I was finding it tricky to come up with a list of anything 'Of The Decade.' Part of the problem was that I can't remember what I was doing last year, let alone ten years ago. I also would keep choosing things that came out at the very tail end of the last decade. Eventually, I decided to narrow it down to one pick for each category I would focus on, so I could choose what stood out most strongly in my memory. I also said that if something came out the previous decade, but has had lasting cultural impacts into this decade, I would count it. It would also have to be something I enjoyed personally myself, so that I could form some coherent thoughts on it. And so, without further ado:
Video Games: Right off the bat, this was a tricky category. I could make a reasonable argument for anything from Minecraft to Pokémon Go. However, considering I was going for things I personally enjoyed, I ended up giving it to Dragon Age and Mass Effect. Video games are also effecting how we tell stories in more traditional media. BioWare has been at the helm of choice-based narratives in video games since very much the early part of the last decade. Indeed, the first Dragon Age game came out in the 2009, and Mass Effect came out in 2007. I won't say there weren't a few missteps within these series, but that's part of how things grow. They've also very much pioneered romance sidequests, a mechanic in video games which I enjoy. Choice-based dialogue is showing up more commonly, even in games now where you wouldn't expect it, and I can only hope that companies continue to come up with ways to make players feel involved with the story.
Books: This is the one place where I really feel like I have cheated slightly. I have chosen The Hunger Games, with only Mockingjay coming out in this decade. However, the first film came out in 2012, so you can easily make the argument that the bulk of their popularity came out this year. And their huge effect on Young Adult literature has definitely been felt this decade. YA is having a bit of a renaissance right now, and many titles taken on would have been done in part due to the influence of this series. I will also credit it with a wider resurgence of dystopian fiction, which is at it's best a way to view the issues facing our world with a different lens.
Films: I hope everyone will understand if I choose the Marvel movies as a whole. This decade in film will be very much remembered as the decade of superhero movies. They're all a fun way to spend 2-and-a-bit hours, even the ones with lower critical ratings. In fact, if all they provided was an escape from reality, that would be enough reason to keep making them. But they also encourage me to be a better person. We can't all be superheroes, but we can all do a little kindness. I really hope that in the next decade, they continue to push the boundaries of what kind of stories they can tell.
TV Show: Did any entertainment from any media define the decade so greatly as Game of Thrones? It has monopolised conversations with workmates and friends ever since it first appeared on screens. It has changed what we can expect from TV shows in terms of production values. It's become the show all other shows will be compared to. In terms of special effects, number of characters, costuming, scope and scale of the sets, there wasn't anything like it before, and I don't think there will be for quite some time.
Musical: Yeah, this had to go to Hamilton. Hamilton has pushed boundaries in so many ways. It influences how musical songs can sound. It allowed people to challenge their preconceptions of who can tell stories from history. It has encouraged an interest in musicals with those who may not have experienced them much. It has made the history of the Founding Fathers more relevant to those who may have found it a dry topic at school, or would have had no cause to study it previously. It has given much new life to a form of media that was struggling to find it's place in this decade.
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