2021’s pop culture dictionary: the culture moments that defined the year
ABBA’s comeback and the Friends reunion had a familiar ring, but only the most Zeitgeist of readers could have predicted these terms and trends.
ABBA
The year they came back. Four decades after the Norse gods of pop called it quits, breaking the hearts of millions, and their own, ABBA surprised everyone with a return in the thick of the pandemic. As Rolling Stone put it in the magazine’s four-star review, “this album would be a one-of-a-kind historic event even if the songs blew – but it’s vintage ABBA, on par with their classic 1970s run”. There’s also the promise of a live concert in the UK and a live show described as a “virtual world tour” which we’re sure will become clear in 2022. Of course, ABBA never really went away. Part of every new generation’s zeitgeist, the group’s Man After Midnight emerged as a post-lockdown anthem for Gen Z revellers celebrating freedom in Sydney last spring.
-
Bridgerton
Released last Christmas, Shonda Rhimes and Netflix’s sexy bodice-ripper had the viewing public in an iron grip in January and February this year, turning stars Phoebe Dynevor and Rege-Jean Page into stars and prompting a wave of Regency-inspired fashion from corsets to floral midi dresses. Bridgerton had been viewed by 82 million households worldwide after a month on the platform, at the time one of Netflix’s biggest ever launches.
-
Crypto
Dominated for a long time by Bitcoin, the cryptocurrency realm exploded in 2021 with so-called “meme coin” or “meme currencies” (literally, currencies inspired by internet memes) such as Shiba Inu, Ethereum and Dogecoin. Mostly young, hobbyist investors spurred on by the Reddit-inspired GameStop saga turned this year to the volatile but potentially profitable cryptocurrency sphere. The term “crypto” alone was mentioned more than 6.6 million times on Reddit, the most popular topic of discussion on the platform this year.
-
Diana, Princess of Wales
Never really out of fashion, all things Diana went into overdrive with the release of The Crown’s fourth season on Netflix. Emma Corrin was nominated for an Emmy for her dramatic re-enactment of the early days of the Princess’s public life and pictures emerged of Elizabeth Debicki taking on the role for season 5. Then the psychological thriller, Spencer, depicting Diana’s tumultuous relationship with the Windsors, from Chilean director Pablo Larraín, premiered at the Venice film festival, instantly earning Oscar buzz for its lead, Kristen Stewart. We won’t dwell on the much-maligned Diana: The Musical on Netflix but in July, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle christened their daughter Lilibet Diana and Diana’s youngest son returned to the UK in July on the anniversary of her death to unveil a memorial statue at Kensington Palace.
-
Ever Given
In a sign 2021 was about to get really weird, early in the year the tale of gargantuan cargo ship the Ever Given captivated the world. Wedging itself between the narrow banks of Egypt’s Suez Canal, and blocking a route through which 12 per cent of the world’s trade passes, over five epic days, attempts made to dislodge the Ever Given felt like a metaphor for civilisation that was, well, stuck. When the ship was eventually freed from its watery prison on March 30, an estimated $48bn of trade had been lost, prices of oil had skyrocketed and a backlog of more than 400 ships had been created.
-
#FreeBritney
In February 2021, a documentary, Framing Britney Spears, detailing the conservatorship that had dominated the pop star’s life since 2008, sent fans into a rage and reignited the former pop princess’s legal quest to terminate the arrangement, which had given Spears’ father control over her personal and professional life. After filing a claim in August, Spears addressed the court in June, alleging startling details, such as being kept in a drugged state and denied the right to decide if she has children. In November, not long after she announced her engagement to actor Sam Asghari, Spears’ conservatorship was terminated. And fans rejoiced.
-
Gladys
Australians are wont to make pop culture figures of their politicians, and in 2021 NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian took the step from run-of-the-mill boss of the state to political icon – before she was spectacularly felled by ICAC. From her must-see 11am daily press conferences during the state’s Delta wave to the Gladys Fan Art Instagram page, the hardworking North Sydneysider’s popularity almost propelled her to a tilt at a federal seat before she ruled herself out, declaring she was finished with public life. It’s a loss felt far beyond Macquarie St.
-
HBO Reunion Specials
Some of pop culture’s best friends reunited this year, beginning with Friends on May 27. Along with revelations of Jennifer Aniston and David Schwimmer’s real-life infatuation and Schwimmer’s hate of on-screen monkey Marcel, the reunion special also featured celebrity guests including Cindy Crawford, Justin Bieber, David Beckham, and Lady Gaga performing a rendition of Lisa Kurdrow’s Smelly Cat. Then, it was sex and the City’s And Just Like That … returning in December (without Kim Cattrall’s Samantha), followed soon after with the announcement of an upcoming Harry Potter reunion, to mark the film’s 20th anniversary.
