The top 12 milestones in arts and culture of 2012:
1. Oppa Gangnam Style
Released in July 2012 and now the most viewed internet video of all time,Korean singer Psy’s rodeo-esque “Gangnam Style” heated up airwaves and flash mobs all over the globe.
2. Angelina Jolie
Specifically, her leg.
3. 50 Shades of Grey
Although the first two books in the trilogy were published in 2011, this Twilight fanfiction adaptation gained its notorious popularity in 2012. Multiple readings of 50 Shades of Grey were posted on YouTube in 2012, including the one below in the distinctive voice of Gilbert Gottfried.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5K1RcKJVbHA
4. The Hunger Games
2012 also gave rise to another popular trilogy, which was often seen next to 50 Shades of Grey on the bestseller sections of bookstores across the nation. The release of the first Hunger Games movie this past March added a bit of post-apocalyptic flavor to the trend of book series-turned-movie-franchises like Harry Potter and Twilight. The movie provoked a number of reactions which you can read about here.
5. Abraham Lincoln
Civil War era president Abraham Lincoln captured the imaginations of filmmakers and moviegoers alike as a vampire hunter in Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter and as the more conventional human author of the the Emancipation Proclamation in Lincoln. Guess which film is getting 12 Oscar nominations this 2013?
6. Carly Rae Jepsen’s “Call Me Maybe”
Thanks to this catchy tune that dominated summer 2012, later named MTV’s Best Song of the Year, giving out your digits has gotten some background music. Let’s not forget all the hilarious parodies, one of which is the impossibly cute Cookie Monster’s plea for his favorite snack in the world.
7. American Idol: Mariah Carey vs. Nicki Minaj
The 12th season of American Idol, which premieres this month, has already stirred up some controversy in 2012 with an alleged feud between judges Mariah Carey and Nicki Minaj.
8. The American Wing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
The formerly “dreary” American Wing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art was revitalized after some major renovations, open to the public in January 2012.
9. Memes and Trends of the Presidential Election 2012
The Presidential Election of 2012 not only dominated political news, but pop culture as well, inspiring a plethora of social media responses, including a tumblr dedicated to Mitt Romney’s “binders full of women” and the #Malarkey twitter trend courtesy of Vice President Joe Biden.
10. Here Comes Honey Boo Boo
“I like to get it down and dirty redneck style,” says breakout child pageant star Alana Thompson, better known as Honey Boo Boo of Toddlers and Tiaras and Here Comes Honey Boo Boo. Indeed, viewers all across the US were drawn to Honey Boo Boo and her family’s “redneck style” in McIntyre, Georgia as the ratings of the fourth episode of Here Comes Honey Boo Boo surpassed those of the Republican National Convention back in August 2012.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ulVZkYpWPw
11. The Dark Knight Rises
This final installment of Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy was a memorable 2012 film for both positive and negative reasons. While the movie grossed over $420 million in the US and reached over $1 billion internationally, the Aurora movie theater shooting at the film’s first showing in the Colorado town tainted its ticket sales revenue in the US due to the sudden amount of grief and horror for the victims of this tragedy.
12. Kristen Stewart’s Cheating Scandal
And finally, we come to the July 2012 cheating scandal of 2012’s highest paid actress in Hollywood. The photographic evidence of Kristen Stewart’s affair with her Snow White and the Huntsmen director Rupert Sanders shocked fans of this usually subdued actress, as well as forced Stewart herself to directly admit her secret involvement with co-star Robert Pattinson.
