Pop culture's comeback of kindness

This is a banner year for nice people in TV and movies

Fred Rogers and a boy.
(Image credit: Jim Judkis)

One of the best new additions to Netflix this week isn't a prestige drama, or a killer comedy. Instead, it's the latest batch of episodes from what might be the quietest reality show you've ever seen: Terrace House: Opening New Doors. Terrace House is a Japanese show about young people living in a house together, but unlike, say, The Real World, it's not the least bit confrontational. It's languid, relaxed, and quiet. Its contestants are polite, and its romances are restrained and drawn out. It's incredibly addictive television, and the latest in a trend that you might not even know is happening right now: 2018 is a banner year for gentle pop culture.

Take a look at this week's biggest release in theaters: Disney's Christopher Robin, an Ewan McGregor-led fairy-tale confection about an adult Christopher Robin who's left Winnie the Pooh and his cohort of stuffed animals behind, only to find that he needs their simple unconditional compassion to make sense of his bleak adult life. It's a movie that recalls Paddington 2 from earlier this year, an utterly charming tale about another British bear, sent to prison for a crime he did not commit and still somehow saving the day out of a sheer commitment to being polite and kind to everyone.

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Joshua Rivera is a freelance entertainment journalist and critic who has written for GQ, Vulture, and Entertainment Weekly.