Pop Culture in Review for the Year 2005

If we were to go back in time, the world of pop culture and digital media would’ve been very different from how it is today. Talking particularly about 2005, which is almost 15 years from now, we got many major updates in the field of social media and pop culture.

This was the era when local box offices of many theaters were crowded with blockbusters, American Idol and CSI was on the air, YouTube was officially introduced, Destiny’s Child announced its disbandment, and so much more. Books such as the boy who lived saga of Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling got a major update by the sixth part named Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

This article will definitely bring back a lot of memories if you were a part of this time; if not, there is a lot of knowledge you can take away. Let us reminiscence the most extraordinary contributions to pop culture from 2005.

Film

Top 10 Films of 2005

Starting the review with ten films that took theaters by storm. These include:

  1. and Mrs. Smith.
  2. Madagascar
  3. Batman Begins.
  4. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
  5. Wedding Crashers.
  6. King Kong.
  7. War of the Worlds.
  8. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.
  9. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.
  10. Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith.

Music

Moving on to the ever-evolving field of pop culture, music. Only nine songs were reported to hit number 1 in 2005. But there were great songs produced in this year, the top songs from 2005 include:

  1. We Belong Together by Mariah Carey.
  2. Hollaback Girl by Gwen Stefani.
  3. Oh by Ciara ft. Ludacris.
  4. Candy Shop by 50 Cent ft. Olivia.
  5. Don’t Phunk With My Heart by The Black Eyed Peas.
  6. Since You Been Gone by Kelly Clarkson.
  7. Boulevard of Broken Dreams by Green Day.
  8. Switch by Will Smith.
  9. Lonely by Akon.
  10. Gold Digger by Kanye West ft. Jamie Foxx.
  11. Incomplete by the Backstreet Boys.
  12. Drop It Like It’s Hot by Snoop Dog ft. Pharrell.
  13. Inside Your Heaven by Carrey Underwood.
  14. Run It! By Chris Brown.

Other than songs, the music industry, in general, had a lot going on in 2005. There was much news about disbandment and rumors, and numerous milestones were achieved by stars. These include:

Destiny’s Child

Destiny’s Child announced their disbandment in 2005, and the iconic trio wore matching outfits for the last time.

Hung Up by Madonna

This song was tied with Elvis Presley for the most top 10 Billboard singles, which were 36 apiece.

Guitar Hero was announced

Guitar Hero was announced in 2005, which quickly became a craze. Samuel L. Jackson even received an award for the game at Spike TV’s Video Game Awards.

Patti Smith Went Live

For the 30th anniversary of her debut album Horses, Patti Smith went live at the Great American Music Hall. The show was claimed to be perfect.

Get Behind Me Satan

White Stripes released Get Behind Me Satan, which was not guitar-heavy. This marked a change and was heavily influenced by punk, rock, and blues. This step into blues created history.

Following are some more highlights of the year 2005:

  • Pink Floyd performed with Roger Waters for the first time in 24 years.
  • American Idol winner Carrie Underwood was announced.
  • Blink-182 announced that they were going on an indefinite hiatus to breakup rumors.
  • A cabaret inspired album named Extraordinary Machine by Fiona Apple was announced and was really well-liked by the public.
  • Gwen Stefani won RIAA’s first Platinum Digital Single Award for Hollaback Girl. It sold more than 1 million downloads.

Television

Top TV Shows

2005 was a time with no Netflix subscriptions. TV shows were the rave back in the day. The most in-demand TV shows of 2005 include:

  1. American Idol.
  2. CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.
  3. Desperate Housewives.
  4. Survivor
  5. Without a Trace.
  6. Grey’s Anatomy.
  7. Everybody Loves Raymond.
  8. One Tree Hill.
  9. Prison Break.
  10. Lost
  11. Dancing with the Stars.
  12. Monday Night Football.
  13. House

Awards

Alongside TV shows and movies, the trend of award shows continued. The most substantial award winners of 2005 include:

Clint Eastwood

Clint Eastwood bagged the Oscar for Best Picture and Best Director for Million Dollar Baby.

Daughters by John Mayer

Daughters by John Meyer won two Grammys for Song of the Year and Best Male Pop Vocal Performance.

28th Annual Kennedy Center Honors

Tony Bennett, Suzanne Farrell, Julie Harris, Robert Redford, and Tina Turner received honors, a celebration of performing arts during the 28th Annual Kennedy Center Honors.

Award for the Drama Series”Lost”

Damon Lindelof and J.J. Abram won an Emmy for their movie Lost.

Spamalot

Monty Python’s Spamalot was performed at the Tonys while winning Best Musical at the same time.

Gilead

Marilynne Robinson’s novel Gilead bagged the Pulitzer Prize award.

Boulevard of Broken Dreams

Boulevard of Broken Dreams by Green Day won an MTV Video Music Award.

Gossips/Hollywood

Pop culture is nothing without juicy gossips, and somehow there is always more of it surrounding our favorite celebs. The most lively and exciting gossips from 2005 include:

Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston’s Divorce

The top celebrity couple, Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston got divorced, and soon after, rumors had gone by stating a relationship between Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. This was probably the most sought-after, buzziest, and popular featured tabloid.

