and his wife Giovanna Cenami, an Italian bourgeois couple from Bruges, stand in the center of a bridal chamber, presumably in their home. Husband and wife seem to love each other in restraint, in all simplicity. Their hands are linked, most likely a sign of the marriage oath, under the eyes of their dog, which symbolizes fidelity. They represent a family, many believe that the Arnolfini couple is expecting a child.

Jan van Eyck was the first painter to sign his works. Here, he is no exception to the rule. His name can be seen above the mirror in the background...

5. The importance of friendship

Raphael, Self-Portrait with a Friend, 1518-1520 © Louvre Museum

How can we talk about love in art history without touching upon friendship? Raphael's Portrait of the Artist with a Friend dates from the period between 1518 and 1520. The painting represents two men against a dark background. Their appearance is similar, almost identical; their busts merge. Raphael has depicted himself in the background, leaving the identity of his friend uncertain. With his hand on his shoulder as a sign of support and loyalty, the painter's attention seems to be held by the viewer, while his mysterious friend's attention is fixed on Raphael.

This double portrait is a product of the High Renaissance. A movement that is characterized by mathematical precision, elegance and rhetoric, all of which can be found in this painting.

6. Self love and the emergence of female painters

Loving others is good. To love oneself is better. Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun perhaps understood this in her time. A French portrait painter of the 18th century, her work contributed to the image of what it meant to be an independent woman painter at the time. At only 23 years old, she was named the official portraitist of Queen Marie-Antoinette. While many of her fellow painters were erased from history or even confused with male painters, Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun succeeded in making a place for herself in art history. Clearly influenced by the Rococo style, the artist infuses her works with a touch of modernity, while her pronounced taste for independence can be seen in her self-portraits at work...

Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun painted mostly women of the court and their children. Her family portraits helped influence a different representation of maternal love. The confidence she exudes in her self-portraits still inspire many to this day...

7. Brotherhood is the key

Vincent Van Gogh, Self-Portrait and Self-Portrait or Portrait of Theo Van Gogh, 1887 © Van Gogh Museum

There's nothing like the love of a brother, is there? Between Vincent Van Gogh and his brother Theo Van Gogh, an indestructible bond was created. Throughout his life and in their correspondence, the tormented artist always found comfort and kindness in the words of his younger brother. Although very different, they understood and admired each other. Their resemblance is striking. So much so that in 2011, after extensive research, the identity of the man in one of Van Gogh's self-portraits from the summer of 1887 was called into question. Could it be Theo? Indeed, the work is suspected to be associated with a self-portrait of Van Gogh, with identical measurements, composition and dating. However, the identity of the man represented in this modest 19 x 14 cm portrait still leaves many in doubt. It now bears a double title: Self-Portrait or Portrait of Theo Van Gogh.

8. Love that made history

In his poem "There is no happy love," Aragon considers love an unattainable achievement. Marina Abramoviĉ and Ulay, partners famous for their tandem performative works, wrote their story in front of the audience. They have loved and torn each other to the rhythm of their art. In 1988, they staged their breakup on the Great Wall of China. Each artist set out from the opposite end to find one another at the center. After three months of walking and thousands of kilometers, they finally met for a last embrace, a poetic moment, overflowing with suffering and hope.

It was in 2010 that their paths crossed once again, at MoMA, where Abramoviĉ was presenting a new performance series, The Artist is Present. The Serbian artist invited visitors to sit at a table across from her to exchange in an intimate and silent moment. Gazing deeply into each others' eyes. Among the participants was Ulay. The two artists had not seen each other since their separation, twenty-two years earlier. Although Ulay is now deceased, his work continues to inspire art history lovers.

Love has neither definition nor limit. Throughout the history of art, it has taken different forms, transmitting a multitude of messages. Representing love is a symbolic act that many artists have tried... Resulting in a sea of emblematic and seminal works, anchored to their times. If you wish to explore the theme of love further, discover a selection of works inspired by love on Artsper!

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An Exploration of Love in Art History - Artsper Magazine

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Love is a significant theme in the canon of art history. Romance is an unavoidable subject that many artists, great masters or even those forgotten by history, have explored. It inspires, it torments, it exalts... Over the centuries, depictions of love in art history have never ceased to evolve and mystify audiences.

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Couples often only post the positive aspects of their relationships and media also follows this trend, typically only showing positive happy relationships. However, recent media has taken to showing toxic or abusive relationships as positive and something desirable. Authors like Colleen Hoover market their books as romance even if the book centers on an abusive relationship. It is marketed as a romance to reach a wider audience and this can be incredibly dangerous for readers who see these abusive relationships as romance and think that they should replicate these relationships in their own lives. This article talks about how while some shows will have characters fight,  it is ultimately shown as absurd and unrealistic. Most media shows one kind of a relationship and this limited view... can have a "detrimental effect" and "isolate young people even more" - Dr. Marianna Strongin. Relationship standards are skewed and many insecurities develop by comparing ourselves/relationships to the media we see. People should be content with the other meaningful aspects of [their] lives.

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From Alex Russo and her werewolf boyfriend to Meredith Grey and Derek Shepherd, we are constantly exposed to "perfectly happy" relationships. From a young age, we are told, not only by the media but also by the people around us that meeting the love of our life is one of the most important milestones we will ever experience.

Not to say that the sentiment is wrong, but with romance occupying an entire genre in books, movies, and television shows, single people are constantly being reminded of their lack of a significant other. Most people cannot help but feel lonely when comparing their lives to those around them, especially with paparazzi covering celebrity relationships and social media being a platform for others to broadcast their happy involvement with others.

According to Julia Lippman, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Michigan's Department of Communication Studies, young people's minds are essentially free for the media to mold. These perfect portrayals of love, whether they be on our TV screens or Twitter feed, have a profound effect on how we feel about ourselves.

"You're old enough to be interested in figuring out how relationships work but tend to have limited personal experience with dating to draw on," Lippman said. "Therefore, you turn to media for guidance." Although it is human nature to compare ourselves to other people's lives, it is important to understand that relationships are more than cute TikToks and love poems, and we should not use what we see in the media as the standard for what we think love is or when we should find it.

Constantly being exposed to "perfect" and "healthy" relationships creates a false pretense of what an actual healthy relationship looks like. Realistically, couples post only one aspect of their relationship on social media.

Viewers are not given access to the kinds of conversations or real arguments these couples are having outside of a 30-second video. In a Pew Research study about social media and romance among teenagers, 42 percent of teenagers in relationships agree that their significant other shows a different side of themselves on social media than they do in person, and 36 percent agree that their significant other is less authentic and real on social media than they are offline.

Additionally, films and shows may portray fights in their relationships, but for entertainment purposes, the plot is unrealistic in nature. Take "Friends" for example. Rachel's not taking her dream job in Paris to be with Ross, who has historically been a toxic person to her, is not a story that people should glamorize and hold as the standard for their own relationships.

The show ignores 10 seasons' worth of Rachel's character development and the on-and-off relationship with Ross in order to end the series with an endgame couple that intrigues the audience. Realistically, her character would have taken the job, despite being a little torn between her work and Ross.

According to Dr. Marianna Strongin, a clinical psychologist who specializes in therapy for couples and millennials, this limited view of what a relationship looks like can have a "detrimental effect" and "isolate young people even more."

This issue exacerbates the preexisting problem of our disconnection and lack of intimacy with others due to, but also despite, the increase of technology within the past few decades. In the pursuit of romance, one quickly makes the mistake of thinking a relationship will happen as they have seen on their screens.

The impossible standard we have created for ourselves closes the doors for any potential romantic relationships because we become dismissive of anything harder or less perfect than what is portrayed in the media.

In other words, when the only exposure to relationships one has is through a screen, their standards for one become skewed.

Likewise, the one-sided portrayal of romantic relationships in the media can also cause all expectations and standards to seemingly disappear in a desperate attempt to find any kind of love, regardless if it is authentic, healthy, and reciprocated. The insecurities formed through comparing our lives to the media often lead us to accept toxic love.

Psychologist Jeffrey Bernstein says one of the most significant determinants of whether someone will stay or leave a toxic relationship is what they think they deserve. If being in a relationship is all one can think about or wants, they are more inclined to turn a blind eye to toxic behavior.

"It's clear that media and film can shape and reinforce prevailing cultural attitudes," Dr. Silvia Kratzer, Professor of Cinema Studies at the UCLA department of Theater, Film, and Television, said. "Real changes in people's lives because of pop culture influences are evident - just think of the beauty ideals that have changed so much."

Combatting this is more than taking everything with a grain of salt. Especially when we are young, it is nearly impossible to not feel lonely during the Valentine's Day season. However, to avoid engaging in toxic and detrimental behavior, it is important to take a moment and reflect.

Theresa DiDonato, social psychologist and associate professor at Loyola University Maryland, suggests that in order to reconcile our singlehood with the yearning for a relationship, we must reflect on our own fears of being single and re-evaluate them. Focusing on the other social connections one has, discovering and developing one's own interests and passions, and finding joy in the opportunities that come with being single may help people embrace the many different ways they can live happy and healthy lives.

The media constantly portrays romantic relationships with rose-colored glasses. While there are many genuinely happy couples, we must understand that being in a romantic relationship does not equate to happiness or success. There is underappreciated value in the other types of relationships and the different forms love takes throughout life. Friends and family bonds are often overlooked during our obsession with forming a romantic relationship. By taking time to appreciate the different ways love and support are given, being single doesn't feel quite lonely.

While it may be difficult to come to terms with, it is essentially healthier to be alone and happy than in a relationship and not. Everyone wants to find love, that is not the issue. It is what comes from our constant pursuit of love and obsession over it where problems arise.

Although love stories in the media are great for entertaining and captivating audiences, most are far from the truth. We should acknowledge the unspoken standards created by these false narratives and work to become content with the other meaningful aspects of our lives.

That said, if you're feeling lonely this Valentine's Day, just remember this: while Meredith Grey and Derek Shepherd had an epic love story, one of them was hit by a truck and died.
Art by Ava Bayley for the UC San Diego Guardian.

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Media Romances Skew Real-World Relationship Standards - UCSD Guardian

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From Alex Russo and her werewolf boyfriend to Meredith Grey and Derek Shepherd, we are constantly exposed to "perfectly happy" relationships. From a young age, we are told, not only by the media but also by the people around us that meeting the love of our life is one of the most important milestones we will ever experience.

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The kids shows Arthur centered one of its episodes around the the kids teacher, Mr. Ratburn and his stressful wedding planning. The kids think he is going to marry a controlling fiancée , but at the end of the episode they learn that his "fiancée" is actually his sister and the real person he's marrying is a nice man instead. The gay relationship is seen as normal and the episode doesn't focus or other the relationship. Many shows try to make the center focus the queer relationship and try to teach viewers about same sex relationships, this makes it seem normal and not hamfisted.

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This week, PBS portrayed a same-sex relationship on a children's TV series-and got much more positive feedback than the last time it tried.

The Season 22 premiere of the PBS children's show Arthur features some potentially controversial behavior by an elementary-school teacher. In "Mr. Ratburn and the Special Someone," Mr. Ratburn, teacher of the titular anthropomorphic school-age aardvark, answers his cellphone during class.

It's a disruptive act that incites mass distraction. Mr. Ratburn's students overhear him talking flusteredly on the phone to someone who seems to be quite pushy about the flower arrangements for Mr. Ratburn's upcoming wedding. Concerned for their teacher's happiness, the students spend the bulk of the episode following him around to meetings with the woman they believe to be his very controlling fiancée and plotting to stop him from marrying her. Then, the episode delivers a surprise twist happy ending, in which the pushy woman planning the wedding is revealed to be Mr. Ratburn's sister, his wedding is revealed to be to another man (a kindly one, who owns a chocolate shop!), and the kids have had no real reason to worry about their teacher's personal life. (They do, however, worry about the overenthusiastic dance moves Mr. Ratburn shows off at the reception.)

