User:Tropzax/Infamy of 2016
The common era year 2016 was, in its latter duration, considered a negative period in human history. This rose from a variety of notable deaths; worldwide changes, deferrals, scandals, and epidemics; and the rapid decline in media standards.
The "2016 Effect"
[edit]The closing months saw on popular media the acknowledgment of an experience dubbed the '2016 effect'. This experience was the common irrational fear of a celebrity death or global crisis.
When a certain person or location was frequently mentioned, trending on Facebook or Twitter, or a recording artist had multiple songs played, for example, one possible explanation is that something bad had happened. Given the frequency, and unforgiving nature, of such bad things occurring throughout 2016, people's immediate assumptions were the definitively negative.
Celebrity birthdays, marriages, births, and new album releases were all short-term mistaken for bad incidents on popular media.
This jump to the worst-case scenario, for no reason out of the ordinary on social media, is the 2016 effect.
Post-truth Politics
[edit]The 2016 word of the year was post-truth, because of the growth in use of the term to describe the Political situation in the West changing to post-truth over the year.
This is understood to be policies and political tactics becoming more emotionally funded and engaging the public's emotive response whilst simultaneously denying them access to fact.
Brexit
[edit]Trumpism
[edit]Regardless of individual opinions on the matter, the 2016 United States Presidential election was largely engaging worldwide, and was a highly contested event.
The campaign period of Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton was a unique process in its exploitation of post-truth tactics and the relationship of the candidates; Republican nominee Trump a one-time Clinton supporter, and the acceptance and legitimising of a non-political figure.
Deaths
[edit]Notable deaths caused much outcry from the beginning of the year. It was only shortly into the year that reports and articles were released on scientific theory for why there was abnormally high levels of celebrity death.
The more deaths that occurred and the more widely acknowledged a 'bad year' was happening became, notable deaths became referred to as a 2016 curse. This giving the abstract idea of a year the power of sentience and the desire to cause chaos, supposedly choosing which beloved figures to kill. Many people also reported on social media a disproportionate number of their own family and friends taking ill or dying, compared to other years.
This was brought to a height in November when Fidel Castro, survivor of over 800 assassination attempts, died. Relating this to previous deaths, it has been commented that "even [Castro] couldn't survive 2016".
The relationship of the year to deaths, notable or familial, has been discussed greatly.
Deaths that caused most mass media upset include:
- David Bowie and Prince, eccentric musicians
- Patty Duke, actress of The Patty Duke Show
- Keith Emerson, prog-rock keyboardist
- Harper Lee, author of To Kill a Mockingbird
- Nancy Reagan, First Lady
- Alan Rickman, actor best known for portraying Severus Snape in the Harry Potter films
- Anton Yelchin, actor best known for portraying Chekov in the modern Star Trek films
- Victoria Wood (UK), musician-comedienne
- Terry Wogan (UK), longstanding radio host and Eurovision Song Contest commentator
Gaia Theory
[edit]One theory as to the 'bad year' happening is that Earth became vindictive against humanity for treating the planet badly.
Disasters
[edit]Terrorism
[edit]In June, the Pulse gay club in Orlando, Florida was the target of a terrorist attack hate crime. The 2016 Orlando nightclub shooting not only showed the re-emerge of homophobia in the United States but is also the nation's second-deadliest terror attack ever, beaten only by the September 11th terror attacks.