2021 Wrap: The Not-So-Bad Moments From Another Weird Year

Things got rough, so let’s debrief on the good stuff.

We all entered this year a little cynical, exhausted, and wondering what would shake us next after the trainwreck that was 2020.

And 2021 had its moments. But let’s manifest some positivity as the year comes to a close and relive all its awesome moments—from entertainment, to sports, to the digital world (and everything in between).

As snap lockdowns continued, Netflix served up the home entertainment.

One of our most read articles of the year was How to Play the “Squid Games” at Home (Without the Violence Obviously), and if that doesn’t sum up 2021 in a sentence, I don’t know what does.

Netflix had a chokehold on the world this year, with “Squid Game” costumes taking out first place in Halloween costume lists, and DJ’s remixing the infamous theme song. You literally couldn’t escape it.

 

@mihailo.b

red light, green light #squidgame #festival #house #winemachine

♬ original sound - Mihailo

Earlier in the year, “Bridgerton” captured the hearts of everyone from fanatical stans on Twitter to our mums, with its addictive romance and attractive cast members (we watched it for the plot).

There's two kinds of people in this world. Those who watched Bridgerton over break, and those who will watch it later this month. Resistance is futile.

— Tommy Vietor (@TVietor08) January 4, 2021

Nostalgia was a whole trend, dominating entertainment and fashion.

Bucket hats, butterfly clips, film cameras, “Dreams” by Fleetwood Mac trending on TikTok… What’s next, low-rise jeans? (Please, no).

Models and trendsetters brought back the early 2000’s and made it their own.

 

 

 

 

 

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In the entertainment realm, we got a “Friends” reunion, some familiar faces in “Spider-Man: No Way Home”, and the announcement of a “Harry Potter” reunion coming in the New Year.

There was some much-needed representation of marginalised groups in mainstream media.

You couldn’t have missed the buzz around Brooke Blurton as Australia’s first bisexual and indigenous “Bachelorette”.

She’s a proud Noongar-Yamatji woman who has been on Australian screens in The Bachelor and Bachelor in Paradise. Finally, she had her own chance to shine, and our fave Osher summed it up perfectly.

We are a nation of people from so many different backgrounds, cultures and experiences - yet we all have one thing in common: we all want to be loved in a way that is meaningful to us.

I can't wait to help our new #bacheloretteau Brooke find that kind of love. xx pic.twitter.com/cm4L9RkURF

— Osher Günsberg (@oshergunsberg) May 19, 2021

Perth Airport made the move to recognise Traditional Custodians across Australia by displaying them alongside destination names. And Australia post added Indigenous place names on envelopes to celebrate NAIDOC week.

Here’s to increased representation in 2022!

Lawmakers did some things right.

We love to see our pollies looking out for what matters to us, and there were a couple of wins in 2021.

The New South Wales government adopted an Affirmative Consent Model, meaning that sexual consent is actively sought and communicated.

NSW will now be adopting an affirmative consent model in its legal system. Because silence isn't consent. Freezing because you are terrified isn't consent. It's not consent if someone promises to wear a condom and then slips it off during sex. Consent is an ongoing conversation. pic.twitter.com/jCYunvZVvH

— Tanya Plibersek (@tanya_plibersek) May 25, 2021

In June, the Fair Work Commission announced that Australia’s national minimum wage would be boosted by 2.5%—great news for Aussies who suffered financially due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The digital world got bullish on all things crypto and meta.

You probably ran into a couple of finance bros this year who couldn’t stop talking about the future of cryptocurrency, NFTs and the metaverse.

I almost googled what Bitcoin is but I lost interest.

(I don’t know if that counts as a joke because I still don’t know what Bitcoin is.)

— Jeff B. Davis (@JeffBryanDavis) December 9, 2017

If you’re still unsure what on earth all of this means, that’s okay. We’ve got you covered with our explainer on NFTs.

As Dogecoin went to the moon and Elon Musk singlehandedly influenced the crypto market, Mark Zuckerberg announced the rebranding of Facebook (the company) to Meta. Alongside a weird video that makes us feel like the dystopian future is well upon us.

There was increased awareness around climate change and leaders were forced to confront the issue.

The clock is ticking and COP26 signalled a global commitment to the issue of climate change.

Aussie PM Scomo was planning on giving it a skip, but public pressure successfully forced him to go. The Australian government committed to reach net zero emissions by 2050.

The Olympics brought the world together.

There were some huge feel-good moments as the world tuned in for the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.

Although the stadiums and venues were empty, the world watched eagerly as Australia walked away with 17 gold medals and Simone Biles was our ultimate hype woman.

SAME. pic.twitter.com/12WnbhROMO

— NBC Olympics (@NBCOlympics) August 4, 2021

Aussies had a big year in entertainment.

There are always entertainers down under making their mark on the world stage, year after year. In 2021, we had the opportunity to chat with some rising actors, actresses and other professionals in the industry.

Josephine Langford was born and raised in Perth and is now starring in the “After” franchise alongside Dylan Sprouse and Hero Fiennes Tiffin.

We also spoke to Angourie Rice about her career path from “Jasper Jones” to “Spider-Man: No Way Home”, and NIDA grad Gretel Vella, who is writing for Stan series “The Great”.

Whether or not 2021 goes down in the history books for good reasons or not, there were things to cherish.

Keep your head high for 2022 and all the wacky, glorious things to come.