The Arthur premiere on Tuesday, and most of the attention focused on its positive, normalizing portrayal of same-sex marriage. Portrayals of LGBTQ characters and same-sex relationships haven't always been so welcome on TV programs for kids. But the 2019 Arthur premiere marks a poignant moment in children's TV history: In an episode where a male teacher gets married to another man, the behavior that the other characters consider most worrisome is his dorky dancing, and the apparent moral of the episode is that kids needn't meddle in the affairs of the adults in their lives, because the adults have it under control. That Mr. Ratburn is marrying a person (an aardvark?) of the same sex feels, for all intents and purposes, unremarkable. It attracts no quizzical glances from the other characters, nor is it used as an opportunity for a proverbial Very Special Episode that teaches viewers about same-sex relationships.
Read: The evolution of TV's "very special episode"
Children's shows, especially those on public-access TV, still don't often have LGBTQ characters on them, despite portrayals becoming more common in recent years. According to a report released by GLAAD earlier this year, the representation of LGBTQ characters on daytime children's television "continues to grow in leaps and bounds," though the report does not provide exact numbers. Still, it's possible to count on your fingers the number of kids' shows that have depicted gay characters. (They include , , , and

PBS, notably, has depicted same-sex couples on a children's television program before, to significantly less positive reception. In 2005, the Arthur spin-off Postcards From Buster featured a pair of lesbian moms in Vermont, where same-sex civil unions were legal at the time. Postcards From Buster was produced with help from a U.S. Department of Education grant, and Margaret Spellings, then the secretary of education, sent PBS a letter airing her "very serious concerns." Many parents "would not want their young children exposed to the life-styles portrayed in this episode," she wrote, despite the fact that the president of PBS had signed off on the episode after the network consulted with Education Department officials. As a result, PBS did not send out the episode for affiliate stations to air (though the Boston-based member station WGBH, which produced Postcards, offered to send it to "any station willing to defy the Education Department"). PBS did not pursue Education Department funding for the second season of Postcards, and the Congress-controlled Corporation for Public Broadcasting pulled out as a sponsor, as did other corporate sponsors. The show took a longer-than-normal break between seasons, and returned in 2006 for a significantly shorter second season funded by PBS and a smattering of other media and LGBTQ foundations. It went on to air two more seasons, in 2008 and 2012.

That PBS's latest portrayal of a same-sex couple on children's programming has inspired such a wildly different response than the one it received 14 years ago is indicative of how much mainstream attitudes toward same-sex relationships have changed. Of course, in the years since Postcards From Buster, same-sex marriage has been legalized at the federal level. As with all changes in how people are represented on-screen, a chicken-or-egg scenario is at play: Perhaps the real-life normalization of same-sex relationships has led to better onscreen representation, or perhaps better onscreen representation has contributed to real-life normalization. Or perhaps both are true.

An oft-discussed benefit of representation is that it's important and empowering for LGBTQ people and families of LGBTQ people, as well as members of other marginalized populations, to see characters like themselves on-screen. But the other benefit of showing LGBTQ characters on TV is that these portrayals normalize the presence of LGBTQ individuals in everyday life for the rest of the population. The marriage of Arthur's Mr. Ratburn to Patrick the chocolate-shop owner was arguably the best-case scenario when it comes to representation of same-sex marriage on television, and it illustrates just how far both TV and TV audiences have come: The show treated it as a joyous celebration of a happy relationship, and so did viewers.

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overenthusiastic dance moves mr. ratburn

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How a Gay Character on 'Arthur' Reflects Changing Norms in the U.S.

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This week, PBS portrayed a same-sex relationship on a children's TV series-and got much more positive feedback than the last time it tried. The Season 22 premiere of the PBS children's show Arthur features some potentially controversial behavior by an elementary-school teacher.

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Many teens use social media as a way to connect interact with their significant other. It "helps to develop a relationship" and can make people more comfortable around each other. They use social media to display their relationships and often times portray a curated image, of themselves and their relationship. They can use it to show their affection towards their significant other and in support of their friends relationships. However, many teens believe they reveal too much about their relationship due to the influence of social media. They find people are too invested in their relationship, specifically breakups. While many teens use social media to flaunt their relationships, many also avoid sharing it because they want to keep their relationship private and not deal with the drama.

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Pew Research Center: Internet, Science & Tech

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Many Teens View Social Media and Text Messaging as a Space for Connection, Emotional Support - and Occasional Jealousy - in the Context of Their Relationships, Although Most Say Social Media Has a Relatively Minor Impact

Many teens in relationships view social media as a place where they can feel more connected with the daily contours of their significant other's life, share emotional connections and let their significant other know they care - although these sites can also lead to feelings of jealousy or uncertainty about the stability of one's relationship. At the same time, even teens who indicate that social media has had an impact on their relationship (whether for good or for bad) tend to feel that its impact is relatively modest in the grand scheme of things.

Among teen social media users with relationship experience:

59% say social media makes them feel more connected with what is going on in their significant other's life, although just 15% indicate that it makes them feel "a lot" more connected. About one-third (35%) of these teens say social media does not make them feel more connected with their significant other.

47% say social media offers a place for them to show how much they care about their significant other, with 12% feeling this way "a lot"; 45% do not feel that social media offers a venue for this type of interaction with their significant other.

44% say social media helps them feel emotionally closer to their significant other, with 10% feeling that way "a lot." Half (50%) do not feel that social media offers a space to feel emotionally closer.

27% say social media makes them feel jealous or unsure about their relationship, with 7% feeling this way "a lot." Roughly two-thirds (68%) do not feel jealous or unsure of their relationship due to social media.

Boys are a bit more likely than girls to view social media as a space for emotional and logistical connection with their significant other. Some 65% of boys with relationship experience who use social media agree that these sites make them feel more connected about what's going on in their significant other's life (compared with 52% of girls). Similarly 50% of boys say social media makes them feel more emotionally connected with their significant other, compared with 37% of girls. At the same time, even among boys this impact is fairly muted: Just 16% say social media makes them feel "a lot" more connected to their significant other's life, while just 13% feel "a lot" more emotionally close to their significant other thanks to social media.

Teens in our focus group explained the way digital communication platforms - social media as well as texting - can enhance and expand on in-person meetings. One high school girl noted:
"I feel like it helps to develop a relationship because even if you meet someone in person, you can't see them all the time or talk to them all the time to get to know them, so you text them or message them to get to know them better."
Focus group teens told us how talking with their significant other over text and social media helped them overcome shyness and create a greater sense of connection:
"My boyfriend isn't shy ... but I'm more shy. And it gets easier for him to tell me everything in person, but when we're ... when I'm in person with him, like, it's harder for me to tell him what I'm feeling. So like I'll think about it when we're together, and then like afterwards I'll probably text him like what I was feeling and tell him my problems."
Another high school girl relates how texting helped her relationship with her boyfriend:
"I think texting kind of makes you feel closer because - boys are more shy. I'm more shy, but ... my boyfriend, he doesn't like to express himself like that. But when we text, it seems like it's so much easier for him to talk to me. So I think he says more stuff, like how he feels through text. So it kind of makes [the relationship] stronger."
For some, one other useful feature of multiple digital communication platforms (e.g., texting, messaging apps, Twitter, Instagram) is that those platforms allow teens to manage communicating with multiple people and multiple romantic partners. One high school boy from our focus groups relates his strategy:
"Sometimes, if you [are romantically involved with] a bunch of girls, you can have set time periods - where it's like you can ignore her for a little bit and talk to her. And then you would go back and instead of talking to her, be like, sorry, I was in the shower or something like that. Or I was asleep? Do you know what I mean? You use different apps to talk to different girls. You can text one girl. You can be Kik-ing another girl, then Snapchatting another girl." "It depends on like what they're doing in the picture. If they're just standing side by side, it's like, chill. But if they're like ... if he's got his arm on her or something, like, more. ... Like I guess it just depends on your jealousy level if you can feel like, 'oh, I know my man wants me.' Or if you're like 'does he really want me?' It just depends on the person."
Photos and posts can be used by teens to incite jealousy in others, often former partners, and lead to jealous feelings for some teens. Teens in our focus group described peering at photos on their partner's profile to look for suspicious images. One high school girl explains her calculus:

As seen in our report on teen friendships, social media allows users to curate their online presence in a way that puts their best digital foot forward, or shows a different side of their personality than they can show offline. At the same time, this self-presentation can sometimes appear inauthentic or phony to others. Teens are especially attuned to this type of social curation: When it comes to teen friendships, fully 85% of teen social media users agree that social media allows people to show a side of themselves that they can't show online. At the same time, 77% agree that people are less authentic and real on social media than they are in real life.

Teens tend to experience each of these behaviors to a lesser extent in the context of their romantic relationships than they do in their broader friend networks. But a substantial minority feel that their partner acts differently - in positive or negative ways - on social media than he or she does in real life. Among the 31% of teens who are "teen daters" who use social media:

42% agree that their significant other shows a different side of themselves on social media than they do in person, with 9% agreeing strongly. Nearly six-in-ten (58%) disagree with this statement.

36% agree that their significant other is less authentic and real on social media than they are offline, with 7% agreeing strongly. Roughly two-thirds (64%) disagree.

Girls are more likely to "strongly disagree" with the notion that their partner shows a different side of themselves on social media than they do offline: 13% of girls strongly disagree with this statement, compared with just 4% of boys. On the other hand, there are no differences between boys and girls on the question of whether their partner is less authentic on social media than they are in real life.

37% of teens with dating experience have taken to social media to publicly express their affection for a significant other

For a substantial minority of teens, social media offers a space to publicly express affection or solidarity with their romantic partner. Some 37% of teens with dating experience have used social media to tell their significant other how much they like them in a way that is visible to other people.

Teens from less well-off households, as well as those who have met a partner online, are especially likely to have done this. Among teens with relationship experience:

47% of those from households earning less than $50,000 annually have used social media to publicly express affection for a significant other (compared with 33% of teens from higher-income households).

54% of those who have met a partner or significant other online have used social media in this way, compared with 32% of those who have not met someone online.

63% of teen daters use social media to express support of others' romantic relationships

Beyond publicly displaying affection and one's own relationship, social media is a space where many teens can express public support or approval of others' romantic relationships: 63% of teens with dating experience have posted or liked something on social media as a way to indicate their support of one of their friends' relationships.

Girls are especially likely to publicly support their friends' relationships using social media (71% of girls with dating experience have done so, compared with 57% of boys) although boys and girls are equally likely to publicly express affection for their own partner in social media environments.

In addition, teens from less well-off households (those earning less than $50,000 per year) engage in each of these behaviors at higher rates, compared with those from higher-income households. Among lower-income teens with dating experience, 73% (compared with 59% of higher-income teens) have supported their friends' relationships on social media, while 47% of less well-off teens (and 33% of higher-income teens) have publicly expressed affection for their own partner in a public way on social media.

Teens in our focus group explained specific ways in which a relationship might be displayed on social media. As a high school boy related, people in relationships change "their status. And then other times, on Instagram it says in their bio, they put like the date that they started going out." Changing " profile pictures and then just regular pictures," to be images of the couple is also a common method of displaying one's relationship and relationship status. A high school boy explained what he believes must be on social media when dating someone. "You've got to put the date in the bio and her in the bio. For real. ... You need to have the padlock emoji with a heart and two people holding hands. ...On Facebook, you've got a cover photo... Or a date. Or just a date," plus your beloved's username or profile.

Focus group teens also noted that posting publicly about a relationship - noting the date you started the relationship in your bio, declaring your affection, posting photos - sometimes had to do with gaining a sense of status, expressing possessiveness or getting attention from peers:

High school boy 1: You just want people to know. With some people, it's for the attention and stuff like that.

High school boy 2: Well, speaking in terms of the way people generally seem to behave, it's victory.

High school boy 1: And it's also probably to tell people like, hey, back off. She's mine or he's mine.

Other focus group teens questioned how meaningful and authentic these social media displays of affection really were:

High school boy 1: " How about the girls that post they love you every 20 minutes on Facebook."

High School Boy 2: " People are really quick to say I love you. A lot of people use it so loosely."

High School Boy 1: "It don't mean nothing no more."

