For current events, see Portal:Current events

The term "present day" is used to describe the approximate period of time

Time

Time is a part of the measuring system used to sequence events, to compare the durations of events and the intervals between them, and to quantify rates of change such as the motions of objects....

 that surrounds the present

Present (time)

The present is the time that is associated with the events perceived directly and in the first time, not as a recollection or a speculation . It is a period of time between the past and the future, and can vary in meaning from being an instant to a day or longer...

. Depending on the context, this period may be as narrow as referring to the immediate

Immediate

Immediate may refer to:* Immediacy * Immediate Records, a British record label* The Immediate, an Irish rock group* Immediate Music, a music composition company...

 moment, or as broad as referring to the current year

Year

A year is the orbital period of the Earth moving around the Sun. For an observer on Earth, this corresponds to the period it takes the Sun to complete one course throughout the zodiac along the ecliptic....

 or decade

Decade

A decade is a period of 10 years. The word is derived from the Ancient Greek dekas which means ten. This etymology is sometime confused with the Latin decas and dies , which is not correct....

. In general the term is used to refer to the contemporary era

Era

An era is a commonly used word for long period of time. When used in science, for example geology, eras denote clearly defined periods of time of arbitrary but well defined length, such as for example the Mesozoic era from 252 Ma–66 Ma, delimited by a start event and an end event. When used in...

 at the time it is used.

Media

When used in fictional or non-fictional media such as books or television

Television

Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...

, the term "present day" is typically used to identify the time-period in which the depicted events are taking place, in one of the following ways:

1. The events depicted take place at the literal time that the media is being viewed or read; in this case, the period referred to is subjective
   Subjectivity
   Subjectivity refers to the subject and his or her perspective, feelings, beliefs, and desires. In philosophy, the term is usually contrasted with objectivity.-Qualia:...
   
    and depends upon when the media is experienced;
2. The events depicted take place at the exact date in history when the media was published;
3. The events depicted take place during the era
   Era
   An era is a commonly used word for long period of time. When used in science, for example geology, eras denote clearly defined periods of time of arbitrary but well defined length, such as for example the Mesozoic era from 252 Ma–66 Ma, delimited by a start event and an end event. When used in...
   
    during which the media was published, where the era may be identified in a way relevant to the rest of the elements in the media.

Setting a fictional work in the "present day" can have many intended effects on viewers or readers. In many cases it is a plot device

Plot device

A plot device is an object or character in a story whose sole purpose is to advance the plot of the story, or alternatively to overcome some difficulty in the plot....

 used to engage the audience more quickly as the events are happening in a context that they can understand. In some cases, the intention is that portrayed events are to be understood as genuinely happening "right now"; the audience is meant to deliberately play into this suspension of disbelief

Suspension of disbelief

Suspension of disbelief or "willing suspension of disbelief" is a formula for justifying the use of fantastic or non-realistic elements in literary works of fiction...

. Many popular soap opera

Soap opera

A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...

s are set in the present day, such as the English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 television series EastEnders

EastEnders

EastEnders is a British television soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 19 February 1985 and continuing to today. EastEnders storylines examine the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the fictional London Borough of Walford in the East End...

. Other more fanciful productions are also set in the present day to maintain intrigue in an audience, such as Stargate

Stargate

Stargate is a adventure military science fiction franchise, initially conceived by Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin. The first film in the franchise was simply titled Stargate. It was originally released on October 28, 1994, by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Carolco, and became a hit, grossing nearly...

 or X-Men

X-Men

The X-Men are a superhero team in the . They were created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, and first appeared in The X-Men #1...

.

The use of the term "Present Day" can also detract from media as, in the case of movies and books, it directly reveals the age of the media. For example, the movie, The Terminator

The Terminator

The Terminator is a 1984 science fiction action film directed by James Cameron, co-written by Cameron and William Wisher Jr., and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Michael Biehn, and Linda Hamilton. The film was produced by Hemdale Film Corporation and distributed by Orion Pictures, and filmed in Los...

, has a title card near the beginning labelling it as taking place in the present day, even though the events are shown to occur in 1984 which was true to the initial release of the movie. This can have the effect of making the movie or book a lot less believable because it is labelled as the present day but the technologies and modern culture in the media effectiveley display the past and not the present, nullifying the effectivness of the term, Present Day.

See also

• Contemporary era
• Today (disambiguation)
• Once upon a time
  Once upon a time
  "Once upon a time" is a stock phrase that has been used in some form since at least 1380 in storytelling in the English language, and seems to have become a widely accepted convention for opening oral narratives by around 1600. These stories often then end with ".....