8 Movie & TV Trends We're Ready to Leave Behind in 2023 (& 1 We Want More of)

Eric and Adam from Sex Education. Devi and Ben from Never Have I Ever. Belly and Jeremiah from The Summer I Turned Pretty. Whitney and Andrew in The Sex Lives of College Girls. What do all of these couples have in common?

Yes, they’re all interracial couples—but you’ll also notice that all of them represent the same kind of interracial relationship: a BIPOC character with a partner who is white.

Now, of course, this isn’t to suggest that it’s wrong for people of color to have white love interests. (In fact, we totally ship some of these couples.) But here’s the problem: They feel like a very narrow representation of the complexities of interracial dating—and we see this particular pairing all the time. This trend didn't start in 2023, but it was certainly everywhere this year. (If you need more proof, consider Ezra and Amira from You People, or Mira and Ron from Love Again.) Meanwhile, examples of interracial couples between two non-white characters—like Elle and Tao from Heartstopper—are few and far between, and this shouldn’t be the case. Can we please change this in 2024?

Before you accuse us of being prude or anti-male nudity on screen (we're fully aware women have been bearing all in movies for decades), hear us out. We're not sure if we missed the memo, but has anyone else noticed that penises really are all over the place these days? Particularly in situations where it doesn't serve the story.

There's the 16-foot phallic monster in Beau Is Afraid, the Rock Bridge High School dog mascot that includes a giant schlong in Bottoms and Rufus's penis explosion in Gen-V—which is arguably one of the most disturbing scenes to ever air on TV. Plus, we can't forget about the abundance of large male genitalia in Rotting in the Sun. According to Entertainment Critic Coleman Spilde, "There were so many dongs in one frame that it was practically a carol of the bells—or rather, balls."

Sure, male nudity has been an ever-growing trend on screen in recent years. Perhaps it's about time, considering how long female actresses have been doing full-frontal, but not male actors. But this year in particular, it seems like the trend has morphed into a major obsession with big penises and it's...kind of a lot. We won't be forgetting that final dance scene from Saltburn or that torture scene from Obliterated anytime soon. Perhaps we can scale it back a smidge or take a break from the comically large iterations in 2024?

We've seen it in this year's disappointing adaptation of The Flash, where Barry Allen's goofy, childish qualities are highlighted so much that he appears to lose all common sense. (He is often outshined by fellow Justice League heroes like Batman and Supergirl, which makes it hard to take him seriously.) And we saw this in Shazam: Fury of the Gods, where his maturity level just doesn't seem to grow at all (just take a look at his shared scene with Wonder Woman.)

Also, let's not forget about Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, where Scott's lighthearted, goofy side is put on full display and he appears less intelligent than he actually is. Rather than the resourceful and brilliant electrical engineer we met in the first movie, he's been dumbed down to a frazzled dad and memoirist who always seems overwhelmed and confused—even in battle. Sure, these titles may have a sillier tone, but if you ask us, this seems to be a common theme with superhero movies that flopped in 2023. Why reduce our favorite heroes to silly caricatures instead of developing them into nuanced characters we can actually relate to?

While we're on the subject of Quantumania, you may have noticed that the main villain, Kang the Conquerer, has two prominent scars on his face. Obviously this is a trope that has existed for decades, but this is 2023, guys—it's time to let it go. You might also recall the demon-possessed Henry whose face is covered with little scars in The Pope's Exorcist, or Ellie's facial scarring in Evil Dead Rise.

Before you ask—yes, we're aware that these kinds of scars typically have a backstory behind them. For instance, we know that the demon within Henry is technically abusing his body. Even so, constantly associating scars with just evil villains can reinforce negative stereotypes, which explains why, earlier this year, major streaming platforms were asked to include disclaimers about villains that have visible differences.

Per Variety, Sex Education star Beth Bradfield, who has facial scarring, spoke out in support of this initiative. She said, “It’s so important that the film industry talks about the impact of harmful tropes of films of the past while making way for new and exciting stories that normalize those with visible differences on screen as real people with real stories to tell.”

Don't judge us, but we've had "Peaches" on repeat since we watched The Super Mario Bros. Movie. This charming adaptation brought in a whopping $1.3 billion at the box office, making it the second-highest-grossing film of 2023. And then we have HBO's The Last of Us, a thrilling story about a smuggler who escorts a teen across a post-apocalyptic United States. While Super Mario Bros. leans heavily on strong animation and nostalgia (yes, we know this runs counter to our "Lay off the nostalgia" argument, but we'll make an exception for Mario), the latter has solid storytelling, compelling characters and great action sequences. Both titles capture the essence of the original games, making them enjoyable for fans and newcomers alike. So, we wouldn't complain if we saw this trend of video game-inspired content pick up even more.

As of now, we know for sure that Fallout, Borderlands, Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and Arcane season two are all slated for 2024, so it may officially be the year of video game adaptations. Let's hope they're actually executed well...