by SYDNEY CHURCH - Wrapping up 2019 with a look back at Gen Z childhood.
WESTFIELD, Ind. (Dec. 2019) - Let’s break this down. The years 2010 to 2019 were nothing short of chaos. Between music, movies, technology and politics, this entire decade felt like a fever dream for most of the population.
2010 - To kick it off, we had the release of Apple’s first iPad, and Lady GaGa sported a dress of meat. Not to mention the release of songs like “California Gurls” by Katy Perry (which, by the way, I had no idea was spelled with a “U” instead of an “I”), and “Grenade” by Bruno Mars. Movies like “Toy Story 3,” “Tangled,” “Despicable Me” and more were responsible for shaping our childhoods. You probably played with Monster High dolls, or those creepy Sing-A-Ma-Jigs that no one really remembers. Older siblings finally got to use Instagram to double tap their friends’ pictures after its release in 2010. No matter which song you sang in the car with your mom, or what movie you fought with your siblings to watch on movie night, this year was definitely an interesting way to start the decade.
2011 through 2014 - This chunk of the decade began with the royal wedding, the end of Harry Potter and the release of our middle school anthem “Friday” by Rebecca Black. Trends like planking, the Harlem Shake, ALS Ice Bucket challenge and finding out what the fox really says happened. There was also that entire airplane that vanished into thin air. The first introduction of Snapchat was released in 2011, yet we still can’t change our usernames. One Direction released its debut single “What Makes You Beautiful” and ultimately ran the music industry until its hiatus in 2015. The Ebola virus broke out again during the spring of 2014. We landed a robot on a comet, swore the first woman into the United States Federal Reserve and sang “We Are Young” by Fun at the top of our lungs.
2015 - The dress. The middle of the decade started with the dress. To settle this plainly, it’s BLUE AND BLACK! In other news, Apple released racially diverse emojis and same-sex marriage was legalized in the United States. Caitlin Jenner took over the internet and Adele returned to the stage. Deadly attacks on Paris left the entire country of France in shambles. Gun deaths became more common than traffic deaths in the United States, China dissolved its one child policy and the presence of water was confirmed on Mars. Sequels like “Pitch Perfect 2” and “Insurgent” hit the box office, as well as “Paper Towns” and “The Good Dinosaur.” “Uptown Funk” by Bruno Mars was the most popular song of the year, followed by “Hello” by Adele and “Can’t Feel My Face” by The Weeknd.
2016 through 2018 - In more current news, 2016, 2017 and 2018 are probably years you remember more than others. We kicked off with President Trump elected and inaugurated into office. What a way to start. Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie announced their separation while Ariana Grande and Pete Davidson announced an engagement and a separation within months of each other. The Swift-Kardashian-West phone call broke the internet, and so did an egg. Most of the Kardashians had a kid, Leonardo DiCaprio finally won an Oscar and “Full House” was brought back to life. A month after the death of Prince, the gorilla Harambe took over social media. Pokemon Go and fidget spinners were the most popular toy of the year, there was another royal wedding and Muscial.ly became TikTok.
2019 - 2019 was quite a way to end the decade. We started the year with a diverse class of lawmakers in Congress, a picture of a black hole, and the burning of the Notre-Dame. The US women's team won the World Cup. Climate Strikes were held in schools across the globe as students stand up for their right to a future. The Area 51 raid was...a thing. Unfortunately, so was “Old Town Road.” There was new music from Ariana Grande, all five former members of One Direction and a million new Noah Centineo movies. ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was murdered during a US raid. California experienced an unimaginable amount of wildfires and over 25 animal species were on the brink of extinction.
Honestly, I’m not sure if I should thank this decade, or give it in a nice left-handed handshake. Nonetheless, the ‘10s were quite a time to be alive and Jay-Z said it best himself, let’s be “Young Forever.”