-
Instagram harm
In October an investigation by The Wall Street Journal revealed that Instagram’s own research had shown the social media platform was doing harm to the mental health of teen women. The documents at the heart of the expose were released by Frances Haugen, a whistleblower who worked as a product manager at the platform’s parent company – known as Facebook before a rebrand to Meta (more on that below) – and also showed that the company’s algorithms fostered discord. Haugen later testified before US Congress.
-
James Bond
No Time to Die, the much-delayed final outing for Daniel Craig after 15 years playing pop culture’s most famous spy, finally aired to rave reviews and has sent punters into a spin over who would succeed him as 007. The bright pink velvet blazer Craig donned on the red carpet for the UK premiere to dazzling effect didn’t hurt publicity for the film either.
-
Kardashians
No pop culture dictionary is complete without Kim Kardashians and again they’ve dominated in 2021. In March, the reality TV show that started it all, Keeping Up With The Kardashians, announced its 20th season would be its final and in April, after nearly seven years of marriage, Kim Kardashian filed for divorce from rapper husband (and one time US presidential hopeful) Kanye West. Six months later, Kim stunned fashion watchers and launched 1000 internet memes at the Met Gala wearing head to toe black Balenciaga. In early November, the family name was in the headlines for the worst reasons when a set by DJ Travis Scott (beau to Kardashian half-sister Kylie Jenner) turned fatal at the Astroworld music festival — nine people were killed and scores more injured in a crowd crush. In December, Kim took a step toward becoming a lawyer, passing the baby bar. All we can say is brace yourself for 2022.
-
‘Lexicon of Fashion’
Speaking of The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute Gala, its return in September marked one of the first big red carpet events of the post-lockdown era after a pandemic-induced hiatus in 2020. The theme for the annual soiree was In America: A Lexicon of Fashion. Co-chaired by Gen Z poster children Timothée Chalamet, Billie Eilish, poet Amanda Gorman and tennis’s Naomi Osaka, the evening was a celebration of fashion’s opulence and vision interrupted, for a brief moment, by a protest outfit from politician Alexandria Orcasio Cortez.
-
Metaverse
Facebook’s rebrand as Meta in November was met with general bemusement, coming in the wake of the Instagram woes. The name piggy backs off the term metaverse: worlds, courtesy of virtual and augmented reality technology, that allow its users to live a digital double life. The term, first coined by Neal Stepehenson in 1992 novel Snow Crash, exploded in popularity across a number of industries; earlier in September, Balenciaga joined forces with gaming giant Fortnite to create fashion for video game avatars while Nike is making virtual trainers with a five-figure price tag.
-
NFTs
That NFT stands for “non-fungible token” doesn’t make understanding what it is any easier. Perhaps the best comparison is a trading card – an NFT is derived from a cryptocurrency blockchain, completely unique, and can take the form of anything digital, from a piece of artwork to a video or tweet. Cue a series of eye-watering sales, from an image of a Gucci monogrammed ghost passing hands for $US3600 to a collage by artist Beeple going under the hammer at Christie’s for $US69m.
-
Olivia Rodrigo
Though starlet Olivia Rodrigo got her first break with Disney’s High School Musical television spin-off, it was the release of debut single Driver’s License this year that sent her into the stratosphere, followed shortly by 11-track album Sour. Driver’s License became the most-streamed song on Spotify for the year at 1.2 billion, while her single Good 4 U also made the top 5 at 1.1 billion streams.
-
(The mysterious allure of) Pete Davidson
In a year of unexpected Hollywood romances, rumoured and real, Pete Davidson, one not-very-famous actor, stood out for his unlikely pairings ranging from Bridgerton’s Phoebe Dynevor and Kim Kardashian (TBC). Turn out he’d also dated Kate Beckinsale and the world wanted to know — who was this guy and what was his secret? The Saturday Night Live comedian finished the year taking over Calvin Klein’s livestream with rocker Machine Gun Kelly. And a star was born.
-
The Queen
You didn’t have to be a staunch monarchist to feel heartbroken as images of Her Majesty sitting alone, bemasked in black at the funeral for her consort of more than 73 years, flew around the globe. The Queen took a two-week period of mourning for Prince Philip before returning to work, the consistent and gracious presence to steady the family amid seemingly endless furore around her grandson, Prince Harry, and son, Prince Andrew. In recent months the 95-year-old has had her own health challenges and sadly had to cancel her cherished Christmas plans.
