Pop Culture in Review for the Year 2018

The year 2018 was a serious one. While the years before were full of surprises and exciting, 2018 comparatively raised the seriousness level. This was a year of defining moments. Mostly, occupied by politics, pop culture did not get to receive its fair share of the spotlight but that does not mean it was pushed behind the curtain. Those who kept an eye on the culture know what was going on and went with the flow.

It is important because not everyone wants to hear devastating news every single day. Pop culture in this regard, helps you shift your focus and highlight better things you should be concerned about. One could also look at as a continuation of the previous year, in which historic movements such as #MeToo began. It continued in 2018 and was now more serious than ever. Therefore, let us review 2018 and see how was it any different from the previous years.

Music

60^th Annual Grammy Awards

The year began with the 60^th Annual Grammy Awards taking place on January 28, 2018, through a live broadcast from Madison Square Garden in New York City. However, the date of the event was moved to prevent it from clashing with the dates of the 2018 Winter Olympics. The biggest winner of the night was Bruno Mars who was nominated in six categories and won all of them. The event faced several controversies and cost overruns such as the even costing comparatively more money to be organized in New York than Los Angeles.

Camila by Camila

Camila Cabello began working on her album Camila in January 2017. Exactly, a year after the album was released. Initially, the title of the album was ‘The Hurting. The Healing. The Loving’ and the lead single was supposed to be ‘Crying in the Club’. However, the title was later changed to ‘Camila’, and the lead single ‘Havana’ replaced the lead single due to the rising hype and success around the song. ‘Havana’ became a hit single soon after it was released and became an international success. The album debuted at no.1 on Billboard 200 and met with critical acclaim. It made her the youngest artist to top the Billboard 200 as well.

Art

Institute for Contemporary Art

On April 21, 2018, The Institute for Contemporary Art designed by Steven Holl was opened to the public. Richmond’s Reynolds Gallery owner Beverly Reynolds during her last years was a major donor. The project was entirely built on funding and supporters donated a hefty amount to make sure that the project reaches its conclusion. The location of the museum was such that it was hard to ignore while passing by. It was located on the crossroads of Belvidere Street and Broad Street. Today, it holds several events and exhibitions to showcase contemporary artwork.

Collection of David and Peggy Rockefeller

In May, the collection of both David and Peggy Rockefeller was put on Christie’s auction to be sold in New York City. As the evening of May 8 settles in, the event sold the first oil canvas painting ‘Young Girl with a Flower Basket’ made by Pablo Picasso. It was sold for US$115 Million. Then, other expensive pieces of artwork by the likes of Claude Monet and Henri Matisse were sold as well. In total, the sales grossed $832.6 million, shattering the previous record of $484 million and setting a new world record for a single auction collection.

Literature

Nobel Prize for Literature Canceled

2018 did not bring anything major and positive for the literature world. However, it did bring something that shook the world of literature to its core. It was the first time in around 60 years that no Nobel Prize for Literature took place. Corruption, sexual assault, and nepotism being the primary reasons. More importantly, photographer, Jean-Claude Arnault was brought into the spotlight as it was alleged that he groped Swedish Crown Princess Victoria. He is one of the people responsible for handing out the Nobel Prize in literature. Therefore, while there wasn’t anything exciting going on in the literature world, the cancellation brought huge disappointments to the scene.

Fashion

Lady Gaga’s Flamingo Dress

Lady Gaga has always been known to carry the most unique fashion styles and she isn’t afraid to do so. If you remember, she once wore a meat dress to accept her MTV award, which stirred a huge controversy. This time, she downed a flamingo dress for the 2018 red carpet. Even when the rain started pouring down, Lady Gaga kept her cool and stood confident. Stylists termed it the most magical moment of 2018. She was premiering her first move ‘A Star is Born’ and she did it like no one else.

Cate Blanchett’s Recycled Gown

Cate Blanchett revised what she wore at the 2014 Golden Globes. It was the same, Armani Prive. Not only did Cate pick up sustainable fashion but other actors as well such as Leonardo Di Caprio who wore Allbirds recycled shoes. The idea behind Cate recycling her dress was that beautiful dresses should be worn lifetime and not once. Such garments should be cherished and preserved.

Film

Avengers: Infinity War

The highest-grossing film of 2018 was Avengers: Infinity War. The film grossed $678.8 million in the United States and Canada alone while collecting $1.370 in other countries. Furthermore, it collected a worldwide total of $2.048, making it the fourth-highest grossing film of all time. The movie received critical acclaim for its visuals, costumes, and music, etc. but was criticized for continuing the storyline from the previous series. Nevertheless, the movie was a huge success and the most talked-about superhero film of 2018.

