Dr Roberta Katz, who co-authored a Book that studied Gen Z, believes authenticity is vital to most young people, hence the emphasis on character attributes of a so-called “golden retriever” or a “short king”. “Authenticity is a value in part related to the fact that these young people have grown up seeing a decline in trust in the world,” she tells the . “In all our institutions, seeing fake news, seeing a lot of hype, seeing a ton of advertising, authenticity really means, ‘Can I trust you? Can I trust that what you say is what you will do? If it turns out not, then you’ve lost all my trust.’ Their other values include diversity, and preference against hierarchical structures.”
It’s clear that the transfer of taste-making power from studios to social media will have deep consequences for Hollywood unless the industry takes notice, according to Professor Stacy Smith, founder of the Annenberg Inclusion Initiative. “Gen Z have an algorithm on TikTok and Instagram and other sites that is feeding them something uniquely tailored to who they are and what they care about. They’re constantly being given different content, but consistent with what is important to them,” she tells the .
“So then when you translate that to onscreen, that means they want to see the real world in storytelling. Not [what] a cookie-cutter executive in his 50s that’s a white male [thinks] is attractive. Their norms are not singularly focused on physicality. They loved Saltburn, they loved Challengers. But to get them to buy a ticket to the movies based on the physical proclivities of the executive suite of the legacy studios? There’s a complete disconnect [there] because their tastes are different from those executives.”
And there’s a direct correlation between what Gen Z has liked on screen and who they find attractive in the real world, even if some of the so-called “hot rodents” or “retrievers” might consider it a back-handed compliment. These trends, however, are still only one corner of the online world. Many “ordinary” men who aren’t celebrities still feel under pressure to attain the contemporary ideal, lean and muscualar body shape that they see on social media.
“Male influencers portraying the physique of muscularity as being easily achievable and achievable through natural means is a huge industry,” Swami says. “It’s completely changed the way men are relating to themselves and how men are relating to their own ability to function as masculine individuals. “Nor, he adds, has Hollywood totally lost its sway yet in subtly communicating what’s desirable to an audience.
“Remember who’s still the leading man in terms of box office revenue? Dwayne Johnson. ‘The Rock’ hasn’t gone away.”
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