2018 was a year that for many people seemed to last 27 years. So much happened that our brains aren’t wired to quantitatively process that we were forced to pick and choose the ones that mattered. In a normal year, these would have been signature moments in any year-end retrospective, but this year saw stories like this fall by the wayside. Here to refresh your memory are eight over-the-top pop culture shenanigans we saw last year:
Most Unpopular Oscar Category: “Most Popular”
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, scared to death that a superhero movie like “Black Panther” might get nominated or maybe even win a Best Picture Oscar, decided to announce a new category starting this year: “Most Popular Film.” Despite the fact this award already exists — it’s called the Golden Globes — this announcement was not greeted with enthusiasm. Film buffs railed against what they felt was an insulting category (are “popular” films not worthy of Best Picture?). The backlash was so severe that the Academy tabled the idea for future, if any, consideration a mere month after they announced it.
Toys “R” No Longer with Us
In the end, the giraffe could not vanquish the piranha (native of the Amazon, get it?). After years of declining sales figures, the self proclaimed “World’s Biggest Toy Store” closed its remaining 800 stores after bankruptcy brought the company low enough for “vulture capitalists” to sell off the remaining equity. Thirty-thousand employees found themselves out of work three months before Christmas, and the vulture capitalists turned to their next target, Santa’s workshop at the North Pole.