Black Panther

Although Chadwick Boseman left us a while back but that does not change the fact he made Black Panther the second-highest-grossing film of 2018. It is hard to imagine someone else playing the role of Black Panther. The movie grossed $700.1 million in Canada and the United States while collecting $646.9 million in other territories. In total, the worldwide collection was $1.347 billion, making it the ninth-highest grossing film of all time. According to fans, no one else could do justice to the movie as Chadwick Boseman did. His performance was well-received across the globe.

Television

Priyanka Chopra Apologizes

In June, Indian actress Priyanka Chopra had apologized for the plotline of the episode ‘The Blood of Romeo’ belonging to the drama ‘Quantico’. The plot depicted that Hindu nationalists were trying to make Pakistan look like as if it was behind New York City’s terror plot. This created a huge outrest amongst the viewers as they blamed Priyanka Chopra for stereotyping and providing no creative output. Over the year, Quantico has received below-average ratings and failed to satisfy viewers and critics. The show was considered a flop interms of the budget and the revenues it collected.

Radio

David Mueller’s hiring

In January, people were outraged by the hiring of David Mueller. David Mueller was involved in a sexual harassment case with Taylor Swift, who blamed him for touching her inappropriately during a meet and greet in Denver. As a result, David was fired from KYGO-FM in 2013. Then, he was again in the spotlight when WMYQ hired him for a morning gig named ‘Stonewall Jackson’. This sparked attention and yet again outrage against the owner and radio station, demanding that David Mueller is fired and exiled from radio for good.

News

Kim Jong Un announces North Korea denuclearization

Kim Jong Un during a summit held in Singapore announced that he wished to end the nuclear tensions between North Korea and the United States. He was willing to sign an agreement with President Trump, highlighting that both countries will denuclearize. Furthermore, people found it hard to believe as Kim Jong Un did not present any outline or proof of some kind. Others were of the view that the agreement holds ‘Zero Value’ and whether Kim Jong Un will keep his side of the promise.

Puerto Rico’s 11-month electricity shutdown

In the wake of Hurricane Maria, most of Puerto Rico was left without electricity for almost 11 months. The state-owned utility companies struggled to supply and meet the demands of its 1.4 million residents. As a result, charities were setup across the globe so that Puerto Rico gets water filters and solar lights, etc. Thankfully, by August the power had been restored and Puerto Rico was back on its feet again.

Sports

Formula 1 World Championship

You can either love him or hate him but Lewis Hamilton is one of the best Formula 1 drivers ever to grace the sport. 2018 was a bitter year for Lewis as he secured 4^th position in the Australian Grand Prix held in July. However, that was not putting him down. He had driven superbly the entire year and even his opponents had to accept the fact that he was better than them.

Serena Williams wins 2018 Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year Award

Serena Williams was again shining in 2018 as she won her 2018 Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year Award. It was her record fifth time achieving the award. In the male category, Roger Federer won it. According to ESPN, Serena was also one of the most famous sportspeople for the year along with Cristiano Ronaldo. The award was given on the basis of her achievements prior to her pregnancy.

Technology

Elon Musk sends a car into space

Elon Musk was mostly busy with scandal after scandal in 2018. However, before he went on to abuse Twitter and being forced to quit as the chairman of Tesla, he did something that provoked the world again. This was a time when people had forgot he was a hero and for them, he was just a fool. So, Elon sent a Tesla Roadster into space in the huge Falcon Heavy Rocket. It’s still in space and floats in the orbit. Perhaps the most captivating news of 2018.

NASA’s InSight Lander makes it to Mars

While Elon Musk had sent a Tesla into space, NASA made its InSight Lander land onto Mars. The robot began its journey in May 2018 and set its metallic feet on Mars in November. The world saw the landing as well and the tech world could not be more proud. It was a huge step towards discovering the unidentified planets and living organisms other than us if they exist. NASA has made significant progress since then, having received photos of the landscape and environment of MARS sent by the machine.

Apple becomes the first Trillion dollar company

2018 was a big one for Apple as it hit the Trillion dollar benchmark. In the same year, Apple became the richest company to exist while showcasing poor iPhone sales for the first time in years. It was due to several controversies that were surrounding the company. Soon enough, it lost its top spot to Microsoft as it snatched the title from Apple. Overall, it was a good year for Apple but not for long.

Final Word

2018 began on a serious note and ended with the same. It was not intended to be that way but the circumstances itself were so serious that it was important for the world to give them attention. It was about bringing a global change and setting standards for the upcoming years. One could say that 2018 did pretty well in that respect. However, things failed to settle properly while they were taking place. Therefore, 2018 sacrificed a lot but still kept the momentum going for the next year.