For a significant portion of the population, 2021 entertainment content wasn't TV or movies—it was video games. The industry continued to eclipse Hollywood in revenue.
However, the biggest story was the merger of gaming and traditional media. Arcane (based on League of Legends) was the best-reviewed TV show of the year on Rotten Tomatoes. The Witcher Season 2 dropped, driving millions back to The Witcher 3 video game. The line between player and viewer officially dissolved. penthouse130722juliaannjuliaannxxximag 2021
While Spider-Man fans were joyous, other franchises suffered. Star Wars continued to hemorrhage toxic fans who harassed actors like Moses Ingram (though her show came out in 2022, the seeds were sown in 2021). Similarly, the reaction to Cowboy Bebop (Netflix) being canceled after one season showed how quickly the streaming axe falls. For a significant portion of the population, 2021
If you felt like every song on the radio in 2021 sounded like it was 30 seconds long, you were right. 2021 popular media in music was defined entirely by the algorithm of TikTok. However, the biggest story was the merger of
Gone were the days of the slow-burn album rollout. Songs became hits because of a "dance challenge" or a "soundbite loop."
Instead of trying to make one show for everyone, platforms in 2021 focused on "hyper-serving" specific demographics.
The most significant shift was the "day-and-date" release model. Warner Bros. famously shocked Hollywood by announcing that their entire 2021 slate (including Dune and The Matrix Resurrections) would hit HBO Max the same day as theaters. This infuriated talent but validated the consumer desire for home premieres.