Many teen daters feel social media allows too many people to see what is happening in their relationship

But even as they use social media to support their friends' relationships, many teen daters express annoyance at the public nature of their own romantic partnerships on social media. Fully 69% of teen social media users with dating experience agree that too many people can see what's happening in their relationship on social media, with 16% indicating that they "strongly" agree. Just 31% of such teens disagree with this statement, and only a small percentage (2%) disagree "strongly." Boys and girls, older and younger teens, and those from higher- and lower-income households are equally likely to agree with this statement.
"I don't know. Maybe they just want it to be their business. Then, you know, if you were to post it online and then you break up, you probably wouldn't want to change it and then everyone asks you what happened, so you might not put it there in the first place. Just let it be the people you actually know who knows. ... It comes back because it's stuck there. It's like a permanent tattoo."
Teens in our focus groups explained their concerns about people being overly involved, especially in breakups, and their discomfort with the permanence of posted content. One high school boy explained why someone might not want to post any details about their relationship on social media:
"I think some people in my class keep [their relationship] secret because they just like it that way. They don't like to have everybody know."
A middle school boy related:
"A lot of people kind of don't like it on social media because it doesn't need to be on there. 'Cause as long as the two know how they feel about each other, I feel like if you have it on social media, it's like more drama. Because like more people ask questions and stuff like that."
Other teens point to avoiding drama as a reason people kept relationships off social media. As a high school boy explained:
"Maybe they're just not sure about it, too. I mean, I feel like that would be me. I wouldn't really know if we were in a relationship yet, so I wouldn't say anything about it. And I wouldn't want to be obsessive about it, and I wouldn't want people to think I was bragging either, so I just wouldn't show anything."
And some teens don't post much about the relationship on social media because they're not sure of the relationship status or they don't want to seem like they're bragging about their good fortune. A high school girl explained:
"Sometimes if your parents find out, I mean, my mom lets me have a girlfriend, but some protective parents ... they sometimes don't even let them out with their friends. One of my friends, he can never come out. But he liked a girl that I liked and he asked her out, and she said yeah. And then he went home and I walked home with him and I went by his house and then he told his dad and his dad said I had to leave. And then his dad slammed the door and started screaming."
Occasionally, relationships are kept off social media to keep them from the prying eyes of parents. One middle school boy explained:

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Chapter 4: Social Media and Romantic Relationships

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Many Teens View Social Media and Text Messaging as a Space for Connection, Emotional Support - and Occasional Jealousy - in the Context of Their

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Media, specifically movies and tv shows, portrays love in very specific ways that are so common people believe them to be true. It creates expectations of real life romance that just aren't probable for the average human. This article talks about the common myths perpetuated in the media, ideas of soulmates, love at first site, happily ever afters, etc. and how these just can't be possible. It talks about how the media shows these myths, but biologically speaking, these myths are myths because they are unattainable. As a society we know these are unattainable, yet people believe in them anyways to hold on hope for their own relationships. People "have been conditioned to accept [these myths] as normal" even though they are unrealistic and inaccurate to real life.

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“Losing an illusion makes you wiser than finding a truth” — Ludwig Borne”

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Often times relationships between two people in tv shows veers towards a romantic nature, even when they characters could be better as just friends. There is so little representation of heterosexual friendships that the immediate thought is that they will get together. When queer characters have close friendships, by not pairing them together romantically, it skirts the line of having a healthy friendship and queer baiting. Queer media often has almost all characters focus on or getting into romantic relationships, and it doesn't give enough screen time or thought to the friendships, which are also important to portray. Many queer people have many queer friendships and yet when those friendships are portrayed in media it is labeled as queer baiting, especially by the queer community. The best way this can be fixed is by showing more queer people in media, just as regular people.

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A few months ago, I was halfway through watching the series finale of Netflix's She-Ra and the Princesses of Power and felt confused. Glimmer and Bow, whom I had always seen as a rare example of a close friendship between a female and male character -who could potentially be romantically attracted to each other -although never crossed that line, confess their love for each other romantically. As the episode neared its triumphant end, several more pairs were confirmed, or at least strongly hinted at as canonical couples, such that nearly all the main characters became romantically paired up as the show bid viewers goodbye.

While these developments are heartwarming and deserve praise for treating same-sex couples on an equal level as couples of the opposite sex, I couldn't help but feel disappointed. She-Ra was one of the very few stories on screen that deeply explored and celebrated the emotions of friendship, giving it the attention most shows only give to romance. By having almost every pair that shares a profound connection end up a couple, the show seems to present romance as an example of connection and an end goal that all intimate friendships inevitably lead to.

Can two people who could be romantically attracted to each other be close friends without any romantic attachment? This is the question that When Harry Met Sally famously investigated, particularly between straight men and women, and ultimately answered with a resounding . Romantic comedies continue to portray friendships between straight men and women as merely a transitional stage on the way to the romantic and sexual relationship they both actually desired all along. Although the most common pairing up of characters in the media is a heterosexual one, this relationship hierarchy also applies to queer characters. If a queer character in a TV show meets another queer character of the same sexual orientation, chances are high they are a love interest and the two would hook up.

There are many ways to love. Of course, friendship is the bond at the core of any strong romantic relationship, and the best-friends-to-lovers trope is one of the more healthy and realistic rom-com tropes out there. But, as fandom shipping culture shows, we are often too eager to interpret close intimacy on screen through a romantic and sexual lens and this translates to how we interpret intimacy in real life too.

To get slightly meta, our culture of prioritizing romantic over platonic love, so influenced by the media, is reflected in the media we consume. In The Half of It, the Netflix movie directed by Alice Wu, this causes Paul Munsky to misinterpret his feelings toward Ellie Chu after they gradually deepen their friendship and suddenly believe this intimacy means he's in love with Ellie. Us viewers, however, know they would not date because we know from early on in the movie that Ellie is a lesbian and has a crush on a girl. The question of "will they, won't they" is completely thrown out, allowing us to focus on rethinking the way we understand love and chemistry between two people; love doesn't have to be romantic to be enduring.

Would a story be able to similarly put platonic love front and center, if there is a possibility of romantic attraction between the two characters?

We're seeing more and more that that can be achieved in stories about friendship between men and women. Elementary , starring Lucy Liu and Jonny Lee Miller, proved that a TV series can develop a compelling relationship between the male and female leads over seven seasons, which is described by the characters themselves as "two people who love each other," without any sexual tension along the way. In a similar way, Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson teamed up for not one, but two movies- and Thor: Ragnarok -where they played non-romantic partners who supported each other through trauma and loss meaningfully and without any kissing. Men in Black: International

Screenwriters should choose to explore platonic relationships over romantic ones when it provides for a more meaningful understanding of intimacy and connection. Netflix's Never Have I Ever missed the opportunity to seriously develop what could have been an interesting friendship between Devi Vishwakumar, who's obsessed with becoming popular, and her longtime crush, the school's popular jock Paxton Hall-Yoshida. Although Paxton grew to genuinely care for Devi as a friend, she sees it as being friendzoned and only wants a sexual relationship with Paxton. In the end, Paxton is set up to become a rival in a love triangle in the second season, and the resulting drama would likely override any chance of the two of them learning from each other about friendship as the obsession with romance and status is prioritized. In , purely platonic friendship might also be healthier than the romance that is not-so subtly hinted at between Scorpia and Perfuma in the series finale, considering that Perfuma is Scorpia's first true friend after a few toxic "friendships" and Scorpia is still figuring out what true friendship should be like. She-Ra

However, a discussion about pairing up of Scorpia and Perfuma must consider a whole other set of factors, compared with that of Devi and Paxton. The relative lack of queer couples on screen makes trying to draw a line between platonic and romantic love a lot more complicated and perhaps less helpful for queer characters than it is for straight ones. "They're just friends" can feel like a convenient way to dismiss any intimacy that seems more than platonic between two men or two women, and when it gets intentionally misleading, it's queer-baiting.

But queer friendships and community are also important forms of queer representation that we rarely get. Queer people do not only form friendships with straight people, as mainstream media typically portrays. We need more representation of non-romantic intimacy between queer people to fight against the culture of over-sexualization when it comes to them and their romantic relationships, while also highlighting the range of intimacy they experience, no less rich than those between straight people. Their social marginalization makes having other queer friends, including those of the same sexual orientation, especially valuable, to form connections that help them feel understood and not alone. In real life, many queer people seek to form a community of fellow queer friends, so why should that not be reflected and explored on screen as well?

One way to give representation to both queer romances and friendships is to simply have more queer characters in the movie or show. The L Word , and Orange Is the New Black gave us queer communities where some may date, sure-but they also get dinner together, gossip together, give each other dating advice, and support each other through hard times. These shows all notably have multiple queer characters, not just one or two. Pose

If the movies and shows we watch constantly romanticize love as the most important form of love and companionship in our lives, it's easy to adopt the same attitude and neglect the power of platonic love and community. When there is the possibility of romance and sex, forging non-romantic connections becomes more nuanced and can open us up to deeper experiences of intimacy. Popular media needs to do justice to the many ways there is to love by normalizing and valuing the fact that two people, who could potentially love each other romantically, can love also each other deeply without romance.
Edited by Abeer Khan

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Platonic Love Needs To Be Valued More On Screen

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"Can two people who could be romantically attracted to each other "Can two people who could be romantically attracted to each other become friends without any romantic attachment?

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The Pandemic has aided in people losing touch with their friends. Many men and women lost touch with a few of their friends, while more young women than men lost touch with most of their friends. In all most Americans rely on their partner or spouse for support, yet young women rely on their friends more and young men rely on their parents more. In recent decades ?? people have put more emphasis on having less close friends and this could be a change in values of quality over quantity. It also kind of reflects tv shows of the time, shows like Friends, Gilmore Girls, and HIMYM all have relatively small casts that focus on the interpersonal relationships of the characters. Also women receive more emotional support from their friends and this is reinforced by toxic and unhelpful stereotypes of men and their emotions, it ties in to how men struggle to express their emotions in a constructive way. There are a lot of infographics and graphs that show this information, it can be connected to tv show portrayals of friendships

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Findings from the May 2021 American Perspectives Survey

Coming out of a once-in-a-generation global pandemic, Americans appear more attuned than ever to the importance of friendship. However, despite renewed interest in the topic of friendship in popular culture and the news media, signs suggest that the role of friends in American social life is experiencing a pronounced decline. The May 2021 American Perspectives Survey finds that Americans report having fewer close friendships than they once did, talking to their friends less often, and relying less on their friends for personal support.

The COVID-19 pandemic is the most obvious culprit in the national friendship decline, but broader structural forces may be playing a more important role. First, Americans are marrying later than ever and are more geographically mobile than in the past-two trends that are strongly associated with increasing rates of self-reported social isolation and feelings of loneliness. Second, American parents are spending twice as much time with their children compared to previous generations, crowding out other types of relationships, including friendships. Finally, Americans are working longer hours and traveling more for work, which may come at the cost of maintaining and developing friendships. In fact, perhaps reflecting its central place in the hierarchy of American social life, Americans are now more likely to make friends at work than any other way-including at school, in their neighborhood, at their place of worship, or even through existing friends.

But the news is not universally negative. The survey paints a more complex and perhaps more fluid picture of American friendships. Roughly half of Americans report having lost touch with at least one friend during the pandemic. But, surprisingly, nearly as many Americans report having made a new friend over this same period. Many Americans report having activity friendships or situational friends-people they see at certain times or places-and most Americans have a best friend, even if it's fewer than in the past.

Personal Pandemic Challenges

Most Americans report having faced significant personal challenges over the past 12 months. More than one in five (22 percent) Americans say the past 12 months have been much more difficult for them than usual. Nearly half (46 percent) say it was somewhat more difficult. About only one in three (32 percent) Americans say the past 12 months were not especially difficult for them-at least no more than usual.

Women report having had a more challenging time than men did. More than one in four (27 percent) women say the past 12 months have been much more difficult than usual, compared to 17 percent of men. Middle-aged men (age 50-64), in particular, report having a significantly easier time than other Americans did. Only 14 percent of middle-aged men report that the past 12 months have been much more difficult than a typical year has, while 43 percent say it was not any different than usual.

The financial devastation wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic has been well-documented, but less widely reported is the emotional toll many Americans faced as a result of quarantine requirements and self-imposed social isolation. Nearly half (47 percent) of Americans report having lost touch with at least a few friends over the past 12 months. Nearly one in 10 (9 percent) Americans report having lost touch with most of their friends.

Young women appear to have been more affected than most were. Nearly six in 10 (59 percent) report having lost touch with at least a few friends, and 16 percent say they are no longer in regular contact with most of their friends.

Pandemic Friendship

Despite prolonged periods of social isolation and quarantine that characterized much of American life over the past year, nearly half (46 percent) of Americans report having made a new friend within the past 12 months. Nearly one-third (30 percent) of the public say they have made a new friend in the past one to four years. Notably, 22 percent of Americans say it has been at least five years since they last made a new friend.

There are stark and predictable generational divisions in how frequently Americans are developing new friendships. A majority (56 percent) of young adults-including roughly similar numbers of young men (54 percent) and young women (58 percent)-say they have made a new friend in the past 12 months. Seniors are considerably less likely to have made a new friend during that period, with only 41 percent reporting they had done so. Nearly one-third (31 percent) of seniors say it has been at least five years since they developed a new friendship.

Of the many ways Americans make friends and the many places friendships develop, the workplace is the most common. A majority (54 percent) of Americans with close friends say they met a close friend at their or their spouse's workplace. Less than half (47 percent) report making a close friend at school-either one they currently attend or one they previously attended. Forty percent of Americans say they made a close friend through their existing network of friends. About one in three (35 percent) Americans have made a close friend in their neighborhood, and about one in five made a close friend at their place of worship (21 percent) or a club or organization they belong to (19 percent). Ten percent of Americans-and 16 percent of adults with children living at home-say they developed a close friend through their child's school. Only 8 percent of Americans report having made a close friend online.

