From bizarre to sublime
In 2020, we turned to culture to satisfy our need for distraction, inspiration, consolation, escapism, hope
And now, for our annual look at the year in pop culture … Oh, wait. This was 2020. The year everything stopped cold.
Well, not really. Truth is, people turned to culture of all kinds in 2020 — highbrow and lowbrow — to satisfy varied and sometimes conflicting needs: distraction, inspiration, consolation, escapism, hope. And those needs evolved: If we began lockdown in March by binge-watching the darkly bizarre “Tiger King,” by fall we were transfixed by the graceful octopod of “My Octopus Teacher,” extending her tentacles to make connections that seemed achingly poignant in a time when mere hugs between humans are taboo.
While live entertainment was tragically curtailed due to the raging pandemic, performers often found their own stages, in endlessly creative ways.
Here’s a selective, appropriately scatterbrained journey through some cultural moments of 2020.
January: At the Golden Globes, Ricky Gervais hosts for the fifth time. Michelle Williams speaks of a woman’s right to choose, Patricia Arquette about voting and Joaquin Phoenix about … something. The world mourns the sudden loss of Kobe Bryant and ponders a royal first when Harry and Meghan step back from their duties.
February: And the Oscar goes to ... was that this year? Yep, it was only months ago that “Parasite” swept the Academy Awards, a historic moment for South Korea and director Bong Joon Ho.
March: In a landmark moment for the #MeToo movement, Harvey Weinstein is sentenced to 23 years in prison for sex crimes. Days later, the coronavirus shuts down much of life as we know it. Bingewatching reaches new heights. “Tiger King” on Netflix, a story of very big cats and very strange people, becomes the thing everyone can’t look away from.
April: John Krasinski’s web series “Some Good News” brings a “Hamilton” cast reunion for a starstruck musical theater fan and a prom for high school seniors missing theirs, with musical guests like Billie Eilish. Then there’s Lady Gaga’s star-studded lineup — try Paul McCartney and the Rolling Stones — honoring front-line workers. Astay-at-home edition of “Saturday Night Live” features newly minted Oscar winner Brad Pitt playing Dr. Anthony Fauci.
May: Every night as frontline workers are honored with cheers and honking horns, a tenor is heard in Manhattan singing “The Impossible Dream”: It’s Tony winner Brian Stokes Mitchell, just recovered from COVID-19 himself, doing his signature song. Misty Copeland, American Ballet Theatre’s first Black female principal dancer, brings together 32 ballerinas from 14 countries, all dancing the “Dying Swan” in a video for “Swans for Relief,” a fundraiser for struggling dancers.
June: In a year when Black Lives Matter is forcing a rethinking of many things, Spike Lee’s “Da 5 Bloods” looks at the Vietnam War from the oftignored perspective of its Black soldiers. And in what might be the future — or near-future — of concertgoing, Garth Brooks presents a one-night-only show at 300 drive-in theaters.
July: The live-captured film version of the Broadway smash “Hamilton” is fast-tracked by more than a year to stream on Disney+. On a smaller scale, ballet lovers are treated to an inventive YouTube video featuring dancers across the globe
performing “Swan Lake” in their bathtubs.
August: Fans are gutted by the death of Chadwick Boseman, who achieved fame with a series of star-making performances as Jackie Robinson, James Brown and Thurgood Marshall, and as superhero “Black Panther.” Boseman, 43, dies of colon cancer, an illness he kept secret, making movies in between surgeries and treatments. The world mourns an actor of immense talent who, like many of his characters, radiated a regal sense of dignity.
September: What do fashion shows look like in the pandemic era? Mostly they’re virtual, but Christian Siriano invites guests to his Connecticut home for a socially distanced runway show with models in masks. The Emmys are virtual, too, but the awkward format can’t quash the ebullient celebration up in Canada for the cast of “Schitt’s Creek.” In South Africa, we meet a glorious creature who simultaneously captures our need for escape and for emotional connection: “My Octopus Teacher” is an antidote for troubled times.
October: Oh hey, Borat ... Somehow when we weren’t looking, Sacha Baron Cohen was filming a sequel. “David Byrne’s American Utopia,” a filmed version of the Broadway concert helmed by Spike Lee no less, finds the sweet spot in translating the exhilaration of live performance to the screen. Speaking of exhilaration, try watching @420doggface208, aka Nathan Apodaca, of Idaho, peacefully skateboarding on TikTok to Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams” and drinking Ocean Spray juice on the way to work.
November: Beyoncé, already the most nominated female artist in Grammy history, scores nine more, including for “Black Parade,” released on Juneteenth. In his final screen role, Boseman fittingly soars in “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” with a searing performance as a troubled jazz trumpeter.
December: Elliot Page, the Oscar-nominated actor for “Juno,” announces he is trans, a landmark moment for Hollywood’s trans community. In a year with few blockbusters, Wonder Woman gears up to lasso attention for its sequel, released simultaneously in theaters and on HBO Max. And speaking of blockbusters, how about Bob Dylan’s deal: The bard sells his entire catalog for a sum estimated at more than $300 million.
As 2020 draws to a close, aren’t we all ready, as Dylan was in 1964, for these times to be a-changin’?