Russell Crowe’s Anger

Russell Crowe threw a phone at a hotel employee due to anger management issues. But plead guilty to second-degree assault afterward.

Michael Jackson Got Arrested

Michael Jackson was arrested for ten felonies and four misdemeanor charges in the child-molestation case. He went through a 14-week trial and was found not guilty on all accusations, and the charges were removed.

Tom Cruise’s Confession

Tom Cruise became the center of a Scientology controversy and was called Championing Scientology. On Oprah Winfrey’s show, he also revealed his love and attraction towards Katie Holmes and created a tense, awkward moment after calling Matt Lauer a glib. He also jumped on Orpah’s couch, and the media said that he has officially lost his mind.

Jude Law’s Scandal

Jude Law was caught cheating on Sienna Miller with their children’s nanny, and Sienna Miller was accused and then verified of having an affair with Daniel Craig. Later both issued a public apology regarding this.

Kanye West’s Honesty

Kanye West fearlessly went off-script and stated that “George Bush doesn’t care about black people” at the televised NBC’s Hurricane Katrina ReliefBenefit Concert.

Controversies of the Show “Weeds”

A lot of controversy arises after the show Weeds was announced. After airing, it was termed as a highly addictive and hilarious sitcom, definitely worth watching.

Following are some more gossips from the year 2005:

  • Heidi Klum and Seal got married on the 10th of May.
  • Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore announced their marriage date, which was the 24th of September, 2005.
  • Prince Charles from England married Camilla Parker Bowles.
  • Prince Harry from England was reported to be seen at a costume party dressed as a Nazi.
  • The members of Minnesota Vikings were accused of performing lewd acts on a boat cruise.

Sports

The sporty side of pop culture included the following achievements:

  1. The World Series Champions were Chicago White Sox.
  2. The Superbowl XXXIX Champions were New England Patriots.
  3. The National Basketball Association Champions were San Antonio Spurs.
  4. The US Open Golf Champion was Michael Campbell.
  5. The NCAA Football Champions was Texas.
  6. The NCAA Basketball Champions was North Carolina.
  7. US Open Tennis Champion (Men)was Roger Federer.
  8. The US Open Tennis Champion (Women) was Justine Henin-Hardenne.
  9. Fu Haifeng landed the fastest badminton racket whack at 206 MPH.

Games and Toys

After sports, the following are some of the most famous video games/consoles and toys from 2005:

  1. Microsoft Xbox 360.
  2. PlayStation
  3. Game Boy Advance
  4. Barbie as Harley Quinn.
  5. Lindsay Lohan, Hilary Duff, and Destiny’s Child dolls.
  6. Mario Kart.
  7. Brain Age.
  8. Nintendogs
  9. Sudoku

Miscellaneous Events

Other than the ones mentioned above, some miscellaneous events that are mentioned in the history of pop culture of 2005 include:

World of Warcraft’s Glitch

In the game World of Warcraft, there was an intentional glitch that infected people with the plague. This led to non-infected people leaving the city, while infected ones were quarantined. The game was studied by epidemiologists to study the behavior of people during a pandemic.

A Jackpot of $1,000 from PC Pitstop

For the first time in history, a lucky person won $1,000 from PC Pitstop by simply reading their End-User License Agreement (EULA).

Meaning of ‘truthiness’

The meaning of the term ‘truthiness’ was found by Stephen Colbert, which is the quality of seeming true but not necessarily being true.

Supernaturals was aired

The first episode of the show Supernaturals was aired, which was a great success and continued for 12 seasons.

The Office was premiered

The Office was premiered and got incredibly low ratings. Yet, NBC decided to do a second season as they believed Carell would bring anticipated success to the show.

Myspace’s CEO Declined Zuckerberg’s Offer

Facebook was made available for high school students, and later the creator Mark Zuckerberg offered to sell it to Myspace for 75 million dollars. Myspace CEO later declined the offer.

Johan Eliasch’s Love for Nature

Swedish billionaire and nature lover Johan Eliasch bought a huge land in the heart of the Amazon rainforest to protect and preserve it from deforestation.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

In Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Tim Burton helped train 40 squirrels to crack nuts. There was no CGI involved in the scene.

Roadkill Gummies

Trolli made a candy named “roadkill gummies,” which was taken off the market as it was reported by animal rights activists because it featured candy looking like smooshed animals.

Benedict Cumberbatch Got Rescued by a Stranger

A stranger rescued Benedict Cumberbatch after being kidnapped and held at gunpoint in South Africa.

Final Words

There is a reason why 2005 is termed as a prehistoric era in the history of pop culture. It was a year full of astounding happenings. Starting from amazing movies to incredibly soulful music, buzzing gossips, and just great sports, it had everything one could ever ask for. The prominent inventions of this era were YouTube and Xbox, which continue to capture a lot of attention. The pop culture of 2005 has left behind trends and events in its wake.

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