Who Do Americans Rely on for Personal Support?

Overall, more than half (53 percent) of Americans say that the first person they talk to when they have a personal problem is their spouse or partner. Sixteen percent of the public say they go to a friend first when confronting a personal issue, and 10 percent say they rely on their parents. Roughly the same amount (9 percent) say they turn to a sibling or other family member. Five percent of Americans say they first reach out to their children when dealing with a personal issue.

Fewer Americans appear to be relying on friends for personal support than they have in the past. A survey conducted by Gallup in 1990 found that more than one-quarter (26 percent) of Americans said their friend was the first person they would turn to when they had a personal problem.

Young adults and singles are unique to the extent that they rely on friends for emotional and personal support. One in four (25 percent) young people (age 18-29) say they typically talk to a friend first when they have a personal problem. Young women are slightly more likely than young men are to rely on friends for support (29 percent vs. 22 percent).

With the average age of first marriages rising steadily and fewer Americans turning to friends for support, parents have stepped in to fill the gap. Young men are now more likely to rely on their parents for personal support than other people in their life. Thirty-six percent of young men say their parents are the first people they reach out to when facing a personal problem. Roughly one in four (24 percent) young women say their parents are their first call.

The number of young men relying on their parents for personal support has more than doubled over the past several decades. In 1990, only 17 percent of young men and an identical number of young women reported that their parents were the first people they talked to when confronting a personal problem. Close to half (45 percent) of young men said they turned to their friends first.

One reason young men are more likely to seek out their parents for support may have to do with their living situation. More than half (52 percent) of young men are currently living with their parents, compared to 44 percent of young women. Young adults who live with their parents are twice as likely to rely on their parents for support than those with other living arrangements.

There is an even larger gender gap between unmarried men and women. Nearly four in 10 (39 percent) single unmarried women say they usually talk to a friend when facing a personal problem, compared to 30 percent of unmarried men. Again, unmarried men are significantly more likely than women are to say they rely on their parents for help when dealing with a personal issue (39 percent vs. 26 percent).

Gender differences are also apparent among married Americans. Married men are significantly more likely than married women are to say the first person they talk to when they have a problem is their spouse. Eighty-five percent of married men, compared to 72 percent of married women, say they turn to their spouse when they have a personal problem.

How Many Close Friends Do Americans Have?

Many Americans do not have a large number of close friends. Close to half (49 percent) of Americans report having three or fewer. More than one-third (36 percent) of Americans report having several close friends-between four and nine. Thirteen percent of Americans say they have 10 or more close friends, which is roughly the same proportion of the public that has no close friends (12 percent).

The number of close friendships Americans have appears to have declined considerably over the past several decades. In 1990, less than one-third (27 percent) said they had three or fewer close friends, while about as many (33 percent) reported having 10 or more close friends. Only 3 percent said they did not have any close friends.

Many Americans are not overly satisfied about the size of their friendship group. About half of Americans (51 percent) report they are very satisfied or completely satisfied with the number of friends they have. Thirty percent say they are only somewhat satisfied, and 17 percent say they are not too or not at all satisfied with the number of friends they have.

Women are slightly more likely than men are to report being satisfied with their number of friends. A majority (54 percent) of women say they are completely or very satisfied, compared to less than half of men (48 percent).

There are notable racial and ethnic differences in feelings of satisfaction about the number of friends Americans have. Black and Hispanic Americans express greater feelings of satisfaction than White Americans do. Close to six in 10 Black (58 percent) and Hispanic (56 percent) Americans report they are very or completely satisfied with how many friends they have. About half (49 percent) of White Americans say the same.

Not surprisingly, Americans who have more friends report higher levels of satisfaction with the number of friends they have. In fact, levels of satisfaction move linearly: As Americans accumulate additional friends, their level of satisfaction grows. Among Americans without any close friends, only 29 percent report being completely or very satisfied with their number of friends. Less than four in 10 (39 percent) Americans with only one close friend and 43 percent of those with two or three close friends report being completely or very satisfied. A majority (56 percent) of Americans with four or five friends say they are completely or very satisfied. Two-thirds (67 percent) of Americans with between six and nine friends are completely or very satisfied, and three-quarters (75 percent) of those with 10 or more close friends express this level of satisfaction.

Friendship Types

Friends come in many shapes and sizes. Some friends Americans see infrequently or maybe only in certain places. Other friends may have been close confidants since childhood. Most Americans report having several different types of friendships.

Most Americans have situational friends or place-based friendships-people they mostly see in certain places such as work, school, the gym, or the park. Nearly seven in 10 (69 percent) report having a friend they see only in certain places or at certain times. Activity friendships are also quite common. About half (51 percent) the public say they have activity friends, people with whom they participate in social activities, such as sports, hobbies, or community service. Nearly four in 10 (39 percent) Americans have online-only friendships or friends they interact with solely via the internet.

Childhood friendships are ubiquitous among the public. Two-thirds (67 percent) of Americans say they have a friend whom they have known since childhood. Yet despite the prevalence of these types of friendships, they have become less common as Americans age. More than three-quarters (76 percent) of young adults have a childhood friend, compared to 60 percent of seniors.

Childhood friendships are particularly prevalent among Black Americans. Nearly eight in 10 (78 percent) Black Americans report having a friend whom they have known since childhood. These types of friendships are significantly less common among White (66 percent) and Hispanic Americans (64 percent).

Having a friend of a different gender is fairly common in American society, but the incidence varies. Fifty-eight percent of Americans who have a close friend report having a close friend of the opposite gender. Interestingly, men are more likely than women are to report having a close friend of a different gender (63 percent vs. 53 percent).

Among those with close friends, having an opposite-gender friend is much less common among married people, particularly among married women. Married women are far less likely than other women are to report having a male friend. Only 43 percent of married women-and 54 percent of married men-say they have a close friend who is a different gender. In contrast, nearly two-thirds (65 percent) of unmarried, single women say they have a close male friend.

Friendship Closeness and Communication

The frequency with which Americans talk to their friends and their preferred mode of communication vary widely. A majority (54 percent) of Americans say they texted a friend within the past 24 hours. Thirty percent say they talked with a friend on the phone in the past 24 hours, while fewer Americans-only 16 percent-report sending an email to a friend over this period.

There are stark generational differences in the mode of communication Americans prefer to use to get in touch with their friends. More than six in 10 (61 percent) young adults say they have texted a friend within the past 24 hours, compared to only 41 percent of seniors. Conversely, older Americans are far more likely to have sent an email to a friend. Nearly three in 10 (29 percent) seniors say they emailed a friend within the past 24 hours, compared to 10 percent of young adults. There are no significant generational differences in the frequency with which Americans talk to their friends on the phone.

Emotional Support

There are massive differences in the degree to which men and women rely on friends for emotional support and are willing to share their personal feelings. Nearly half of women (48 percent) and less than one-third of men (30 percent) say they have had a private conversation with a friend during which they shared their personal feelings in the past week.

Men are also far less likely than women are to have received emotional support from a friend. Four in 10 (41 percent) women report having received emotional support from a friend within the past week, compared to 21 percent of men.

Finally, compared to men, women more regularly tell their friends they love them. About half (49 percent) of women say they have told a friend they loved them within the past week. Only one-quarter (25 percent) of men say they have done this.

There are no generational differences, meaning younger men are no more likely than older men are to have shared their personal feelings with a friend. However, men who have female friends are significantly more likely to express their feelings and receive emotional support than are those without. Twenty-eight percent of men with female friends report that they received emotional support from a friend within the past week, compared to 16 percent of men who do not have female friends. Compared to men who have only male friends, men with female friends are also more likely to have shared personal feelings (38 percent vs. 25 percent) and to have told a friend they loved them (35 percent vs. 15 percent) in the past week.

Best Friends

Most Americans report having a best friend. Nearly six in 10 (59 percent) Americans say they have one person they consider their best friend. Forty percent say they do not. Notably, these types of friendships are common, and their prevalence hardly varies at all among the public. Across the lines of race and ethnicity, age, religion, and politics, best friends are a common feature of American social life.

However, fewer Americans have a best friend today than they once did. In 1990, three-quarters (75 percent) of Americans reported having a best friend, a dramatic decline over the past three decades.

For most Americans, best friends include people beyond their immediate or extended family. About only one in five (21 percent) Americans say their best friend is a family member, while the vast majority (78 percent) say they are not. Among those who say their best friend is a family member, they are most frequently identified as their spouse or partner.

There are few differences among the public in the identity of best friends, but White evangelical Protestants are unique to the extent that their best friends are family members. More than one in four (26 percent) White evangelical Protestants who have a best friend say this person is a family member.

The survey included a question that asked respondents to share, in their own words, what it was that made someone their best friend. While there is not any one characteristic or experience that Americans identify, for many, longevity is a crucial element. A 25-year-old Hispanic woman described her best friend as someone whom she has known for most of her life. "She and I have been best friends since we were in the third grade. She and I have a unique friendship, where she and I can reach out to each other after any amount of time and no matter how long it's been there's only good vibes and love."

A White 54-year-old man similarly leads with how long he has known his best friend. "I've known this person for over 30 years. We have seen the best and worst in each other and have seen each other through some difficult times." For many Americans, being friends with someone for a long time is an important, and perhaps key, ingredient.

These open-ended results are consistent with other findings. Compared to Americans who do not have a childhood friend, those who do are much more likely to have a best friend. Nearly two-thirds (65 percent) of Americans who have a childhood friend also have a best friend. In contrast, less than half (47 percent) of Americans who do not have a friend from their childhood say they have a best friend. A majority (53 percent) do not have either.

Friendship and Politics

Few Americans report that they regularly discuss politics or government with their friends. About only one in five (21 percent) Americans say they discuss political issues at least a few times a week. About one in four (24 percent) say they talk with friends about politics a few times a month. More than half (55 percent) the public report that they talk about politics with their friends less often. Notably, Democrats and Republicans are not any more likely to discuss politics with their friends than the public overall is.

For most Americans, political affiliation is probably not a prerequisite for forming a friendship, but both Democrats and Republicans are far more likely to have friends who belong to their preferred party. About eight in 10 (82 percent) Democrats and Republicans (80 percent) say they have at least some friends who share the same political identity. Importantly, Republicans have more bipartisan friendships than Democrats do. A majority (53 percent) of Republicans say they have at least some friends who are Democrats. In contrast, less than one-third (32 percent) of Democrats say they have at least some Republican friends.

Losing a Friend over Politics

Although political disagreements are common, few Americans report having stopped talking to or being friends with someone because of their views about government or politics. Only 15 percent of the public have ended a friendship over politics.

Ending friendships over political disagreements occurs more among liberal and Democratic-leaning Americans. Democrats are twice as likely as Republicans are to report having ended a friendship over a political disagreement (20 percent vs. 10 percent). Political liberals are also far more likely than conservatives are to say they are no longer friends with someone due to political differences (28 percent vs. 10 percent, respectively). No group is more likely to end a friendship over politics than liberal women are; 33 percent say they stopped being friends with someone because of their politics.

The reasons Americans give for dropping a friendship are varied, but President Donald Trump loomed large. A White college-educated man said: "I can't deal with crazy people who worship Donald Trump." A Hispanic woman offers a similarly blunt explanation: "If they were a fan of DJT, I wanted nothing to do with them." But many Trump supporters were equally willing to walk away from friends whose views of the former president did not align with their own. "I have unfriended people online and stopped talking to people who didn't respect our great President Trump." In all, 22 percent of Americans who have ended a friendship cited Trump as the reason.

Survey Methodology

The survey was designed and conducted by the Survey Center on American Life. Interviews were conducted among a random sample of 2,019 adults (age 18 and up) living in the United States, including all 50 states and the District of Columbia. All interviews were conducted among participants of the the Ipsos KnowledgePanel, a probability-based panel designed to be representative of the US general population, not just the online population. Interviewing was conducted between May 14 and May 23 2021. Interviews were conducted in Spanish and English.

Initially, participants are chosen scientifically by a random selection of telephone numbers and residential addresses. Persons in selected households are then invited by telephone or mail to participate in the Ipsos KnowledgePanel. For those who agree to participate but do not already have internet access, Ipsos provides at no cost a laptop and internet service provider connection. People who already have computers and internet service are permitted to participate using their own equipment. Panelists then receive unique log-in information for accessing surveys online and then are sent emails throughout each month inviting them to participate in research.

The data were weighted to adjust for gender by age, race, education, Census region by metropolitan status, and household income. The sample weighting was accomplished using an iterative proportional fitting (IFP) process that simultaneously balances the distributions of all variables.

