From Gwyneth Paltrow’s ski accident to Barbienheimer to Kourtney Kardashian announcing her seventh pregnancy at a Blink-182 concert—2023 was packed full of media-filled moments. Taylor Swift made the biggest uproar, becoming the most streamed artist on Spotify and making $4.1 billion off of her wildly popular world tour. Rihanna’s Super Bowl performance in February started trend upon trend surfacing the internet. Miss USA shocked the nation by sporting a 30-pound moon costume in the Miss Universe pageant earlier this year. Former President Donald Trump’s mugshot made news in August for his rather rectifying facial expression. Swift and her new boyfriend, Travis Kelce made huge news after subtly hinting at a possible relationship in late Sept. 2023 graced us with many shocking (and not-so-shocking) events that Gen-Z can look back on and tell their kids stories of what it was like “back then.”
Starting with arguably the biggest part of 2023: Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour. The Eras Tour was a huge success, opening at State Farm Stadium on March 17 in Glendale, Arizona. At a projected 151 shows across five continents and named the highest-grossing tour of all time, Swift packs 44 tracks into a little over three hours. In the US alone, Swift performed 146 shows in 19 states spanning five months with little time in between each show. These shows brought fans to tears, screams, and excitement as they waited for what their surprise song would be, and whether they got a big announcement or not. Speak Now TV teased in Nashville N1 on May 5 and released to fans on July 7. This release attracted even more attention to Taylor and her tour. If this wasn’t enough, on her last night in the US, Swift announced the release of 1989 TV at Sofi Stadium in Inglewood, California. Shortly thereafter, as promised, 1989 TV was finally given to the public on Aug. 27. Swift has made her move to Mexico and South America to continue her Eras Tour, allowing international fans to enjoy. Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour Movie followed shortly after the end of her tour in America. What isn’t there to love about her?
Warner Bros surpassed all expectations of the Barbie movie this year. Brought to theaters on July 21, Barbie, featuring huge names in Hollywood such as Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling attracted fans of all ages. The buzzy film was the first live-action-themed movie after the popular girls’ toy, Barbie. Rated PG-13, Barbie featured brief language and suggestive references. This movie was hilarious. Across the worldwide box office, Barbie grossed 1.442 billion dollars, becoming one of the most female-dominated movies ever. The uproar surrounding this movie is well deserved. Barbie felt like a reality check to society. However, the film faced immense backlash for focusing a little bit too much on women—funny how after centuries of gender disparity one movie comes out, makes headlines, and it is still not good enough.
In contrast to the highly anticipated Barbie movie, Oppenheimer, released on the same day as Barbie, found itself competing for box office revenue. The movie is a real-life story about the Manhattan Project: a large atomic bomb researched and designed by Robert Oppenheimer. After the production, Oppenheimer grossed 953.3 million dollars in revenue from the box office alone. Both films were greatly appreciated by the public and started a friendly feud about which was better. “Barbienheimer,” a collaboration between the two movies, creates a cultural phenomenon.
February was a big month for up-and-coming rapper Ice Spice, making her famous debut on PinkPantheress’ track “Boy’s a Liar Pt. 2” dropping easy flowing bars over a catchy beat that got stuck in everyone’s head. Her iconic, “duh-duh-duh” landed her big roles in the music industry, including performing her new song, “Barbie World” with Nicki Minaj (the self-proclaimed Barbie) for the live-action Barbie movie. Since her emergence in the media, Ice Spice has made a name for herself, rocking her iconic orange afro, releasing hit after hit, and making a guest appearance in the Eras Tour, following her feature on Karma by Swift. This year has been very good to her, and fans expect to see lots more in the upcoming year.
Popular fast-food chain, McDonald’s attracted a huge population of Gen-Z with their “Grimace Shake”; a berry-flavored milkshake that was there for a very limited time. Grimace, an old icon for McDonald’s Happy Meals, was a beloved character on TikTok for most of the summer. Trends following the release of the Grimace Shake fluttered through the internet until there was something new and fresh to make a joke out of.
Some say history repeats itself, and that was exactly the case for Sept. 2023. The Roman Empire, spanning from 625 BC to AD 476 was brought back to life this year, displaying a marvel. From what started as a TikTok trend, the “Roman Empire” caught the attention of many people, globally. Being described as how much “men think about the Roman Empire far more than their female counterparts” spiraled into a trend about other historical fascinations. Some of these included The Salem Witch Trials, Victoria’s Secret fashion shows, and many more. I loved this trend, it was lighthearted and silly and served as a check on society being so confrontational and serious nowadays.
“I wish you well,” said American actress, Gwyneth Paltrow after going to trial for a ski accident that happened over seven years ago. Terry Sanderson, a retired optometrist, brought Paltrow to court for 3.1 million dollars after a ski collision at Deer Valley Resort in Park City, Utah. Sanderson’s case was dismissed, he ended up appealing for 300,000 dollars instead, and Paltrow countersued for one dollar and attorney fees. Insisting she wasn’t guilty, her symbolic charge didn’t mean much. Media outlets dubbed Gwyneth, “Gwynnocent” after she won her long, hard-fought battle against 76 year-old Sanderson.
Pop Culture in 2023 was at an all-time high, presenting social media with lots of laughs and iconic moments we’ll never forget.
