The cultural moments that defined 2020

It was an unusual year marked by unusual events: an unprecedented global pandemic, youth-led protest movements, impassioned Black Lives Matter demonstrations, a divisive US Election. The list goes on.

Below are some of the cultural moments that offered hope and distraction in an otherwise tough 2020.

Harry and Meghan retired as working royals

Instead of being granted the hybrid role they originally pitched for, Prince Harry and Meghan gave up their royal titles and subsequent duties entirely as they packed up and moved to California. Far from shrinking into the shadows, their post-royal lives have been highly visible.

They urged Americans to vote in the US presidential election (a move criticized for breaching the British royal family’s tradition of political neutrality). Then, in an op-ed for the New York Times, Meghan revealed she had suffered a miscarriage earlier in the year, another example of high-profile figures helping to break the taboo around pregnancy loss. And, like the Obamas, the pair is set to become Hollywood producers, closing a multi-year deal with Netflix that will see them create scripted series, docu-series, documentaries, features and children’s programming.

‘Parasite’ made history at the Oscars

The wins were significant in an industry heavily criticized for its lack of recognition of non-white talent, as well as exclusionary casting choices.

‘Tiger King’ reigned

In March, as countries throughout the West went into strict lockdown, a self-described “gay, gun-toting cowboy with a mullet,” called Joe Exotic provided the ultimate escape, in the form of docu-series “Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness.” The big cat owner and his arch nemesis, animal rights advocate Carole Baskin, re-ignited our love for animal prints (which inspired many Halloween outfits) and provided hours of much needed entertainment as they waged war against each other.

China put on the world’s first completely digital fashion week

China had a first crack at a completely digital fashion week in March, with most of its official schedule playing out on Alibaba’s TMall shopping platform. Designers engaged in various virtual formats, allowing consumers to ask questions and shop in real-time during live-streamed shows.

The result at times felt chaotic — the busy interface, for instance, presented a stark contrast to traditional, often sleek, runway productions — but the readiness of brands’ to experiment virtually, and at the last minute, also put forth innovative ideas (the use of avatar models and QR codes) that would also play out in the West and other parts of the world as the pandemic continued to hamper other international fashion weeks.

Madonna, awkwardly, bathed in milk

While we love to see celebrities taking a stand, there are times when we just don’t want to hear from them at all. None more so than during a global pandemic.

Artists came out for BLM

Though much of our year was spent indoors, the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer in May drove millions in the US — and across the world — out onto the streets to join Black Lives Matter protests.

Artists created powerful imagery, responding with works that sought to memorialize, to provoke and to heal. Posting this illustration, just a day after Floyd was killed, Shirien Damra’s “Justice for George” was liked over three million times on Instagram and widely shared. “I know the power of color and the emotion it can implicitly evoke,” she told CNN. “I hope that my colors and imagery help the viewers process difficult emotions and events and come out of it with some hope and inspiration.”

People recreated iconic artworks at home

Beyonce’s visual album ‘Black is King’ celebrated Black talent

Queen Bey acknowledged how the events of 2020 made the film’s vision and message even more relevant. “I believe that when Black people tell our own stories, we can shift the axis of the world and tell our REAL history of generational wealth and richness of soul that are not told in our history books,” she wrote on Instagram.

Barcelona musicians performed to over 2,000 plants

A string quartet serenaded a full house — of plants — at Barcelona’s famed Gran Teatre de Liceu. Playing Puccini’s moving “Cristantemi” to mark Spain’s lifting of a three-month lockdown in June, the livestreamed event was meant as a “highly symbolic act that defends the value of art, music and nature as a letter of introduction to our return to activity,” said the opera house.

Harry Styles’ cardigan sparked a viral knitting challenge

Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt flirted on Zoom

‘The Crown’ blurred the line between fact and fiction

Audiences devoured the fourth season of “The Crown,” with many younger viewers introduced to the ill-fated marriage, and drama, between Prince Charles and Princess Diana for the first time.

Concerns arose over the portrayal of royal members and its casting of future king Prince Charles in an unflattering light. (Charles, played by Josh O’Connor, is depicted as a petulant, selfish serial-cheater who eventually drives the sacrificial lamb-like Princess Diana, played by Emma Corrin, to bulimia and depression.)

The series’ creative license — especially in its re-imagining of private conversations — has drawn criticism from some quarters, leading the UK’s Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden to demand that Netflix include a disclaimer clarifying to viewers that they are watching a work of fiction. Netflix hasn’t balked.

Kim threw a 40th birthday bash on a private island

“After 2 weeks of multiple health screens and asking everyone to quarantine, I surprised my closest inner circle with a trip to a private island where we could pretend things were normal for just a brief moment in time,” Kardashian West tweeted. Cue the memes.

TikTok crowdsourced a musical

Everything from rousing musical numbers, to choreography, set design, costumes and marketing materials, was crowdsourced and presented, in truly creative ways. The so-called “Ratousical” proved so popular, that in December, a production company announced it would present “Ratatouille: The TikTok Musical” on January 1, a one-off charity show that would star Broadway actors and benefit the Actors Fund.

The internet went monolith mad

In late November, a 10-foot-tall silver structure appeared in the Utah desert. Its rectangular form resembled the otherworldly monolith in Stanley Kubrick’s “2001: A Space Odyssey.”