
Getty, Splash, design by Betsy Farrell
Lots to digest, and so little time to do it. Here, based on an arbitrary value system that has been informed by the fact that I have been covering this sort of news the entire year so I pretty much know what I'm talking about, the 10 most 2016 pop-culture moments of 2016, ranked from least impactful (but that's the "pop" bit, isn't it?) to most.
1
Prince George Auto-Smushes
2
Britney Returns to the VMAs
3
'Gilmore Girls' Also Returns
More nostalgia. More unresolved debates. More feels (so many). Perhaps more thinking about if Hollywood doggedly hanging on to the reboot train like a 1920s hobo is truly necessary.
4
Drake Gets the Girl
Then promptly loses her (or not? unclear), but whatever—for a brief, shining moment, anyone who has ever pined from afar or been "benched," as the youths call it, got the resolution we you, uh, lovelorn folk hardly ever get the satisfaction of indirectly feeling. It was so public! So epic. The real-life reenactment of "NOW KISS." It was good while it lasted or still lasts, TBD.
5
Melania Trump Is a Speech Plagiarist
Oy. Given the developments that followed, this is now slightly less funny but still good for memes, because in times like these, playing variations on a few broadly known themes is how we deal. We also write think pieces about her particular brand of womanhood and how it's okay or not okay to mock her. But this is the one event we keep going back to.
6
The Super Bowl 50 Halftime Show
7
Taylor Swift Deals with...a Lot
Or is immolated, if you prefer. On the long, long list of People Who Could Have Had a Better Year, TSwift comes out ahead of even those college kids who think about death and term papers all the time, for the following reasons: The messy end of a relationship. The end of another relationship. Kim Kardashian with the receipts. Public opinion turning against her. Unrepentant overuse of the snake emoji. How will she shake, shake it off? Because this isn't a question of "if."
9
Kim Kardashian West's Paris Robbery
10
Beyoncé Expanding the Meaning of Beyoncé to Encompass the Whole Universe
The "she really came into her own" trope doesn't apply here, because Beyoncé was already, was always Beyoncé. What she did was push herself and her art to an ever higher, nuanced level, drawing in race and politics and feminism and the complexities and contradictions of being a woke female human being. The scariest/most exciting part is that we probably haven't even seen her final form yet. ::shiver::
Maggie Maloney
Associate Digital Editor
Maggie Maloney is the associate editor at Town & Country and ELLE Decor, where she covers style, beauty, jewelry, and the many members of the royal family.
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