The implication is that something strange is happening with time itself. That life on earth is both speeding up and slowing down, fluctuating in myriad directions and presenting fly-by-night crazes and superstars, all while evergreen, indefatigable titans of media and politics live on well past their sell-by dates. The forces of change and the forces of stasis are grinding up against each other with dizzying results.
When talking to a friend of mine recently, he expressed disbelief that the Olympics were just a few months ago. Granted, not everyone will be as confused as he is, but there’s no denying that the viral stars of that tournament – like the Turkish and South Korean shooting sensations – now seem as passe as 2012-era YouTubers or retired footballers.
Nowhere is this sense more palpable than in the short-form digital content arena. In this universe, someone like Hailey “Hawk Tuah” Welch can go from an unvarnished, accidental star, to a controversial crypto promoter in just six, heady months, while American streamer iShowSpeed exists in a constant state of Beatlemania, being chased around the world by giddy teenagers in an effort to squeeze every drop of fame from his 15 minutes.
On television – an increasingly grey medium – time moves at a glacial pace. Dragon’s Den is celebrating its 20th anniversary next year, while Saturday Kitchen could have feasibly graduated university and completed a masters if it were a human being. Mrs Brown’s Boys remains indelibly popular despite the fact you will never meet anyone who watches it, and it’s very telling that a show like MasterChef (also 20 next year) could not go gently into the good night in the wake of the Gregg Wallace mega-scandal, but has simply recast his role, in lieu of much else to commission.
This phenomenon ties in with the pop philosopher Paul Skallas’s theory of “stuck culture”, whereby popular entertainment and mass culture have become trapped in an endless feedback loop of reruns, reboots, franchises and monolithic celebrities that refuse to budge.
You can also see this in politics. Despite the geopolitical chaos and the lunacy of the Trump campaign, we are still ruled by a very familiar cast of characters – and keep voting for them in lieu of real change. The Donald is back, Macron is clinging on, and perhaps, in appointing 90s relic Peter Mandelson as US ambassador, Keir Starmer is playing upon some widespread desire for coherency. A not-so-friendly face in the crowd.
Joe Biden let us all down in 2024
Read MoreThere is no doubt that this was a seismic year, perhaps something akin to 1969 or 201 BC. It was the year many of us realised that we are locked into a new cold war with flashes of devastating heat, where fascinating geopolitics left the machinations of Westminster looking incredibly petty. There’s been coups, revolutions, riots, botched assassinations, completed assassinations, and presidential candidates on podcasts. It wasn’t as outwardly insane as 2020, but it was far more exciting.
Where it all goes from here, is anyone’s guess. The cat is out of the bag, the horse has bolted. But were they ever in place? Or did we just have a safe mass media narrative to rely on? There seems to be two routes you can take, lie back and let the next series of The Apprentice wash over you, or strap yourself into the madness of the moment.
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