-
Red
“Artists should own their own work for so many reasons,” Taylor Swift wrote on Instagram in March this year, announcing plans to reclaim her discography, the masters of which were purchased in 2019 by former manager Scooter Braun. In April, Swift released her version of 2008 record Fearless, and in November dropped a 30-track re-recorded version of 2012 album Red, including a 10-minute, unabridged version of song All Too Well that saw the internet cancel Jake Gyllenhaal en masse.
-
Squid Game
Cash-strapped contestants in teal tracksuits, masked guards, and deadly games engineered by the rich on a hidden island: South Korean survival thriller Squid Game was watched by 142 million households in the first month of its release, more than double that of cult hits such as Bridgerton, Lupin and The Witcher. The success of the series sparked both conversations about class inequality and a wave of new interest in foreign language dystopias, from dark fantasy compatriot Hellbound to Japanese sci-fi drama Alice in Borderland.
-
30
Fifteen-time Grammy winner Adele returned after a six year break – her last album was the chart obliterating 25 which unleashed the hit Hello – releasing 30 in November.
Usually enshrining heartbreak in some form, her fourth studio album crystallised the end of her marriage to Simon Konecki. Within 24 hours, 30 had gone platinum and the relatively shy Adele was back in the spotlight on the covers of US and British Vogue and performing a television special, One Night Only, hosted by Oprah Winfrey, attended by celebrities Dua Lipa and Leonardo DiCaprio among others. A torrent of internet memes were dedicated to the particular catharsis that goes along with an Adele album. Special mention to Alicia Silverstone’s Instagram.
-
Unexpected Couplings
The aforementioned Pete Davidson was just the beginning.
Celebrity hookups to puzzle over included Zoe Kravitz and Channing Tatum, Angelina Jolie and The Weeknd, Kanye West and Irina Shayk, Bennifer 2.0, Harry Styles and Olivia Wilde.
-
Virgil Was Here
The death from cancer of Virgil Abloh, aged 41, founder of Off-White and artistic director of Louis Vuitton, shocked the fashion world. The family of Abloh, a pioneer of contemporary streetwear, released a statement on Instagram last month announcing the news: “He chose to endure his battle privately since his diagnosis in 2019, undergoing numerous challenging treatments, all while helming several significant institutions that span fashion, art, and culture.” This month, Louis Vuitton presented the designer’s final collection at Miami’s Art Basel, with drones in the sky spelling out the tribute, “Virgil was here”.
-
White Lotus
For bringing Jennifer Coolidge universal appreciation she has long-deserved and for Mike White’s biting satire on class and generational divide, White Lotus has earned its place in the popular culture lexicon of 2021. The six-episode miniseries, which aired on Foxtel in June, transported trapped, travel-starved Australians to Maui only to wince at the trials of guests and staff at the titular fictional hotel resort. We came for the Hawaii shots and left reeling from the final, explosive scene.
-
(Space) X and the race to the stars
It was a three-way battle as Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk and Richard Branson (combined worth: $US400bn) went mano a mano in the stars. In June, Bezos had announced he would board the world’s first ever crewed suborbital flight on Blue Origin’s New Shepard spacecraft on July 20. But he was pipped at the post by a whole nine days by British magnate Branson who crewed his own extraterrestrial flight aboard Virgin Galactic Unity 22 on July 11. Musk hasn’t yet been to space, but if he lost that battle he won big anyway: Musk’s SpaceX has secured the multibillion-dollar contract with NASA to build spaceships to take astronauts to the Moon, beating out legal challenges from Blue Origin.
-
Y2K trends
No, not the actual (imagined) computer virus but rather the turn-of-the-millennium zeitgeist that has captured the imagination of Generation Z. Nostalgia for the 1990s has been replaced by a passion for all things early 2000 in fashion (which looks a lot like 1970s and 1980s fashion recycled) with newfound fervour for anything Paris Hilton does and TV shows like Gilmore Girls and The OC.
-
(Astra) Zeneca vaccine heroes
Admittedly, it was confusing to Australians at first to see Sarah Gilbert, inventor of the revolutionary AZ vaccine, given a standing ovation on centre court at the Wimbledon tennis tournament in June while back home, fears ran wild about potential side effects from the jab — particularly for young people and women. But what the rest of the world had realised is that, with her Oxford colleague, Catherine Green, Professor Gilbert had delivered Britain from the clutches of the first wave and given the world hope we had the scientific power to fight the virus. Ultimately, the AZ vaccine was widely proven to be safe and embraced by the brave and pragmatic among all generations.
with staff reporters
To join the conversation, please log in. Don't have an account? Register
Join the conversation, you are commenting as Logout