2017 Year in Review: Day 5 | Pop Culture (Movies, TV Shows, Art, Literature, and Sports)

6-word Summary of movies and tv shows in 2017: Our discussions and diversity say it all.

• Here's a list of Reboots and Spinoffs that came out this year. Let's just say that some are flops (we're talking about you Dirty Dancing) and some were considerably successful (Will and Grace, you'll suffice).
• Disney has confirmed that a live-action The Lion King movie will be released some time next year and it will star Beyoncé, Donald Glover, Alfre Woodard, and Seth Rogan.
• The Houston Astros have finally become World Series champs, even beating the Dodgers!
• Legendary actors and singers, such as Mary Tyler Moore, Tom Petty, and singer-actor David Cassidy have died this year.
• A Lord of the Rings series will air on Amazon Prime TV next year.
• Hundreds of actors protested and spoke at the women's march. 
• #MeToo movement from vocal victims of sexual assault and misconduct.



Left: Wonder Woman, Right: Beauty and the Beast | Courtesy of Variety

• Multiple actors, politicians, and businesspeople have retired or have been fired for allegations against them. Kevin Spacey, Louis C.K., Ben Affleck, Harvey Weinstein, Matt Lauer, are just several examples.
• Three UCLA students were found stealing from a Louis Vatone store in China. Trump released them and then accused one of their parents of being ungrateful for his helping them out.
• Leonardo da Vinci's "Salvator Mundi," his last painting is officially the most expensive painting ever sold, costing $450 million.
• Mean Girls: The Musical
• Greta Gerwig's Lady Bird is getting Oscar and Grammy buzz - female director, a relatable story regarding finding yourself - seems like a reasonable contender.
• Stranger Things 2 and that ending? Hmm.
• March 18, 2017: SNL was live nation-wide for the first time ever and you best believe no one other than Melissa McCarthy hosted.
• Long-time search for the actor who will play Aladdin in the live-action movie of the popular 90s Disney movie of the same title. The movie will also star Will Smith, who will succeed the iconic genie role, originally brought to life by the late Robin Williams.

  

  Left: The Handmaid's Tail, Right: 13 Reasons Why |
  Courtesy of Idobi

• 13 Reasons Why and the controversy associated with it - while many believed the show glamorized suicide, others argue the show accurately depicts assault, depression, high school culture, and suicide. Regardless, the show sparked conversations about teen suicide.
• Fixer Upper, the HGTV home remake reality TV show is ending, according to Chip and Joanna Gaines.
• Apparently, Kylie Jenner is pregnant after MONTHS of speculation following the reality TV show star and fashion icon. How she managed to dodge the questions surrounding this supposed pregnancy is beyond many. In other news, half-sister Khloé is also pregnant.
• Actress Nicole Kidman gave a long, comprehensive speech regarding domestic abuse when she accepted her first Emmy for the HBO mini-series Big Little Lies.
• "Donald Glover became the first person of color to win an Emmy for best actor in a comedy in 32 years," according to Buzzfeed News.

  

  Courtesy of IMDb

• Demi Lovato's documentary, entitled Simply Complicated, delves into the background of her history with drug use, relationships, eating disorder, and acting and music pursuits.
• Riz Ahmed became the first Asian man to win an Emmy in an acting category.
• The Handmaid's Tale received five Emmy's, including Outstanding Drama Series, which is a win for Hulu as the show is the first streaming service to win an Emmy.
• Former engineer Katherine Johnson presented with actresses Taraji P. Henson (who played Johnson in the movie Hidden Figures), Janelle Monaé, and Octavia Spencer at the 89th Academy Awards.
• Lena Waithe became the first black woman to win an Emmy for the comedy writing category, especially for an episode about her character coming out as gay to her family, which she wrote with actor, comedian, co-star, and Producer Aziz Ansari for their show Master of None.
• La La Land won for best movie of the year at this year's Oscar's. Nope, sorry, that's fake news. It was revealed soon after by La La Land producer Jordan Horowitz, who pointed out that Moonlight actually won in that category.
• Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi | The late Carrie Fisher's dog, Gary, reportedly would perk up his ears every time she appeared on the screen.

  

  Mean Girls: The Musical | Courtesy of Youtube

• Girl Meets World was canceled earlier this year and with much fan-run action to get the show on another channel or service, though Netflix, Hulu, and FreeForm have passed.
• Serena Williams was pregnant when she won the Australian Open.
• Emma Watson won the first ever gender-neutral acting award for her role in Beauty and the Beast at the MTV movie awards.
• Ashton Sanders and Jharrel Jerome who play teen Chiron and Kevin, respectively, in Moonlight, won Best Kiss--the first queer characters to win in this category--at the MTV movie awards.
• An uproar arose around destroying statues and other cultural and national memorabilia displaying offensive historians, most notably a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee. This did not sit well with white supremacists.
• On top of being an empowering movie, Wonder Woman set the record for the most earned money at the box office for a female director ($100.5 million), upon debut. Additionally, the movie became the most searched DC character in 2017.

2017 Year in Review: Day 4 | Social + Civil Rights

6-word summary of social rights movements in 2017: Progress and plenty of persistent push-back (one-word)

• Here's a comprehensive list of all of the male actors, businessmen, and politicians accused of sexual assault. It's an exhaustive list, but that comes to show how common sexual assault is, not only in the entertainment and political industries but also anywhere, any industry, any neighborhood. Let's do something about that.
• This arose the #MeToo movement, encouraging victims of sexual assault to share their stories, because their stories are important and justice needs to be served to their assaulters. Very vocal victims of sexual assault were on the cover of TIME magazine and featured as the person of the year in their 2017 issue.
• Australia and Germany voted "yes" on same-sex marriage. Additionally, Taiwan has become the first nation in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage. That is so fetch!

  

  Courtesy of Top Draw Inc.

• The number of Syrian children dying or being forced to fight for their country has been the most they have ever been in 2016, according to a UNICEF report.
• Legislation that'd ban LGBTQ+-related discrimination is being proposed by Democrats in Congress.
• The Chechenya government has reportedly lynched gay man, as speculated from the disappearance of gay men. A government official justified this by saying, "You cannot arrest or repress people who just don't exist in the republic," suggesting that the Chechen government doesn't believe in gay men, as if they are Santa or a fairy tale. 
• LGBTQ+ men in Uganda, which had illegalized LGBTQ+ rights, and specifically Tanzania, are being violated by police and medical officials in an effort to forcibly decrease HIV/AIDS.  
• The fight to end female genital mutilation (FGM).
• The body of a female Muslim judge was discovered by the New York's Hudson River. 
• Trump de-funded family planning from Planned Parenthood.

Women's March

• 3 times as many people protested in the international women's march than attended Trump's inauguration, according to the New York Times. Oh, snap!
• The Washington Post estimates that 4,465,169 people protested internationally, with 4,157,894 or 1 in 100 Americans marching. This spanned not only in major cities but also in all states, even red states, and other nations (with about 261 sister marches occurring internationally).
• And aren't the pink pussy beanies cute?