Well, ladies and gentlemen, another year has come and gone. As bittersweet as saying goodbye to another 52 weeks may be, let’s take a moment or two to look at the top trends of 2011. After all, you can’t spell trend without end:
Hipsters, hipsters and more hipsters
It seems almost paradoxical to say hipsters were hip in 2011 but, truth be told, not saying so would be deceitful. Hell, College Magazine’s most popular article is on hipsters. Admittedly, it wasn’t hipsters that were trendy this past year as much as it was their style – you know, virtually everything in Urban Outiftters’ catalogue and those vague indie films or bands you’ve probably never heard of. Then again, I guess you wouldn’t know.
“You say you want a revolution, well…”
…as Full House’s Michelle Tanner would say, you got it, dude. From the Egyptian Revolution to the Occupy movements across the country, more and more people around the world spoke their minds against their own governments’ liking. At a certain point, the protests stopped being about government and started being about the ability to voice an opinion. Take Occupy 30 Rock for example: it’s a movement by fans of Community urging NBC to bring back their beloved show — in my opinion, the best comedy to air since Arrested Development — with six seasons and a movie. Needless to say, it’s streets ahead of the other movements of 2011.
Sheen-isms
We all know the story: Sheen had too much tiger blood in his system, got stuck in the winning gear, did enough coke to kill two and a half men, and got fired from his show of the same name. In the midst of all of this, Sheen won over hundreds of thousands of fans, amassing over two million followers on Twitter within a matter of days. While Mr. Sheen may no longer be in the spotlight, people still use his catchphrases just as much as they did when the auto-tuned Sheen videos were first released.
[Pop] Divas
From Lady Gaga to Bruno Mars to Nicki Minaj and her multi-personality disorder, 2011 was full of radio-[un]worthy divas who demanded attention both on and off-stage. Pregnancies, weddings and scary music videos, made it seem like the spotlight was always shining on them. Speaking of weddings and spotlights, didn’t some famous English wedding demand the media’s attention earlier this year or something?
Worldly events
While it may not be considered a trend, the fact that some of the most controversial international figureheads of the 21st century—Muammar Gaddafi, Kim Jong Il, and Osama Bin Laden—met their demises within months of each other is truly remarkable. Throw in all of the disasters, both natural and caused by man, and you could say 2011 shook the Earth quite a bit.
End of the world talk
This one is a given. According to the Mayan calendar, the world is now in its final 365 days, set to end on the upcoming December 21st winter solstice. Undoubtedly, there will be a decent amount of people claiming upcoming events as their last, possibly even starting with this Christmas. We’ve just entered what is, essentially, a 365 daylong music video for Big Sean’s “My Last.”
#hashtags
Ironically, what was originally a method of keeping track of what’s trending on Twitter has become a trend in itself. Now used to establish punch-lines in the YouTube comment area or on Facebook statuses and wall posts (although nowhere near as effectively as on Twitter), we can expect to see an increased usage of the combination of the “Shift” and “3” keyboard keys in the coming year. #winning.
Political…stuff
Speaking of winning, apparently there’s a presidential election coming up? I wouldn’t know, I’m apathetic (that’s A-pathetic). Expect to see a lot of campaigning, SNL skits and electing in 2012.
________’s 15 minutes of fame
This year it was the Kardashians (SERIOUSLY THOUGH, WHAT —not who— DO THEY DO?). Who’s next?
It’s going to be a Marvelous year
Thor, Captain America, Green Lantern, X-Men: First Class, even Rainn Wilson’s Super – not all great films, but definitely all superhero films. While 2011 saw an increase in superhero activity in pop culture from previous years, next year is surely one for the [comic] books. Although the upcoming Superman reboot Man of Steel was pushed back to summer 2013 (if we’re still around, that is), there still remains the highly anticipated conclusion to Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy, The Dark Knight Rises, and a premature yet promising Spiderman reboot, The Amazing Spiderman, both set for a July release. And that’s not even mentioning Marvel’s The Avengers, a film that’s been four years in the making through interwoven stories in the Iron Man, Thor, Captain America and Hulk franchises, creating one massive, Marvel film universe. Yup, next year superheroes will be the Bane of hipsters’ existence.