The use of survey weights in statistical analyses ensures that the demographic characteristics of the sample closely approximate the demographic characteristics of the target population. The margin of error for the qualified survey sample is +/- 2.4 percentage points at the 95 percent level of confidence. The design effect for the survey is 1.2.

Notes

Daniel A. Cox, Ryan Streeter, and David Wilde, "A Loneliness Epidemic? How Marriage, Religion, and Mobility Explain the Generation Gap in Loneliness," American Enterprise Institute, September 26, 2019, https://www.aei.org/research-products/report/loneliness-epidemic-how-marriage-religion-and-mobility-explain-the-generation-gap-in-loneliness/.

Economist, "Parents Now Spend Twice as Much Time with Their Children as 50 Years Ago," November 27, 2017, https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2017/11/27/parents-now-spend-twice-as-much-time-with-their-children-as-50-years-ago.

Steven John, "7 Ways American Work Habits Have Changed in the Past 10 Years," Business Insider, March 27, 2019, https://www.businessinsider.com/american-work-habits-culture-change-2019-3.

Although the wording was identical in both questions, there was slight variation in the response options. Gallup asked about only "husband or wife," while the May American Perspectives Survey asked respondents about their "spouse or partner."

The single unmarried married category includes respondents who have never been married, and who are not currently in a committed romantic relationship.

The definition of "close friend" is subjective and open to interpretation. The results are in keeping with previous work on the social networks. The American National Social Network Survey conducted in 2020 found that 17 percent of Americans had no close social ties, defined as someone the respondent had talked to in the past six months about an important personal matter.

The survey conducted by Gallup in 1990 was administered over the telephone, while the current study was conducted completely online. Both surveys are based on random samples and designed to represent the adult population. However, differences in survey administration may affect how respondents answer questions. Telephone survey respondents talking to a live interviewer might have been less willing to report having no friends or inflate the number of close friends they had out of concerns about how their responses would be perceived by the interviewer, a phenomenon known as social desirability bias. Gallup Organization. "Gallup News Service Poll: January 1990, Wave 2," Roper Center for Public Opinion Research, 1990, https://doi.org/10.25940/ROPER-31088676.

Note: In this analysis, Democrats include people who identify as Democrat and Independents who lean towards the Democratic party. Republicans include people who identify as Republican and Independents who lean towards the Republican party.

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The State of American Friendship: Change, Challenges, and Loss - The Survey Center on American Life

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The May 2021 American Perspectives Survey finds that Americans report having fewer close friendships than they once did, talking to their friends less often, and relying less on their friends for personal support.

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connect to previous source. This shows that comedy is the most preferred tv show genre by viewers. Many popular tv shows under the comedy genre center around a group of friends or friendly-with-each-other people. Shows like Always Sunny, Parks and Rec, and The Office are exemplary of this. The focus is on the characters less so the plot, they don't typically focus on the emotions of the characters, but they do explore how different characters interact and create different comedic moments. Yet, these shows do reach that emotional time, putting aside the jokes to send a heartfelt message and further cement characters relationships. Useful graph that can be further dived into in relation to certain shows.

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It's safe to say that TV viewers are not wanting for choice when it comes to options on how or where to view their favorite shows. TiVo's Q2 2019 Video Trends Report [download page] reveals that, on average, viewers use 7.2 video services such as Netflix, Hulu, pay-TV and YouTube to watch their shows.

But what TV content genres are viewers watching on these services? Among the more than 5,300 North American adults (ages 18 years and older) surveyed, the clear favorite is comedy, as cited by by 61.1% of respondents. Drama (51.5%) is the next-most preferred genre, followed by action/adventure (41.6%), crime drama (40.1%) and suspense/thriller (39.5%).

A report from Nielsen found while certain TV genres such as comedy and reality are still viewed primarily on live TV, other genres including crime drama (broadcast) and drama (cable) are viewed more by digital means.

Access to movies is also a draw for many services and, like TV genres, viewers prefer comedy (56.9%). They are also tuning into action/adventure (44.7%), drama (45.4%), suspense/thriller (39.8%) and science fiction (33.8%) films.

So, that's what people are watching, but where are they watching it? According to TiVo's survey, most viewers (40.4%) are watching new episodes of series they regularly watch on cable or satellite TV. It's worth noting, though, that other research found that more viewers are watching their favorite shows on Netflix than on live TV.

In fact, Netflix is the place where viewers go to watch movies or TV series they have never seen before, according to the TiVo survey. Nearly two-fifths (38.9%) of respondents turn to Netflix for new content. This also true when it comes to original content. Earlier research shows that Netflix's original content is one of the reasons a majority of viewers keep their Netflix subscriptions.

To read more, download the full report here.

About the Data: Findings for the report are based on a survey of 5,340 adults (ages 18 years old and older) from the US and Canada.

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What TV Content Genres Do Viewers Prefer? - Marketing Charts

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It's safe to say that TV viewers are not wanting for choice when it comes to options on how or where to view their favorite shows. TiVo's Q2 2019 Video Trends Report [download page] reveals that, on average, viewers use 7.2 video services such as Netflix, Hulu, pay-TV and YouTube to watch their shows.

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How has art (OR MEDIA) portrayed relationships (ROMANTIC, FAMILIAL, PLATONIC), and how does this affect teens now?

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Pew Research Center: Internet, Science & Tech

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Given the thorough integration of social media into the lives of the majority of American teens, it is no surprise that these sites play an important role in the establishment of friendships and the everyday back and forth of peer relationships. This chapter takes an in-depth look at the role of social media in teens' friendships, looking at teen friendships more broadly defined.

Social media is an important venue for interaction and conversation among America's youth. Fully 76% of all teens use social media. Facebook is the dominant platform, with 71% of all teens using it. Instagram and Snapchat also have become increasingly important, with 52% of teens using Instagram and 41% using Snapchat. One-third of American teens use Twitter and another third use Google Plus. Fewer teens use Vine or Tumblr.

Social media plays a critical role in connecting teens to new friends, allowing teens to learn more about new friends and get to know them better. Nearly two-thirds (64%) of teens who have made a new friend online say they have met new friends on a social media platform. Two-thirds (62%) of teens say they've shared their social media username with a brand new friend as a way to stay in touch.

Beyond making new friends, social media is major way that teens interact with their existing friends. More than nine-in-ten teens (94%) say they spend time with friends on social media. Fully 30% say they spend time with friends on social media every day, and another third (37%) say they do so every few days. When asked to rank the ways they communicate with friends, social media sites like Facebook or Twitter are one of the top ways of communicating with friends for two-thirds (66%) of teens.

As discussed earlier in the report, social media is a critical platform for making and staying in touch with friends. Given this, and the frequency with which many teens use social media, it is not surprising that teen social media users report that social media makes them feel better connected to their friends' feelings and to information about what is going on in their friends' lives. More than eight-in-ten (83%) social media-using teens say social media makes them more connected to information about what is happening in their friends' lives and 70% say these social platforms better connect them to their friends' feelings.

Girls who use social media are more likely than boys to say they are "a lot" better connected to information about their friends' lives (40% vs. 26% boys) and their friends' feelings (24% vs. 16% of boys) thanks to social media.

While teens of all races and ethnicities are equally likely to feel more connected to information about what's going on in their friends' lives through social media, black youth are more likely to say they feel "a lot" more connected. Hispanic teens are more likely than whites to say they feel more connected to friends' feelings through social media, with 78% of Hispanic youth saying this compared with 65% of white youth.

Smartphones offer near constant access to friends and for social media users, their friends' online postings. Not surprisingly, teens who have access to smartphones and use social media are more likely to report that they feel "a lot" more connected to what's happening in their friends lives than teens without a smartphone. While both groups are equally likely to say they feel more connected to friends through their social media use, 36% of smartphone owners say they feel "a lot" better connected to friends while a quarter (25%) of teens without smartphone access report the same degree of connectedness.

Teens from our focus groups told us that they appreciate the way social media keeps them in the loop with friends. One high school boy explained, "One good thing to come out it is you can find out what your friends do and check on them if you're not there. So like find out who they hooked up with and what they did..."

Teens also enjoy the way social media better connects them to more people. As one high school boy said, "And you can talk to people a lot more often 'cause you don't need to see them in person."

Nearly nine-in-ten social media-using teens believe people overshare on these platforms

Even as teens often feel better connected to friends' feelings and information about their lives through social media, they also report that they are sometimes too connected to their friends' lives. Fully 88% of social media-using teens agree that people share too much information about themselves on social media, with 35% agreeing strongly. These data hold true regardless of which social media platforms teens use.

Teens from rural areas are more likely to agree strongly that people share too much information about themselves on social media than their urban or suburban counterparts, with 46% of rural teens strongly agreeing, compared with 31% of suburban teens and 39% of urban youth.

Social media not only connects teens to information and friends, but also connects them to opportunities for social support from their friends, peers and broader social networks. Among teens, 68% have received support on social media during challenges or tough times.

Following adult gender patterns around asking for and receiving social support on social media, girls are more likely to report receiving such support on social media, with nearly three-quarters (73%) of girls garnering support, compared with 63% of social media-using boys.

When examining overall support on social media during tough times, white social media-using teens are more likely than Hispanic teens to report receiving support on the platforms. Nearly three-quarters (72%) of white teens who use social media receive support for tough times on these platforms, while 59% of Hispanics receive similar encouragement. Digging down into the data, black teens who use social media are just as likely overall as white and Hispanic teens to garner support on social media in these situations. Still, they are more likely than white youth who use social media to say they receive that support frequently - with 28% of black teens reporting frequent support, while 15% of white teens report similar boosting from their online network during tough times.

Social media-using teens from households with more modest incomes are more likely than teens from the wealthiest families to say people frequently support them through challenges on social media. While 23% of teens from families earning less than $50,000 annually say they frequently have people supporting them on social media, 14% of teens from families earning more than $75,000 per year report frequent support.

Smartphone users are more likely than teens without access to smartphones to say people support them through challenges or tough times through social media. Fully 71% of smartphone-using teens who use social media say people support them through tough times on those platforms, while 58% of teens without a smartphone say the same.

Even as social media connects teens to friends' feelings and experiences in ways both positive and excessive, that same sharing can reveal events and activities to which teens weren't invited, and can lead to negative comparisons between their own lives and the lives of those they are connected to on social media.

53% of social media-using teens have seen people posting to social media about events to which they were not invited

A bit more than half (53%) of social media-using teens have witnessed others posting to social media about gatherings, events or parties that they weren't invited to. Most teens don't experience this very often, with the bulk of teens (42%) saying it happens occasionally and just 11% saying it happens frequently.

Teens from households with more highly educated parents are more likely to say they haven't been invited to events they later saw posted on social media. Two-thirds (65%) of teen social media users with parents with a college education or more say they've seen postings for events they weren't invited to, as have half (50%) of teens whose parents have completed some college and 47% of teens whose parents have a high school diploma or less.

Most teens don't feel worse about their lives based on what they see from others on social media

Social media exposes teens and adults to information about the lives of their friends. Given what we know about how teens curate and manage information posted to their social media platforms, some profiles post a highlight reel of individual lives, rather than a fuller picture of ups and downs. And while some youth feel worse about their own lives because of what they see on friends' social media postings, the majority of teen social media users say they generally do not feel bad about their lives based on what they see on these platforms.

More than three-quarters (78%) of teens say they do not feel worse about their own lives based on what others post to social media, while 21% of teens say they do. Among those who do feel worse about their lives based on what they see on social media, most do not feel this particularly acutely; 17% say they feel "a little" worse and 4% say they feel "a lot" worse.

Hispanic youth are somewhat more likely to report that they feel worse about their own lives because of social media

More than a quarter (28%) of Hispanic teens report feeling worse about their lives because of social media postings, significantly more than the 12% of black youth who feel this way. The difference between these two groups and the 21% of white teens who say they feel worse is not statistically significant.

Teens as well as adults spend time curating and planning how to present themselves in online social spaces. Adults have often admonished teens to think carefully about what they post and share online, and in many cases, teens have taken this to heart. Online profiles and presence are constructed things for youth. With this need to be careful comes a need to present themselves to multiple audiences - to be authentic and compelling to peers and to simultaneously present a potentially sanitized and appropriate digital persona to adults like parents, teachers, future employers and college admissions officers.

Teens struggle to balance the needs of their different audiences and it shows in the pressures they experience and the attitudes they express about how their peers present themselves.

A large majority of teen social media users agree that people get to show different sides of themselves on social media that they cannot show offline

Some 85% of teen social media users agree that people get to show different sides of themselves on social media that they cannot show offline. This sentiment is consistent across most major demographic groups.

Teens with access to smartphones are also more likely to say people show different sides of themselves on social media, with 88% of smartphone owners agreeing with that statement, compared with 76% of teens without a smartphone.

