Teenagers of today are much more interested in movies and TV shows featuring "nomance" plots, which means storylines that do not involve sex, according to a new study.
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) recently published its "Teens and Screens" report, where they surveyed 1,500 people aged 10 to 24 in the US about what they prefer to see in movies and TV shows.
The study found that 63.5% of adolescents want to see less sex on their screens and are more interested in shows with storylines about friendship and platonic relationships. That is up from 55% of teens in last year's survey.
In addition, 62.4% of teens said they believe movies and TV shows do not need sexual content to advance the plot, up from 47.5% who said the same thing in the 2023 study.
"I think more friendships should be shown. And just because boys and girls are friends doesn't mean they have to be romantic," a 12-year-old participant said, as quoted in the full report.
What Type of Content Do Teens Prefer?
Instead of romance plots, 36.2% of teens said they prefer movies and TV shows featuring fantasy worlds. Another 24.2% said they want more content on personal life and relatable issues, 13.9% said they want to see more real-life issues on screen, and only 7.2% said they want to watch stories about the wealthy.
Dr. Yalda T. Uhls, founder and chief executive of the Center for Scholars and Storytellers at UCLA, told The New York Times that these preferences point to an adolescent's desire for "escape."
What Topics Interest Teens?
Furthermore, the study also asked teens to name topics that they want to see portrayed on screen. Among all teens, the topics they wanted to see the most were "hopeful, uplifting content," particularly those that show people "beating the odds." This was followed by action or fight scenes and stories of people with lives like them.
This changes among teens who are members of the LGBTQIA+ community. Among them, the three most mentioned topics were nonbinary and LGBTQIA+ identities, racial minorities, and mental health.
Among people of color (POC) adolescents, the top three were action, superheroes, and racial minorities.
