Trends change as we change.
This year has been filled to the brim with many different trends, both on and off of social media.
Popular trends affect our culture and how we function in day to day society, and can even form who we are as people.
One major trend this year was the result of the movies Barbie and Oppenheimer being released on the same day, yet being such different movies. The former film is very centered around feminism and girlhood, whereas the latter is a film about the experiences of war and the atomic bomb. During the summer, these movies were all anyone would talk about, with many families splitting up at the movie theater so that they could all see the movie they preferred. A lot of women and girls saw themselves reflected in the movie. “I loved the Barbie movie. I think it had a pretty big impact on women and girls,” senior Bella Leachman said. On the other hand, Oppenheimer is based around the creation of the atomic bomb during WWII. The differences between these two movies created a lot of competition at movie theaters between the two films, and a lot of internet discussion over which one was better.
Another, more humor-focused trend was the Grimace shake at McDonald’s over the summer. The shake, based on one of the restaurant’s many mascots, was a blueberry flavored treat that led to an internet trend where people made horror-style videos of themselves in the ‘aftermath’ of them being ‘attacked’ by Grimace after drinking the shake. The trend became very far fetched and elaborate, with people wasting entire shakes just to make the video look extra messy and violent. These videos garnered millions of views on platforms like TikTok, where many people were humored by the videos. “I think it was a funny trend. I did not participate in it, but the shake was really good,” freshman George Williams said.
A more retro trend coming back into style this year was the concept of digital cameras. With mobile phones being the typical way people take photos now; it was unexpected to see many people turn to an older way of capturing and viewing memories. For many people, the appearance of a digital photo is more aesthetically pleasing than a photo taken on a typical iPhone. For others, the thrill of a digital camera comes from the anticipation of having to wait extra time to see what your photo looks like.
Trends are one of the most important aspects of our culture. It can be fun for people to participate in them throughout the course of the year, and it keeps life fresh and entertaining.