In one of our focus groups, a high school girl explains what she considers a positive side of social media: "It allows you to show, like, a different side of yourself. ... I mean, you can talk about different things. If you're in person with them, you can joke around. But then like if you're texting with them or talking about something serious, you can talk about serious things and politics and stuff, and it shows a different side of yourself that you might not talk about with them in person."

Roughly three-quarters of teens think people are less authentic and real on social media than they are offline

Even as teens have the opportunity to share parts of themselves on social media that they can't share in person, those same self-presentations don't always feel authentic to their peers. Roughly three-quarters (77%) of social media-using teens agree people are less authentic and real on social media than they are offline.

Again, there are few major differences among different groups of teens in their agreement with this statement.

Many teens feel pressure to curate positive and well-liked content

While a majority of teens do not feel pressure to post content that makes them look good to others (such as parents or peers), 40% of teens do report feeling pressure to post positive and attractive content about themselves. The bulk of teens (30%) report feeling "a little" pressure, while just 10% say they feel "a lot" of pressure.

Teens with more highly educated parents are substantially more likely than teens who have parents with less education to report pressure to only post content that makes them look good. More than half (54%) of social media-using teens whose parents have a college degree or more report such pressure, while about of third of teens whose parents have some college experience or a high school diploma or less say the same. The bulk of teens whose parents have a college degree (42%) report feeling the pressure "a little" - just 12% feel "a lot" of pressure to post only positive content about themselves to social media. There are no significant differences between boys and girls, different ages or races and ethnicities in feeling this pressure.

Teens who are generally more interactive with others in a digital space - using it to make friends or play games with people they have never met - are all more likely to feel pressure to only post content that makes them look good to others.

Many teens want to be liked by friends and peers and that extends to digital "likes" as well.

In addition to the pressure some teens feel to post content that makes them look good, teens also feel pressure to post content that others like and comment on. Similar to the percentage of teens who feel pressure to post content that makes them look good, 39% of teens on social media say they feel pressure to post content that will be popular and get lots of comments or likes.

One middle school girl in our focus groups explained the pressure to post cool content to Instagram and how that led to the end of a friendship: "So it's on Instagram. In my school, it's like so you post quality pictures, I guess, and that makes you cool. I don't know. It's like a lot of girls have ... they buy cameras just to do this - expensive cameras. So anyway, I guess K was accusing C of like being too much like her, and one of the reasons was because C was posting pictures. So she would edit her pictures like in such a way that it would look cool. ... I don't know how to describe it. It's just a quality cool thing, I guess. So like they lost their friendship, and part of the reason was because of her social media account."

Teens with more highly educated parents are more likely to report feeling pressure to post content that will garner likes or comments on social media. Nearly half (47%) of teens with parents with a college degree or more report feeling such pressure, while just 36% of teens whose parents have some college experience and 35% of teens whose parents have a high school diploma or less report feeling pressure to post well-liked content.

However, there are no differences between boys and girls, younger and older teens, or those of different racial or ethnic backgrounds when it comes to feeling pressure around posting content that others will like or comment on.

Teens who feel pressure to post content that garners likes or comments frequently feel that they must post only content that makes them look good. Fully 59% of teens who feel "a lot" of pressure to post popular content feel similarly pressured to post content that makes them look good to others.

42% of teens have had someone post things about them that they cannot change or control; older teens and white teens are especially likely to report this

The pressure to post content that others like and find appealing may be, in part, to counteract another challenge that teens and adults face on social media platforms: People posting content about them that they cannot control. Some 42% of teen social media users experience people posting things about them that they can't change or control, with 9% indicating that this happens to them "frequently."

Older teen social media users are more likely to say they've experienced this: 46% of teens ages 15 to 17 say they've had people posting things about them that they can't change, compared with just over a third (35%) of teens ages 13 to 14. Broadly, there are no differences between boys and girls in their likelihood of having people posting things about them that they can't change or control.

White teen social media users are more likely than Hispanic teens to report that people have posted things about them that they can't control: 45% of white teens have experienced this, as have 32% of Hispanic teens. The 38% of black youth who have experienced this is not significantly different than white or Hispanic teens. All groups, but especially white teens, are likely to say this happens occasionally rather than frequently.

Among social media-using teens, those with more highly educated parents are more likely than teens with parents with lower levels of educational attainment to experience people posting things about them that they can't change or control. Nearly half (48%) of social media-using teens whose parents have a college degree or more say content has been posted about them on social media that they can't control, while 38% of teens whose parents have a high school diploma or less report similar experiences.

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Given the thorough integration of social media into the lives of the majority of American teens, it is no surprise that these sites play an important role

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There are many different ways to portray friendships in tv shows and movies. Anne of Green Gables shows a wholesome female-female friendship between Diana and Anne, they rely on one another and care for each other. In I Love You, Man the male friendship doesn't really delve into the emotional aspect of their bond and instead uses a lot of lowbrow humor to keep the tone light and away from deeper topics. Hot Fuzz, however, shows a male friendship where the feelings of both people is important and talked about, their friendship feels more genuine. This source can help start the process of identifying the different kinds of relationships in media, the positive and negative portrayals. More examples are given.

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We recently put together an article about television shows that focus on a group of friends, and it got us thinking about portrayals of friendship in the broader media landscape.

We'd like to explore various depictions of best friends in movies and TV shows in this article, and you're more than welcome to add to the conversation by commenting on the article, but in general, we want to float between several media properties that at least attempt to capture best friendships in different settings, time periods, and gender combinations.

(Please keep in mind that these gender representations are all binary. Unfortunately, there hasn't been a great deal of inclusive gender representations in media, especially with regards to depictions of friendship).

But that's more of an intro than we really need, so let's get going.

Anne of Green Gables - Wholesome Female-Female Friendship

If you're already a fan of the Anne of Green Gables series, then you will no doubt know all about Anne and her bosom friend Diana Barry.

Diana is the only girl in town that's close to Anne's age, and so Anne latches on pretty quickly and never really lets go.

Some might say that the relationship between these two characters is squeaky clean and wholesome and not much else, but that's not completely true.

For one, it's safe to say that many readers of the series used Anne and Diana as a means to reflect on their own real-life friendships. It also offers a fairly specific definition of a best friend: the friend who's reliable and caring and all that, but who also has just been there the longest.

Maybe some of you readers out there on the interwebs can think of that one friend who's been there for you for years and years and years.

It takes something special to stick with someone for such a long time, in any kind of relationship, and one of the other great strengths of the way that Anne and Diana are portrayed is that we get to see them, and their friendship, develop over a great span of time.

The Anne of Green Gables series ran for a very long time indeed, and throughout the course of all those books and, later, even film adaptations, we got to see these two characters do their best to stay in touch and stay connected through some major life events and many, many challenges.

Their relationship may be a fairly simple portrayal of wholesome female-female friendship, but it's also one that set a certain standard within fiction at large, and there are even echoes of this friendship in more contemporary shows and movies like Sex and the City and Bridesmaids.

I Love You, Man - Low-Brow Male-Male Friendship

Now we'd like to look at an example of, arguably, a not-so-great male-male friendship, and this would also be a good time to explain why we even bothered specifying the genders of the characters in these various friendships.

A good few years back we read a media criticism article that questioned typical depictions of male-male friendships in mainstream entertainment.

It argued (sorry, we couldn't track down the course) that in almost every case, friendship between two men couldn't be shown without also including a bunch of low-brow humor, and, more importantly, there was a real resistance to illustrating the emotional side of these relationships.

Any emotional connection between two men tended to be distanced from genuine emotional impact via irony and humor. Or a movie would go out of its way to confirm that male characters were straight, which Mike Stoklasa of Redlettermedia referred to as showing the audience that they have a case of the Not-Gays.

In our eyes, this reflected much broader social resistance to allowing men to be outwardly emotional, and in certain cases, it may have even been an attempt to assure audiences that, no, of course these characters aren't gay.

And, unfortunately, we see I Love You, Man as an example of this dated sense of resistance. There are a handful of emotional moments, but the overarching joke is that these two men get along so well and that, in certain ways, their relationship mirrors a romantic relationship.

Emotion is undercut with jokes, and they're often pretty bad jokes, too.

This movie definitely isn't the worst offender when it comes to preventing male characters from being emotional on screen, but it definitely didn't contribute to progress in this area.

Hot Fuzz - Positive Male-Male Friendship

With that context, we move on to a movie that does an excellent job of just letting two male characters be friends. Period.

Our two leads, played by Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, build an unlikely friendship by spending time with each other and working together as police officers in a small, idyllic English village.

Perhaps it helped that Pegg and Frost are real-life friends, but their on-screen presence never seemed anything but genuine.

There haven't been a great deal of buddy comedies in recent years, and come to think of it, straight comedies seem to have basically disappeared, outside of the Borat sequel, but this movie is a fantastic example of responsible writing that brings a rare sense of positivity to a very old character dynamic.

Search Party - Male-Female Friendship

Rounding off our discussion of gendered best friendships in movies and television, it's Search Party, one of the only shows we could think of that actually sustains a male-female friendship without introducing a romantic component.

Specifically, we're talking about the characters Elliott Goss and Portia Davenport, played by John Early and Meredith Hagner, respectively.

These two well-off characters are already best friends at the start of the show, but the series does such a great job of giving us tiny windows into their relationship.

For the most part, they support each other without question, but, in one of the best episodes of the first season, their relationship is strained by Elliott's near-continuous lying.

Portia is much more than a pretty girl and Elliott is much more than an attention hog, and their relationship with each other is much more than what we tend to see in American television.

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia - Toxic Friendship

If you know this show well, then you also know that these characters are not to be admired in any way.

Likewise, the writers behind the show, which include members of the main cast, aren't trying to depict healthy relationships.

The Gang in Always Sunny are definitely friends, close friends even. But they're not the kinds of friends that anyone in the real world should strive to be.

Specifically, Mac and Dennis could be considered best friends, and yet they treat each other horribly. (Most often, Dennis treats Mac horribly, but there's some reciprocation there as well.)

Sadly, there are real-life best friendships that are inherently toxic, or that become toxic over time, and we feel that there's a great deal of value in showing that in contemporary media.

The Office - Frienemies

Last but not least, we have a best friendship that would probably fall into the frienemies category. (Is that how people spell that term? It's not a real word so it's kind of tricky to research.)

We're talking about Dwight Schrute and Jim Halpert in the American adaptation of The Office.

For the first few seasons of the show, you wouldn't be blamed for thinking that these two characters are just straight-up enemies.

But over time, we find out that Jim and Dwight actually care about each other, at least up to a point, and part of that affection comes from how long they've worked together.

Towards the end of the show especially, there are some wonderful scenes where Dwight and Jim actually bother being nice to one another, and it helps to round out a show that became famous for its comedically strong and emotionally impactful ensemble cast.

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Best Friends in Movies and TV Shows: An Exploration

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We recently put together an article about television shows that focus on a group of friends, and it got us thinking about portrayals of friendship in the broader media landscape.

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The portrayal of family dynamics in tv shows and movies is largely dependent on the genre of the media, whether that be a comedy, drama, soap, etc. Some genres lend more to deep dives into certain family dynamics while others, like action shows/movies, focus on other areas of interest. While there have been many ways to portray a family, many stick with the traditional nuclear family, a mom, a dad, and a son and daughter. African American families were commonly portrayed on situation comedy shows, like the Cosby Show. However, many minority families in film/tv were portrayed with negative stereotypes, if they were even portrayed at all. Parents behaviors and siblings behaviors were common focuses of these kinds of shows, yet there was no truly big, lasting conflict. This helps identify some of the tv shows that popularized and became the first to show certain kinds of family dynamics, whether that be of different races or different interactions. It also explores the importance of the time period, if only a little. Find another source that talks about the history of tv shows and the different type of relationship portrayals.

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The Portrayal Of Family On Television

How television has portrayed the family is important because television is a source for learning about family: what families look like, what an ideal family is, how spouses are supposed to behave, how parents are expected to treat their children, and how families resolve problems. Most research has focused on capturing rich descriptions of the portrayals of family structure, the presence of diverse portrayals, and types of relational interactions within television facilities. Because U.S. media products have dominated international programming, most analyses of family portrayals have been of U.S. programs. Family structure and diversity. The portrayal of family varies by type of programming. Situation comedies, family dramas, and soap operas are often about family, and are the subject of most research into the portrayals of family. Programming types such as action adventure are less likely to use family as the core of their program appeal. Some programming reveals real families' dysfunctional structure, communication, and conflict. For example, distorted relationships, fighting, and jealousy among family members are often displayed on daytime television talk shows such as The Jerry Springer Show.

