With the conclusion of 2023, students and faculty are reflecting on the pop culture highlights of the year while also making predictions for the upcoming year.
When thinking back on 2023, many people considered the year to be “very chaotic.”
“I’d say this year has been hectic,” sophomore Savannah Powlus said. “A lot of stuff happened [in pop culture].
According to senior Zach Gross, “2023 was a whirlwind” with everyone getting back “in their jam” after COVID-19.
Senior Bryan Wu found 2023 to be “spontaneous.”
“A lot of stuff [happened that] if you were to ask me like a month prior I wouldn’t have expected,” Wu said.
In 2023, a popular TV romance trope was the two-brother love triangle with shows like “The Summer I Turned Pretty” and “My Life With The Walter Boys” taking over social media.
“I feel like [they] were such a hot topic with everyone talking about which [brother’s] team you were on,” sophomore Kendall Moyer said.
Other popular TV shows from last year included “Ted Lasso,” starring Jason Sudeikis, and “The Last Of Us,” starring Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey.
“[In the] beginning of the year, people were really into ‘The Last Of Us,’” Gross said. “I know I enjoyed that one a lot.”
The first season of “The Last Of Us” began in January, while the third season of “Ted Lasso” was released in March.
“Streaming wise, I think ‘Ted Lasso’ was popular with everybody,” technology teacher Brian Ruth said.
When it came to movies, “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” took over the summer with the “Barbenheimer” combination grossing over $2 billion together globally.
“It was such a big deal when both came out,” Moyer said. “ Everyone prepared for it and it was all people were talking about.”
According to Ruth, “Barbie” was a “fantastic” movie that had a great message, but he thought “Oppenheimer” was the top movie of the year.
While he thought “Oppenheimer” blew it away, his bets on which movie would gross more were incorrect.
“I bet that ‘Oppenheimer’ was going to make more money than ‘Barbie’ but I was dead wrong on that,” Ruth said. “‘Barbie’ dominated.”
When it came to music, many Swifties and non-Swifties agreed that 2023 was Taylor Swift’s year.
“[The musical artist of 2023] has got to be Taylor Swift,” Wu said. “I’m not her biggest fan musically, but, overall, she had the most influence in pop culture. ”
With the release of two re-recorded albums, multiple awards and a record-breaking tour, Taylor Swift was everywhere in the media.
“She got Time’s Person of the Year and with the Eras Tour being sold out,” Powlus said. “She just had a giant influence [in 2023].”