Brodie Lancaster shares her top five pop culture moments of 2017, so far…

The case of the wrong envelope at the Oscars

I don’t want Moonlight to forever be defined by what happened at the Oscars this year (even though it was one of the year’s greatest moments in pop culture) because it was such an incredible, tender, relevant piece of art. Other films I’ve loved this year are Raw, 20th Century Women and Get Out. OJ: Made in America technically came out last year as an episodic series on ESPN, but I caught it in full at ACMI earlier this year, which totally changed the viewing experience.

The first ever AFL women’s match

I can’t believe future me will get to say she was at one of the first ever AFL women’s match. I never want to take for granted how incredible it was to see this game. I’m not sure if sport counts as pop culture but AFL is ‘popular’ (in Melbourne) and hopefully AFLW will change football culture. But then, Sam Newman still has a job hosting a show people apparently enjoy watching so who actually knows.

Two game-changing albums by teenagers

The two most iconic teens of my lifetime, Harry Styles and Lorde, released records this year that have altered my chemical makeup. They’ve made us all pause and consider what to call music made by pop stars that is so far from the usual understanding of ‘pop’. SZA’s album Ctrl, Smith Street Band’s More Scared of You Than You Are of Me and Sampha’s Process are my other favourites of the year. They were released last year, but I’ve listened to Lizzo’s ‘Coconut Oil’ EP and Ceres’s ‘Drag it Down on You’ more than probably any other record in 2017.

The era of book adaptations begins

It’s been an iconic year for adaptations of books and comics. The Handmaid’s Tale (based on Margaret Atwood’s novel) totally destroyed/infuriated/excited me. Usually I hate when adaptations stray from the source material, but I trust the crew involved on this adaptation so much that I’m actually looking forward to season 2. Riverdale was basically a hyper exaggerated fanfic of all the comics I pored over as a kid, and featuring the Jughead almost-sex scene literally no-one thought they wanted, but did. I’m so glad that Big Little Lies is delivering #JusticeForOurNicole (based on Liane Moriarty’s novel). And seeing Cate Shortland’s adaptation of Melanie Joosten’s novel, Berlin Syndrome gave me perma-goosebumps.

Maskgate

When Valentina took off her mask during her lip-sync on RuPaul’s Drag Race. Escándalo.

Brodie Lancaster is a writer, editor and occasional DJ based in Melbourne. Her first book, No Way! Okay, Fine: A Memoir of Pop Culture, Feminism and Feelings, is available in-store and online for a special price. You can read our review of the memoir here.

And if you’re Melbourne based, come along the book’s launch on Sunday 9 July! You can find more details here