Spotlight
The Best of 2018: Spotlight of 7 Events
2018, an epoch filled with the good, the bad, and the ugly, yet the best moments of the year are extraordinary enough to accentuate themselves in a year overwhelmed with mass shootings, children in cages, the Russia probe, and Kanye West in the White House.
1) The incredible recording-breaking box-office success of the third highest grossing Marvel film, Black Panther. It defied the stereotypes and myths revolving around minorities and other marginalized groups that they were not relatable enough to carry a film with an enormous budget provided by a major studio worldwide. It even landed two Golden Globes nominations for best motion picture and drama category, and many have anointed it as the greatest movie of the year.
2) Crazy Rich Asian, a successful romantic comedy; 2018 seemed to be the year Hollywood decided to step outside of its status quo to embrace diversity and rebuke the vacuity of the statement that minorities cannot carry a film internationally. I am sure as you have heard, it was a box-office success. In fact, the lobbying for a sequel is well underway.
3) Oprah Winfrey’s eloquent and inspiring speech about sexual assault and harassment in the entertainment industry at the Golden Globes, which sparked multiple debates questioning if she would be the formidable foe to challenge Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential elections even though she previously renounced the idea of her running for office.
4) Kendrick Lamar adding to his lore by becoming the first rapper in history to win a Pulitzer Music Prize for his highly acclaimed album ‘DAMN.’
5) Saturday Night Live’s parodies on Politics, particularly Alec Baldwin’s portrayal of President Trump and Matt Damon’s portrayal of Brett Kavanaugh.
6) Rapper and Actor Childish Gambino, also known as Donald Glover, valiantly and bluntly released his brilliant music video “This is America,” which tackled the grotesque mass shootings in the United States.
7) An exceptional record number of 117 women, 100 democrats and 17 Republicans, were elected to Congress.