2016-17 in culture: THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE VIRAL
For graduating seniors, the last year was dotted with cultural works and movements clearly inspired by the sometimes disturbing sociopolitical actions playing out across the country during a period of racial tension and a contentious presidential campaign. Here’s a look back at some of the cultural highlights of the 2016-17 school year.
When this year’s graduating seniors were still juniors, 2016 kicked off with Beyoncé’s first new single since 2014: “Formation.” The music video, which was shot in New Orleans, made countless allusions to Hurricane Katrina and Black Lives Matter through scenes like Beyoncé sitting on top of a sinking police car, an African-American boy dancing in front of police officers and graffiti that read “Stop Shooting Us.” And her Super Bowl halftime show collaboration with Bruno Mars for the song was not just eye-catching and flashy, but featured backup dancers and performers who were styled in all black with black berets and Afros, mimicking the style of the Black Panther Party — an African-American revolutionary movement founded during the 1960s. Despite the controversy she attracted — praise for introducing an empowering image and criticism for anti-law enforcement images — “Queen Bey” invoked a fervent political message.
If such musical messages regarding racial inequality were seemingly lost during the ensuing 2016 Academy Awards ceremony — all of the 20 actors in the lead and supporting categories were Caucasian — then Oscar 2017 tried to make up for it in the wake of Donald Trump’s victory in the presidential election. Mexican actor Gael García Bernal, whose 2016 film Desierto featured a racist American hunting down Mexican immigrants crossing the border into the United States, used the occasion to condemn Trump for wanting to build a wall along the Mexico-United States border. Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi boycotted the Oscar ceremony because of Trump’s push to stop residents of Muslim countries from entering the United States. Farhadi’s film, The Salesman, won the Best Foreign Film category in 2017. African-American actress Viola Davis netted the Best Supporting Actress award for her work in Fences, and Muslim-American actor Mahershala Ali won the Best Supporting Actor award for Moonlight. And yet that Oscar ceremony may still be best recalled as the one in which Best Picture presenters Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway mistakenly announced La La Land as the winner, when it was in fact Moonlight that won.
And as this year’s graduates were prepping to move into their senior year, Trump’s win was eerily predicted in folk singer Loudon Wainwright III’s satiric video, “I Had A Dream,” which came out in the summer of 2016. It envisioned a country where Trump, as president, would build that wall, make nefarious deals with Russian leaders and even blow up Cuba. Some of those ideas, as we are seeing, seem to have some germ of truth to them.
Despite such major controversies and setbacks in the country, several breakthroughs were made, especially in the field of LGBTQ entertainment. Seventeen-year-old internet personality and makeup artist James Charles became the first male Cover Girl model in October 2016, and Ellen DeGeneres’ Medal of Freedom Award presented to her in November made her the fourth openly LGBTQ recipient.
In the past year, the world said goodbye to Prince, David Bowie, Carrie Fisher, Erin Fisher — still immortalized by some for playing a young teen in the 1970s television sitcom Happy Days — and rock ’n’ roll legend Chuck Berry, among other celebrities. We also said goodbye to Brangelina, for better or worse.
On a lighter note, we saw the discontinuation of popular social media app Vine. Luckily (or unluckily), viral videos surfaced on other platforms such as Snapchat — the app that ultimately started the “Damn Daniel” viral video, which was basically just an average teenage boy (Joshua Holz) complimenting his friend Daniel Lara with the phrase “Damn Daniel! Back at it again with the white Vans.” Although now it might not seem like much, Lara was on Time magazine’s 2016 list of “The 30 Most Influential People on the Internet.” Both Lara and Holz were guests on The Ellen Show, and according to The New York Times, white Vans (“Damn Daniel Vans”) started selling for upward of $400,000 on eBay.
If Damn Daniel isn’t the embodiment of an inexplicable e-lebrity based culture, perhaps Danielle Peskowitz Bregoli is. Don’t recognize the name? Perhaps her catchphrase — “catch me outside how about that” (commonly stylized as “cash me ousside how bow dah”) — will ring a few bells. After making an appearance on Dr. Phil as an “out of control 13-year old” who needed help, her brazen personality struck a chord with audiences, with the original video clip getting more than 8.2 million views. In additional to being featured in rapper Kodak Black’s music video “Everything 1K,” she has since launched her own brand, Cash Me Outside, and is pursuing a career in reality TV. Thanks, internet.
Speaking of outrageous viral videos and trends, water bottle flipping may prove to be unforgettable. The now international trend that resulted in bottle-flipping bans in numerous schools worldwide had its humble beginnings in a 2016 viral video of teen Michael Senatore flipping a water bottle at his senior talent show. Google it to see what I’m talking about.
And who would have thought that staying perfectly still could be so much fun? Another online movement is the Mannequin Challenge, a competition where people freeze in place as if they are mannequins while being filmed by a moving camera. The videos are often backed by the song “Black Beatles” by Rae Sremmurd featuring Gucci Mane: a song that surpassed The Chainsmokers and Halsey’s song “Closer,” which remained at No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 for 12 consecutive weeks. The most popular song of the year was probably, “PPAP (Pen-Pineapple-Apple-Pen)” by Japanese comedian Daimaou Kosaka, whose original music video received more than 120 million views.
And real life continues to influence reel life on the movie front. The release of the latest additions to the Harry Potter series — the film Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them as well as the stage play entitled Harry Potter and The Cursed Child — received mixed reviews. Despite positive feedback from outlets such as The Guardian, the latest Harry Potter movie irritated many, especially those in the Native American community. Many such as students at the University of Oklahoma felt that the inaccurate portrayal of Native Americans as rare, mystical beings was cultural appropriation. Controversial or not, the movie was a success considering that it generated more than $800 million at the box office worldwide. Additionally, any accusations of racism toward J.K. Rowling were somewhat offset when she fully supported Hermione being portrayed by African-American actress Noma Dumezweni in The Cursed Child play.
In retrospect, 2016-17 seemed like a year in which pop culture reflected a country that took a lot of steps back, and then moved forward again — or at least tried to.