The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The year in pop culture
With so many folks still stuck indoors for much of the year, it’s small wonder that one of the biggest hits of the year was a streaming TV series — and one that originated in South Korea.
“Squid Game” is the story of a group of people tapped to participate in a dystopian TV game show that could make the winner wealthy. The downside: Losers die. Usually in a gruesome fashion.
SEPT. 17
The nine episodes of “Squid Game” were watched by an estimated 142 million households in its first month on Netflix. This sent Netflix and other leading streaming services in search of other programming available outside the usual Hollywood circles.
If the results are as well-written, well-presented and well-received as “Squid Game” and can increase the diversity seen on U.S. TV screens, then this could make for a major shift in the American entertainment industry.
Social media continued to be both our best friend and one of our greatest enemies in 2021. While many of us love posting selfies and video clips and keeping up with our friends, others found themselves pursued by authorities — or, worse yet, banned on various platforms — as a result of what they had posted.
OCT. 20
Early in the year, Donald Trump found himself kicked off of Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Researchers found election-related misinformation on social media dropped 73% in the first week without Trump. In October, Trump announced he’d launch his own social media app in 2022: Truth Social. California Rep. Devin Nunes, a Republican, announced he would retire from Congress to run that new platform.
OCT. 28
Meanwhile, Facebook found itself repeatedly under fire for ignoring warnings about how it had allowed itself to be used for spreading misinformation.
At the height of the Facebook noise, CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced Facebook’s parent company would henceforth be known as Meta Platforms, Inc. Which all seemed so very — you know — meta. And speaking of the height of meta: As billionaires launched themselves, their friends and even a few paying customers into space, one notable passenger to ride Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin rocket was famed “Star Trek” actor William Shatner.
OCT. 13
The good news: Shatner’s 11-minute adventure went off with no technical issues and no attacks by Klingons. Admittedly, an alien attack of Earth seems like it would have had no trouble fitting into 2021.