2017: The Year in Culture

2017 has been, well, kinda depends who you ask.

And if you ask Google Autocomplete, not great.

But, looking back at the past 12 months,

there have arguably been enough high points

to make us forget about the absolute trash fire

that 2017 was,

or, if not forget, at least willing to put up

with the smell of burning garbage.

Here, then, are the five biggest culture stories of 2017.

Presented in chronological order.

Any Key and Peele fan knows that

Jordan Peele loves horror movies.

(intense music)

(groans)

Are you getting this?

Yeah, what is up?

But none of us could have predicted that his

feature directorial debut would have ended up being

one of the most searing, resonant,

and unforgettable movies of 2017.

Good to see another brother around here.

(eerie music)

Get Out did just that to the constraints of its genre,

delivering a tale of paranoia, survival,

and the many-faced devil of subtle racism.

So, how long has this been goin' on, this thing?

(laughter)

[Narrator] Scathing satire

delivered with a dose of absolute terror.

No, no, no, no, no, no, no.

Had a lot of us wondering

when exactly we would behold the coagula.

(gasp)

[Grandpa Armitage] A mind is a terrible thing to waste.

After the Wii U basically died on arrival,

gaming pundits rightfully pointed out

that Nintendo needed to right its ship

and take a step into the future.

Its answer?

A console that you could walk out of the house with.

The Nintendo Switch managed to bridge the gap

between full-fledged console and portable game machine,

turning powerful launch titles into handheld experiences

and promising to outsell the Wii U

in its very first year of existence.

From game of the year, Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild,

to a new odyssey

for everyone's favorite mustachioed plumber,

Nintendo proved once again that a stumble

isn't the same thing as a fall

and, in the process, helped give Mario his mojo back.

After years of systemic gender inequality in Hollywood,

two summer blockbusters once again proved the power

of strong female-fronted films.

Wonder Woman smashed through

a hundred million dollar opening weekend

on its way to revitalizing DC's cinematic universe.

(Warriors)

And in the process, introducing an entirely new

generation of fans to the superhero.

And it wasn't just comic books,

ensemble comedy Girls Trip also broke

a hundred million dollars at the box office,

becoming the first movie written, directed, produced by,

and starring African-Americans to do so.

And the four leading roles, all women.

Nobody has kidney failure 'cause we finna get messed up,

and let me get pregnant by somebody rich.

That's all I ask, amen.

Yet, the heartening performance of these movies

only set into stark a relief the ensuing cascade

of sexual misconduct allegations and their fallout.

Beginning in October, with the New York Times'

damning investigation of Harvey Weinstein's alleged

decades-long pattern of harassment and assault,

the so-called reckoning led to similar allegations

about dozens of men in entertainment, media, politics,

and other industries.

And women will be silent no more.

As women shared their stories of survival

with the hashtag MeToo, our society as a whole

finally began to come to grips with what

toxic power structures look like

and how they affect all of us.

And finally, as the year began to draw to a close,

some of the biggest media companies in the world

began arranging their pieces on the chess board

in anticipation of upheaval to come.

And the grandmaster in this match is unquestionably Disney,

which in December, purchased most of the assets

of 21st Century Fox.

Now for movie fans, this matters

because it finally gives Disney the chance to bring

X-Men, Deadpool, and The Fantastic Four

into the Marvel cinematic universe.

(dramatic orchestral music)

But also, it means that when Disney launches its own

streaming service in 2019, it will become an even

bigger threat to competitors like Netflix and Hulu.

Winter is coming to streaming.

For now, just watch the armies of cinema.

(dramatic music)