The comedies of the 1950s and 1960s started out with diverse families, ranging from I Love Lucy to the infamous Amos 'n Andy and the Jewish family of The Goldbergs. But by the middle of the decade, situation comedies and family dramas presented a traditional family structure-a nuclear family with two biological parents and their children, epitomized by Leave It to Beaver and The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet. During the rest of the 1950s and 1960s, white middle-class families dominated programs. The 1960s, however, began to showcase more structural variability, with an increase in families headed by a single widowed parent, such as in The Andy Griffith Show. Throughout television history, however, married couples have headed most families and the most common configuration was nuclear.

The 1970s and 1980s saw an increase in racial diversity. Successful shows such as the ground-breaking mini-series Roots (1977) and the situation comedy The Cosby Show (1984-1992) created an atmosphere in which African-American programs could emerge. The Cosby Show is often credited with reviving the domestic situation comedy. With the explosion of programs on cable, the 1990s featured many African-American family programs. The positive and upscale images in Cosby contrasted with earlier negative images of African Americans. Historically, the portrayal of minority families has been distorted, with African-American individuals often depicted as irresponsible, lazy, and the target of humor.

Minority families continue to struggle for representation and positive portrayals. Native Americans appear infrequently and are often stereotyped as alcoholics with impoverished, dysfunctional families. Latino families are underrepresented and often portrayed as lawbreakers with little education, but with strong family ties. Asian-American families rarely appear. In the 1990s, unmarried relationships and couples without children were more common than ever on television.

Portrayal of family relationships. Historically, television has promoted a traditional family model with wise parents, little serious conflict, and mostly conforming behavior. Families on television during the 1950s and much of the 1960s talked with each other, and parents always helped their children through adolescence. Although the 1970s had a number of sentimental portrayals, such as Little House on the Prairie or the still popular Brady Bunch, it also experimented with more conflictual relationship patterns in such favorites as All in the Family and The Jeffersons. In All in the Family family members were likely to ignore, withdraw, and oppose one another, in addition to showing support and caring. During the 1980s, The Cosby Show dominated public perceptions of family portrayals with an enviable family. Prime-time soap operas such as Dallas and Dynasty explored the seamier side of extended families. The end of the 1980s saw a more cynical view of the family in such comedy hits as Roseanne and The Simpsons. By the 1990s family relationships were again portrayed more positively in terms of psychological health on shows such as Family Matters and Home Improvement (Bryant and Bryant 2001). Although conflicts in family programs have increased rapidly from the late 1970s, family members almost always successfully resolved the conflicts by way of positive, affiliative, prosocial communication.

In addition to showing how parents behave, television also presents a picture of the relationships among siblings. Like portrayals of parent-child relationships, sibling relationships generally emphasize efforts to resolve conflicts and to maintain positive emotional ties. There is, however, considerable variation depending on the program. Married with Children and Roseanne feature rather hostile sibling relationships, whereas The Simpsons portrays more affiliative and supportive relationships.

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Television and Family - The Portrayal Of Family On Television

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The Portrayal Of Family On Television How television has portrayed the family is important because television is a source for learning about family: what families look like, what an ideal family is, how spouses are supposed to behave, how parents are expected to treat their children, and how families resolve problems. Most research has focused on capturing rich descriptions of the portrayals of family structure, the presence of diverse portrayals, and types of relational interactions within television facilities.

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We need to talk about romantic love and why it's so horrible

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Isn’t it romantic? Movies, TV shows strongly shape how we view love

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Isn’t it romantic? Movies, TV shows strongly shape how we view love

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CITE IN THE PRESENTATION IT TIES INTO THE SOCIOLOGICAL THEORY OF NURTURE VS. NATURE

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ANN ARBOR-Do you believe in love at first sight? If so, chances are you're not missing an episode of "The Bachelor" or "Millionaire Matchmaker."

And if seeing a romantic movie is your idea of a good time, you likely believe that "love finds a way," carrying a couple through any obstacles it might face, according to a new University of Michigan study about how movies and television shows affect our beliefs about relationships and romance.

Romantic ideals that people hold often correlate with the types of media messages they are exposed to, which suggests that "the media may be teaching us what sorts of beliefs we should have about romantic relationships," said Julia Lippman, a postdoctoral research fellow in the U-M Department of Psychology.

"It is possible that frequent exposure to romance and courtship in this idealized form could lead viewers to adopt equally idealized notions about relationships in the real world," said Lippman, the study's lead author.

Researchers studied the responses of 625 college students-including 392 females-to learn how romantic movies, sitcoms involving relationships and marriage-themed reality shows might affect their beliefs about relationships.

Participants indicated how often they watched each of 93 romantic movies such as "500 Days of Summer," "Crazy Stupid Love" and "In Time." They noted the frequency of watching 17 sitcoms that featured dating relationships, such as "How I Met Your Mother" and "The Big Bang Theory." And they also responded to a survey that assessed their exposure to marriage-themed reality shows, such as "The Bachelor" and "Millionaire Matchmaker."

The study indicated that higher exposure to romantic movies was associated with a stronger belief that "love finds a way." Greater exposure to marriage-themed reality TV shows was associated with belief in "love at first sight" and "true love," which did not surprise the researchers given the genre's focus on early stages of romance (lavish dates, roses, etc.) and marriage.

However, students who frequently watched sitcoms featuring characters who dated multiple partners had lower levels of idealization-a belief that "true love" will be nearly perfect-and "one and only," a belief that people have soul mates.

In addition to Lippman, the study's authors were L. Monique Ward, a professor of psychology, and Rita Seabrook, a doctoral student in psychology and women's studies.
Related Links:

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Isn't it romantic? Movies, TV shows strongly shape how we view love

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ANN ARBOR-Do you believe in love at first sight? If so, chances are you're not missing an episode of "The Bachelor" or "Millionaire Matchmaker." And if seeing a romantic movie is your idea of a good time, you likely believe that "love finds a way," carrying a couple through any obstacles it might face, according to a new University of Michigan study about how movies and television shows affect our beliefs about relationships and romance.

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Then Vs. Now: The Portrayal Of Female Friendships On TV

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Then Vs. Now: The Portrayal Of Female Friendships On TV

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compares Grown-ish and SATC and how women talk to one another and support each other

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Let's take a moment to praise Miranda and her incredibly powerful, exasperated remarks at the beginning of Season 2:
"All we talk about anymore is Big or balls or small dicks. How does it happen that four smart women have nothing to talk about but boyfriends? It's like seventh grade but with bank accounts. What about us? What we think, we feel, we know - Christ! Does it always have to be about them? Just you know, give me a call when you're ready to talk about something besides men for a change."
Since SATC was originally released in 1998, there has been tremendous growth in the television industry, especially for shows appealing to young professionals. Representations of female friendships on TV still have a long way to go, but there are still quite a lot of aspects we can praise. Take Grownish for example. This series does not shy away from difficult conversations or taboos. Who would have thought that girls had more to talk about than just sex? The Grownish girls support one another, call each other out on their crap, and learn from their mistakes as a team. For instance, after Zoey is cut off financially, Sky and Jazz call her out, reminding her to "stop acting like [she's] too good for this. Everybody has a hustle" They check her on her privilege, but they also guide her through the process, aiding her with her job search.

Each member of the squad has a unique perspective and is clearly not afraid to voice their opinions. Still though, they hear each other out no matter the circumstance, even when they vent about their constant guy problems (they are in college, after all). In episode two of the second season, Zoey experiences some personal insecurity about her faltering relationship with her boyfriend, Luca. At first, she searches for external validation in an unhealthy manner, going as far as virtually comparing her relationship to Jazz and Doug's, who has been crowned with the title of #relationshipgoals. She cannot get the idea that her relationship is not as perfect as she thought it was out of her head, and ultimately decides to have a conversation with her besties about their perceptions. So what is a 'perfect relationship'? As Sky explains, it's when a guy "elevates his girl to wifey within a world of situationships". Ana, a more traditional romantic swoons about finding her Prince Harry. Regardless of their alternative views, they speak up, always.

This is not the case for SATC. During episode eight of the second season, the girls also confront the concept of a "perfect relationship". Carrie struggles to be honest with her friends about Big's failures, afraid to ruin her Prince Charming fantasy. Big was not planning on showing up that night to meet her friends, despite already agreeing to do so in advance, leaving Carrie defeated and alone, without the strength to tell her friends about her "fallen hero".

Miranda also was also experiencing her fair share of conflict that night. A couple days before the dinner, she met Steve, who becomes her husband later in the show. He does not fit Miranda's relationship standards in the slightest, as he is a working guy from Brooklyn with a schedule that is opposite of hers (she is very Type A). She immediately categorizes him as a one-night-stand, despite his clear insistence that this was not the case for him. Nevertheless, he persists practically begging her for a real date. She begrudgingly invited him to join her girls at the dinner, where she continues categorizing him as a one night stand. While Miranda cracks jokes at Steve's expense, the girls exchange glances in between sips of their cosmopolitans. They clearly have opinions on Miranda's cruelty, but once again, they do not say anything to her.

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Then vs. Now: The Portrayal of Female Friendships on TV - Her Culture

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We all have our guilty pleasures. Mine is Sex and The City. Do not get me wrong, there are a lot of issues with this show. Yes, it took a revolutionary approach by normalizing sex on TV, which influenced audiences worldwide in terms of destigmatization.

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Real friendships don’t look like sitcoms

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Real friendships don’t look like sitcoms

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Says that we don't expect scrubs to give us a good representation of being a doctor and how no one watching Brooklyn 99 thinks that that is how being a policeman works. So why do we hold friendships to the same standards. They are much messier in real life cuz people are not 2d and instead are complex and some aspect of this complexity is growing closer and apart from people.

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I've decided I want to be a doctor. I'm terrible with blood and guts, quite squeemish, and struggle to watch Embarrassing Bodies-but I've seen Scrubs. It's all jokes and hanging out at the nurses' station with hardly any blood and guts, so it should be fine, right?

Okay, clearly I can't base my expectations of the medical profession on what I see on Scrubs, nor can I really know what it's like to be a cop from Brooklyn Nine-Nine, or a politician from Parks and Recreation (shoutout to my homegirl, Leslie Knope). As much as I love these sitcoms, I know they are not accurate representations of these occupations.

So then, why do we get tricked when it comes to friendship?

The friendships portrayed in television shows, books and movies are not realistic representations of friendships. Fiction shows us what we want to see, and what will carry the story. If we allow what we see on screen to shape our expectations of friendships, we can end up thinking that true friendship must consist of exciting adventures and daily interactions, being together for every monumental moment.

It's great when it is. Nothing is more delightful than being surrounded by close friends, people who have chosen to be in your life and have selected you out of all the other humans to be in theirs. There is great joy in shared history, moments of affection and laughter, and the creation of in-jokes. This is what makes university such a special season in life: it's a time where peers have the perks of being grown up without the responsibility attached. Time can be wasted together in large quantities, and quantity time gives birth to quality time.

But seasons change, and so do friendships. Unless they're on television.

When we base our expectations on how the group of friends in our favourite television show behaves, we are left disappointed because real relationships are much messier than how we'd like them to be.

Real friendships are messy because life changes. We grow up. We start making decisions independent of our friends, and this changes things. People get jobs in different cities. People go traveling and have different experiences. People get married and start families. People get responsibilities and can no longer while the weekends away with good company. Even when someone feels like they haven't changed at all, the world around them has and therefore they have too.

Real friendships are messy because human beings are sinful. We are sinful in a way that doesn't lead to good plot twists but instead sinful in a way that leads us to hurt each other constantly. We don't handle change well, and we don't handle sin well. We are not as gracious with one another as we think we are.

If our expectations and ideals of friendship are based on the fictional friendships we witness we will always be disappointed, because we won't be equipped to handle the way that friendships really are. Our expectations of our friendships will become our idols, and idols will do what idols do best-fail to satisfy and let us down.

When our friendships become idols, they will take our eyes away from Jesus. Jesus is the true friend-he never fails us. He lays down his life for us. He invites us to be in relationship with him eternally. We need to love our friends and nurture our friendships, but they must never take priority over our relationship with Jesus. Jesus must come first.

Jesus is not just the true friend, he also teaches us what true friendship really is. When we are trying to work out how our friendships should look, we must ensure we are turning to the Bible as our guide. The friendships that fiction portrays are appealing and attractive, but are not accurate. When we turn to the Bible to understand what a true friend is, we grow better equipped to be a good friend, able to love and forgive when others hurt us (Eph 4:32; Col 3:13). We understand the importance of speaking truth in love (Eph 4:15, 25), seeking to build others up (Eph 4:12), and helping them to mature in their faith (Col 1:28). We come to terms with the truth of humanity: that we are all broken and sinful (Rom 1, Rom 3). Therefore we are not surprised when our friends fail us, but rather we are slow to anger, ready to forgive and show grace. The Bible not only shows us what a true friend we have in Christ, but it teaches us to be a true friend to others.

