Μake us preferred on Google The end of monoculture has been widely reported.
Earlier this year, in this newspaper, Ben Fritz wrote that “monoculture”—entertainment that is universally consumed—“is dying a rapid death,” citing the fact that “we’re all watching and listening to different things, fed to us by algorithms designed to divide us into uniquely satisfied consumers.”
This summer suggested something else: people still crave the feeling of watching, cheering and talking about the same thing at the same time. It feels like the monoculture is at least trying to hold on for dear life. From the World Cup and “The Odyssey” to “Spider-Man: Brand New Day,” we’re finally all watching the same things , giddily cheering for goals and legendary heroes, be they super or otherwise. We saw soccer devotees boost local economies and Spidey set box office records . It’s been awesome.
“It does seem like more often than not, this summer we’re having the same conversation in a way that I really think we haven’t since Covid,” said Hunter Harris, a pop culture observer who co-hosts the podcast “Lemme Say This” and writes the Substack newsletter “Hung Up.”
If you want to be cynical you could chalk it up to coincidence. This summer had a perfect storm of events that were expected to have massive appeal: a Christopher Nolan movie, Taylor Swift’s wedding , a global sporting event. There was no guarantee we all would want to participate—some of us, namely me, have never really had a vested interest in soccer before. But once we were reminded how much fun it is to experience an event in a group again, we couldn’t seem to get enough.
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The summer started with New York Knicks’s thrilling run to capture the NBA Championship. The fervor was especially pronounced in New York, where it seemed like every street was turned into a viewing party, but the love for Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns spread across the nation. Soon after, the World Cup made household names of players like Spain’s Lamine Yamal and Norway’s Erling Haaland, creating new fans out of people who previously had no idea what an offside call was.
“The World Cup provided a nice baseline for us to remember what feels so good about consuming things together,” said Amanda Dobbins, who talks about movies and celebrities on two Spotify podcasts, “The Big Picture” and “Jam Session.”
Then, over July 4 weekend, even those who didn’t consider themselves Swifties, had an opinion about Taylor Swift’s Madison Square Garden wedding to Travis Kelce. Part of that was the guest list. No matter what you were into—country music, indie rock, arthouse film, literature, the NFL, finance, or even “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia”—there was someone in attendance to draw you as you peered at blurry photos of SUVs arriving at the venue. As Dobbins put it, the event was recapped on both celebrity gossip site “DeuxMoi and LinkedIn.”
Movies also had their brush with monoculture. “You didn’t love ‘The Odyssey’ as much as I loved ‘The Odyssey,’ ” a man who works in my Manhattan apartment building challenged me almost out of nowhere when I was walking my dog one day. What followed was a spirited conversation about Nolan’s representation of Athena, played by Zendaya. I told him I had already seen Nolan’s adaptation of the Homerian epic twice. He promised he was going back.
Photo by Melinda Sue Gordon © Universal Studios. All Rights Reserved.
This enthusiasm was playing out everywhere. The Odyssey crossed $1 billion at the global box office within its first month, while IMAX extended coveted 70MM screenings into September.
“Spider-Man: Brand New Day” also brought out the masses, with the biggest domestic opening of all time, earning $360 million.
“What it really comes down to is that people want to be involved in something that’s bigger than themselves that’s positive,” said Paul Dergarabedian, head of marketplace trends at Rentrak, which analyzes box office data.
Sure, there are still areas where the monoculture is flailing. It is unclear whether there has been an undeniable “song of the summer,” despite the chart strength of Ella Langley’s “Choosin’ Texas” and no scripted television show has captured universal attention.
Still, there’s palpable sense that people are seeking out these moments. I’ve loved the nods from people also wearing Knicks gear on their morning coffee runs. It’s been galvanizing to hear cheers on the sidewalk and realize that a crowd has been watching a match. I’ve been heartened by the throngs of people gathered in multiplexes, even if it means the floors are extra sticky from spilled soda. I even treasured that weekend where we all kept refreshing our phones to see if Swift would drop pictures of her Dior gown .
Monoculture doesn’t mean we have to agree, but it does mean we have to share. And through that sharing it’s been nice to be a little bit closer to my fellow man this summer. Here’s hoping that closeness lasts at least through the fall. Maybe “Avengers: Doomsday” and “Dune: Part Three” releasing on the same day will do the trick.
