2023 in Review: Looking Back

Today marks the end of my 2023 in Review series of posts. As a light recap, I kicked this off on Monday by revealing my Top 10 video games for 2023. This was followed by my Top 10 TV shows on Tuesday. On Wednesday, I highlighted my favorite songs while yesterday, I went over my Top 10 movies for the year. To wrap things up, we'll be examining the year as a whole by taking a look back at some of the things and events that helped define 2023.

2023 like most years was filled with a lot of heated debates and controversy centered around the ongoing culture war. There were calls for boycotts of brands like Bud Light and Target by their more conservative customers, both of which would cost their respective parent companies millions of dollars. Even the video game Hogwarts Legacy wasn't exempted due to its loose ties to J.K. Rowling. But in the case of the latter, it was clear that all those calling for the game to be boycotted were simply in the vocal minority, as it would go on to become the highest-selling game for 2023.

On the other side of the pond, the coronation of King Charles III was held in May, after he'd ascended the throne in the wake of Queen Elizabeth II's passing last year. There were many guests in attendance but notably missing was Meghan Markle whose claims of systematic racism in the Royal Family have been met with some major backlash. Her husband, Prince Harry, was of course there to honor his father, but with the way he was given very minimal coverage or exposure during the ceremony, you could tell that public opinion for the couple remains very low.

General elections were held over here in Nigeria back in February. And for the first time in a long time, we had what appeared to be three strong candidates as opposed to two, as Peter Obi stepped up to the plate to challenge both Bola Tinubu and Atiku Abubakar. And even though I didn't once again have any particular horse in the race, I still followed proceedings with mild curiosity. It of course didn't take very long into the election before reports of rigging started to run rampant. Bola Tinubu would eventually go on to win the quote, unquote, popular vote, a result anyone should have seen coming a mile away, given how things operate in the country.

As far as pop icons go, they don't really get much bigger than Taylor Swift. And 2023 was the year that heralded the start of The Eras Tour, a sprawling three-plus-hour show spanning songs from her entire back catalog. The shows would prove so popular during the year that it became the highest-grossing tour of all time, surpassing over $1 billion in ticket sales. She would even extend her dominance into theaters with a concert film, itself the highest-grossing film of its kind. All that would contribute to her being named Time Magazine's Person of the Year a second time.

2023 will probably be remembered as the year that Disney finally imploded after taking some very massive box office Ls. It all started with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania in February, but the list quickly grew to include The Little Mermaid, Elemental, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, Haunted Mansion, The Marvels, and Wish. It is clear that a sizable majority of the general public has completely soured on the company as a brand, as it continues to place itself at the forefront of hot-button issues rather than focusing on delivering entertainment value. It remains to be seen what the future holds for the company, but at least its leadership has finally been forced to acknowledge the problem, so good on everyone who voted with their wallets.

Reeling things back home now, 2023 went by in what I can only describe as one helluva flash. It even feels odd writing this wrap-up post when I still vividly remember working on the one for last year. Where did all that time go, you ask? Beats me, to be honest, but the only way to keep track of the passage of time sometimes is by taking a moment to acknowledge milestones. This is primarily why I feel the need to keep doing this yearly series, to take stock of how I spent the year.

So in terms of actual milestones crossed during the year in question, there isn't much to speak of. I managed to double my subscriber count on YouTube from this time last year, so there's that. But I suppose my biggest accomplishment would be the fact that I actually started writing again. Granted, I didn't exactly churn out any new books. Still, I consider this a pivotal first step towards getting to do that again someday soon. Let's see how 2024 shapes up I guess.

It's been nice getting to share my favorite things and general thoughts about 2023. May our 2024 be filled with even more triumphs.