That's the only way we can begin to tell the world the story of what friendship is really for-joyful service together in Christ, an adventure that will last into eternity.

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Real friendships don't look like sitcoms - GoThereFor.com

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I've decided I want to be a doctor. I'm terrible with blood and guts, quite squeemish, and struggle to watch Embarrassing Bodies-but I've seen Scrubs. It's all jokes and hanging out at the nurses' station with hardly any blood and guts, so it should be fine, right?

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Toxic relationships in media perpetuates relationship violence

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Toxic relationships in media perpetuates relationship violence

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Often, television and movies favor showing on-screen couples portraying toxic behavior in relationships, but they don't always take into consideration the harm done in toxic off-screen relationships.

Toxic behavior can affect any relationship, platonic or romantic. According to WebMD, "A toxic person is anyone whose behavior adds negativity and upset to your life." Toxic behaviors in relationships include signs such as constant judgment, lack of trust, uncertainty, always undermining the other partner and victimhood.

If the media continues to romanticize the actions and behaviors in toxic relationships, people could get seriously hurt by disregarding the discernable signs that could save them from poisonous individuals.

"The Notebook"is one of the most praised romance movies of all time, and yet it shows signs of manipulation and pressure on the main characters' romantic relationship.

At the beginning of the film, Noah asks Allie out on a date by climbing into a Ferris wheel mid-ride and jumping into her seat. When she repeatedly declines, he dangles from the bar of the ferris wheel until she agrees to go out with him.

This scene is the epitome of toxic behavior, yet for years some have accepted this as one of the most romantic gestures of all time. Even after consistent rejection as to why Allie did not want to date him, he put his life at risk until she said yes.

This initial scene in the movie represents a common behavior a toxic person can have by manipulating a situation, even though it is not what the partner wants.

"The Notebook"is a romance movie where star-crossed lovers are destined to be together, but it's irresponsible for the media to allow this film to represent the perfect couple and skew the idea of what a healthy relationship looks like.

A study by theHeriot-Watt University's Family and Personal Relationships Laboratory in Edinburgh found that couples in their center commonly have misconceptions about romantic relationships because of romance films.

"Relationship counselors often face common misconceptions in their clients - that if your partner truly loves you they'd know what you need without you communicating it, that your soulmate is predestined. We did a rigorous content analysis of romantic comedies and found that the same issues were being portrayed in these films," said the university's Dr. Bjarne Holmes.

Award-winning and Grammy-nominated film "Twilight"also depicts various red flags of toxic behavior between Bella and Edward's relationship.

In the first film of the Twilight saga, Bella wakes up to find Edward in her room and asks how he got in. He tells her that he came in through the window, something he's been doing for the past couple of months. He tells her, "I like watching you sleep. It's kind of fascinating to me." He then tells her to stay still as he leans in to kiss her.

This scene in the film depicts stalking, dishonesty and control. Although this scene is deemed as romantic, it is terrifying, uncomfortable and unhealthy behavior when reflected in an off-screen relationship.

This is alarming in their relationship not only because it is not normal, but he is illegally breaking and entering onto her property. His actions displayed signs of manipulation, power and control over her.

Both "The Notebook"and "Twilight"are award-winning romance films, and are two of the most recognizable romance movies, but they both portray unhealthy relationships and are not accountable for the characters' behavior enough.

These films portray toxic relationships as healthy and contort a viewer's perspective of what romance should look like in their own lives.

Viewers should be critical and not be afraid to call out films and television shows that portray toxic relationships as healthy and identify on a large scale when an on-screen relationship is not acceptable for real-life application.

University of Michigan's Department of Psychology completed research from 625 college students to evaluate how on-screen romance reflects their beliefs on relationships.

"It is possible that frequent exposure to romance and courtship in this idealized form could lead viewers to adopt equally idealized notions about relationships in the real world," said Julia Lippman, a fellow on the study.

This study reflects the importance for viewers to be able to recognize the red flags in toxic relationships so they don't fall for problematic expectations themselves, especially if the media doesn't change how they portray romantic relationships on-screen.

The media should be diligent about what they are portraying and be aware of the impact it has on generations. Passing toxic on-screen relationships as healthy ones can lead to viewers accepting toxic behavior as acceptable in relationships, with the high possibility of them being hurt emotionally, mentally or physically.

Toxic behavior can extend from constant judgment, hostility, lack of trust and manipulation. Recognizing noxious behavior in the media can lead to a better understanding of those behaviors in off-screen relationships before our perception becomes distorted about true love.

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Toxic relationships in media perpetuates relationship violence

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Often, television and movies favor showing on-screen couples portraying toxic behavior in relationships, but they don't always take into consideration the harm done in toxic off-screen relationships. Toxic behavior can affect any relationship, platonic or romantic. According to WebMD, "A toxic person is anyone whose behavior adds negativity and upset to your life."

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Use this infographic in the presentation as it shows how as years have passed that representation of certain relationships, in this case, of queer couples, has risen in public media and in correlation has increased public support for marriage equality

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On June 26, 2013, the United States Supreme Court issued decisions on two cases critical to marriage equality.The so-called "Defense of Marriage Act" has been declared unconstitutional, and California's Proposition 8 has been struck down, meaning California same-sex couples will soon be able to marry their loved ones again.

LGBT characters and couples have helped pave the way for culture change as Americans show a record high support of marriage equality. A March 2013 ABC News/Washington Post poll showed that 58% of Americans now support marriage equality, the highest total ever seen in a mainstream national poll, following a record year with LGBT characters representing 4.4% of all scripted series regular characters on broadcast TV.

This trend is reflected over the last ten years as the increase of LGBT visibility in television correlated with increases in national support for marriage equality. Check out the graphic below, using marriage equality approval ratings from national polling results and LGBT character statistics via GLAAD's "Where We Are on TV" report (click for full sized graphic).

Share on Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr.

For more than 25 years GLAAD has been working with Hollywood to ensure LGBT-inclusive storylines. This is part of our important culture changing work, and we've still got more to do.

(TV shows pictured include: ER, Will & Grace, South of Nowhere, Brothers & Sisters, Desperate Housewives, Grey's Anatomy, Modern Family, All My Children, Degrassi: The Next Generation, True Blood, Glee, Pretty Little Liars, Partners, Happy Endings, Spartacus, Scandal, The L.A. Complex and The New Normal.)

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INFOGRAPHIC: LGBT television characters and couples paving the way on the road to marriage equality

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LGBT characters and couples have helped pave the way for culture change as Americans show a record high support of marriage equality. Take a look at the correlation between the increase of LGBT visibility in television with increases in national support for marriage equality.

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The number of reboots returning to screens continues to increase as nostalgia pulls and audiences share their desire for familiar faces and content; Will and Grace, Charmed, and Dynasty are all getting second rounds in 2018.

While most reboots involve bringing back beloved TV series for a new generation of viewers, being strategic with intellectual property can also mean reuniting the older generation of viewers with the new, as proven by YouTube Premium's global success with their Karate Kid continuation series .

Throughout the 2017-2018 TV season in the United States, CBS led the way in the current wave of procedural reboots, while the network's SVOD sibling CBS All Access has brought back Star Trek to help launch the service as an original programming player. The undeniable success of Star Trek: Discovery perhaps inspired the SVOD's upcoming reboot of The Twilight Zone with Jordan Peele attached to the project.

Streaming services are keen not to miss out on the reboots trend: Netflix recently found success with a new version of Lost in Space, originally airing on TV in the US in the 1960s, and Queer Eye, an updated take on the fab five in Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, originally on Bravo. The streaming giant isn't the only SVOD betting that reboots will bring subscribers to their service; just in the past few days Hulu announced they have commissioned a Veronica Mars revival series. MGM, in turn, has unleashed similar strategy earlier on in the year - rebooting its Stargate franchise to power up its own OTT service.

Clearly there is appetite to bring back fond memories. The time has therefore come for us to investigate this trend that is gaining momentum across the global TV industry. To gauge the public's desire for previously-aired television series to be remade, we commissioned a survey asking 500 Americans the following simple question:

" What TV show should be brought back? "

Survey participants could list as many titles they wanted, and we then grouped the most desired TV series by subgenre and ranked the top ten titles that survey respondents listed.

The top 10 reboots Americans want most

The first thing we discovered is that Americans fondly remember a huge variety of television shows. These shows range from the 1950s (six respondents want the 1952 western Gunsmoke revived) all the way up to shows that have only just been cancelled (for example the 2018 Roseanne reboot). In all, from the 500 Americans surveyed we received no less than 222 unique titles!

However, some titles came up in the answers again and again. The following chart reveals the top 10 series that U.S. audiences would really love to see again.

With over 6% of the total vote, sitcom Friends is the No. 1 TV show that respondents want to bring back. Friends debuted on NBC in September 1994 with great success, consistently earning the highest ratings of any network program during its ten-year run. And this is also not the first time we have observed the enduring popularity of Friends, as detailed in this article.

Friends is joined in this list by other long-running and highly regarded U.S. sitcoms: Cheers, The Office and Seinfeld may all have been finished for years but still have the power to delight audiences today. Although existing episodes of these shows are a big draw for any platform, our survey shows that some Americans would like to see new versions of these shows on their screens.

M*A*S*H (5%) is in second place after Friends. As the U.S. show with the highest ever recorded ratings, this groundbreaking series mixed comedy with a serious streak, as well as serving as a running commentary about the then-contemporary Vietnam War. It is therefore no surprise a record-setting, critically acclaimed series like M*A*S*H is remembered so fondly today. A revival updated to be relevant to the modern day could pay off handsomely for a network, but there's no room for error in the execution.

After M*A*S*H, Americans said they wanted Roseanne (4%) and Firefly (2.5%) brought back. Cult sci-fi series Firefly is a regular in surveys such as this as the show's dedicated fanbase have been campaigning for a revival non-stop since the show's cancellation by FOX in 2003.

The inclusion of Roseanne in the survey is intriguing as the show was successfully rebooted by ABC in the 2017-18 TV season, only to be re-cancelled after the sitcom's star Roseanne Barr made tweets that ABC decided the network could not be associated with. Following this, a high-profile political row about the cancellation broke out in the US complete with tweets on the subject from President Trump. It certainly seems some Americans feel the show did not deserve to be ended; perhaps ABC's upcoming Roseanne spinoff The Connors will provide them with the working-class comedy they want.

Meanwhile, the fans who answered " Last Man Standing" in this survey are likely to be pleasantly surprised soon: While the Tim Allen sitcom was cancelled by ABC in May 2017, FOX has since picked up the show and will air a seventh season starting late September. ( Note: For a more in-depth look at titles that have recently been cancelled, we previously wrote about the popularity of cancelled TV shows from the 2017-2018 TV season).

Americans want sitcoms back most out of all subgenres

To discover further insights, we took all of the titles that included answers from two or more respondents and analyzed these by subgenre.

Consistent with the top individual shows Americans want brought back, by far the most popular subgenre for rebooted and revived shows was sitcoms: The clear majority of answers were for a show in the sitcom genre, 54.4% of answers were for shows in this category.

Sci-fi drama shows were the second-most common subgenre Americans wanted brought back, with 9.2% of respondents asking for revivals of sci-fi titles like Firefly, The X-Files and The Twilight Zone.

Finally, 8.4% of answers were for shows in the crime drama subgenre, while 4.6% were thriller titles. Western-themed series were the sixth-most popular subgenre with 3.8% of answers - Gunsmoke and Bonanza were the most common shows mentioned in this subgenre.

Conclusion

We have demonstrated that the U.S. public really wants Friends to be back on the airwaves, and with even Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox and Lisa Kudrow themselves hoping for a Friends reboot, all we need now is a platform and a little bit of funding, of course. Perhaps one of the streamers will pick it up... or could this title be the golden bullet for one of the traditional networks?

In closing, studios, networks, distributors and SVOD platforms can use our insights to dig a bit deeper into their library content to investigate which other shows might also offer "evergreen value". And by relying on Parrot Analytics' global TV expertise, content genome and global TV demand data, decision makers can better discover and understand the kind of factors that might make a discontinued show a success - allowing for smarter, more timely and more data-driven content decisions.

For more information about getting more out of your library content, reach out to Parrot Analytics for a live demonstration of our Demand Portal, or watch our latest product video.

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Maximizing IP: America's Next Top TV Reboot

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The number of reboots returning to screens continues to increase as nostalgia pulls and audiences share their desire for familiar faces and content; Will and Grace, Charmed, and Dynasty are all getting second rounds in 2018.