Epic Games lays off 1,000 employees, Gen Z is posing like a platypus, and BTS releases their first album since 2020. But first:
Resource of the Week – The Pour Over
Part of parenting is talking with your kids about what’s happening in the world, and that means staying informed… but that doesn’t mean you have to be glued to the news. The Pour Over is a free, Christ-centered newsletter that keeps you up to date without the doomscroll. It delivers quick, unbiased news paired with biblical reminders to help you stay grounded in truth (and ready for dinner-table conversations). Check it out here!
And now for our three conversations..
1. Will Epic… Fail?
What it is: Epic Games, the company behind Fortnite, announced that it will cut 1,000 employees, citing declining usage and increased costs.
What is happening: Fortnite is by no means going dark— there are over 387,000 people playing, as we write. So what’s behind Epic’s financial woes, and what does it tell us about money, kids, and time? While the battle royale mode of the game is enduringly popular, play hours are significantly down from the days when Fortnite was being proclaimed as Gen Z’s go-to social media. Copycat games popped up on Roblox, diverting some of the younger player base, and an increase in bot players diluted the gaming experience. Epic shelled out on splashy marketing partnerships with Disney, Lego, and Netflix, but it seemed like fewer resources went toward development as new content was beset by bugs and delays. The cost of the in-game currency, V-Bucks, went up last year and is about to increase again, but with economic uncertainty continuing to impact the target market, it’s unclear whether this will help Epic’s bottom line.
Continue the conversation: Why do you think Fortnite is less popular now?
2. Millennial Cringe
What it is: The so-called “Gen Z pout” started on red carpets and is now finding its way into selfies. Young people on TikTok are dishing all their opinions on it.
Why you are going to start seeing it everywhere: Duck lips were once the preferred selfie pose for teenage girls, but not anymore. Despite millennials’ contributions to internet culture, the younger generation teases them mercilessly. Millennials are not afraid of being cringe, but for teens, being overly earnest or excited about anything is a death sentence. You’ll notice Gen Z trends are often rooted in looking effortlessly good. In addition to the awkwardness, difficulty and exhaustion of being an adolescent, teens feel like they have to act detached from everything, including their selfies. No wonder they’d rather pout than smile in a picture. The low eyelids and puffed upper lip give off a decisively uninterested, as The Washington Post puts it, “Fine. Take your picture” attitude. Gen Z stars like Lily-Rose Depp, Maddie Ziegler and Ariana Greenblatt love the pout.
Continue the conversation: Do you like how you look in pictures?
3. Kings of K-pop
What it is: BTS is back with Arirang, the group’s first album since 2020.
What’s behind the hype: Arirang’s album release kicked off with a live show, with all seven band members reuniting in Gwanghwamun Square—a deeply important place in Korean history. The concert streamed on Netflix, drawing more than 18 million viewers. The album itself is a return to form for the band, but the music and accompanying media (like live shows and documentaries) reveal a tension for the band: appealing to a global audience while staying true to their Korean heritage. Vulture reported (paywall) that in an upcoming documentary about the album, their record label “pushed for more English despite the guys’ concerns about authenticity.”
Let’s translate this one further…
With Arirang’s release, we see how this tension between global and local impacts plays out with artists. The album title is a reference to a beloved Korean folk song, and the opening track of the album references its melody throughout. It’s clear BTS wants to lean into the place they came from, a cultural heritage of which they feel proud. The band also went on hiatus so each member could fulfill a military requirement for their country, and now they’re back, hoping to release Korean pop music for their devoted and decidedly global audience.
At the same time, it seems some of the people who make money off of BTS want them to back off on what makes them, them. They don’t even seem to realize that you can’t have K-pop without the K. And sometimes, when you play for an audience of everyone, you end up pleasing no one in particular. Leaning in to our unique story—including the place that we’re from—is when artistic magic really happens.
Christians from every background share a cultural inheritance from a place we haven’t yet been. As Hebrews 13:14 puts it in the ESV, “Here, we do not have a lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come.” It’s a city full of different cultures and peoples, unified by one thing, Christ. When we accept Christ and follow Him, He becomes a part of who we are. This inheritance is part of what makes us, us. It’s the flavor we add to the world, essential to any meaning we make of it.
For teens, and adults too, it can be tempting to hide parts of our story—the parts that seem super spiritual, maybe—to make them more palatable for a bigger audience. But that takes the art that God is making of our lives and cheapens it. And anyway, we’re only ever playing for an audience of one.
For more context and nuance, check out our Roundtable podcast on Spotify, Apple, YouTube, or wherever you listen to podcasts. In the meantime, here are three questions to help you continue the conversation with your teens:
- Do you think BTS will be as popular as they were before their break?
- What’s a culture in the world you’re curious about?
- What makes you, you?
Parenting together,
The Axis Team
In Other News…
- It’s sequel season for Kirsten Dunst. The actress just signed on for the untitled A Minecraft Movie sequel and The Housemaid 2 alongside Sydney Sweeney. The actress said in an interview with Town and Country that she just wants to make a “pile of cash.”
- New Chappell Roan drama is trending after a claim that her security guard yelled at Jude Law’s 11-year-old daughter at a hotel in Brazil. Roan says the guard wasn’t with her team and that she never even saw what happened, but the internet has already turned it into a round of who’s to blame.
- Sora, OpenAI’s video app, is on the chopping block. The company is shutting it down, and Disney has walked away from its billion-dollar plan to put its characters in Sora clips after months of pushback over deepfakes, consent, and AI slop in entertainment.
- Chuck Norris, the martial arts star behind Walker, Texas Ranger, has died at 86. His family says he passed away on March 19 in Hawaii after a medical emergency. People are saying goodbye by bringing back the classic “Chuck Norris facts” jokes as a way to honor the icon who inspired them.
- ABC has pulled Taylor Frankie Paul’s upcoming season of The Bachelorette, and Hulu has paused filming on the Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, after a domestic violence video involving Paul and her ex, Dakota Mortensen, resurfaced.
PS: Know someone who could use our conversation starters with their teens? Share the CT with a friend!