the spirit of the times
The ideals, beliefs, styles, ideologies, etc., of a specific period of time. Grunge music became a hugely successful genre in the early to mid 1990s, but by the year 2000, it no longer reflected the spirit of the times. The movie tells a tale that captures the spirit of the times in which it is set, a decade often characterized by people's self-indulgence, loose virtues, and greed, greed, greed.
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