I’ve always been a sensitive person and this has caused some Yes, really embarrassing moments in my life. But these days, I’m thankful that we can just call ourselves “empaths” and go about our day-to-day business with sensitive people without side glances or peanut gallery comments. I cry a lot! Who cares!
However, I’m happy to say that most of my crying revolves around pop culture moments; and this year has delivered many of them. Now that I think about it, there were too many. A ridiculous avalanche of them. I mean, come on, you can’t even do a show – that’s partly advertised as a comedy – about a smart cook without ugly tears falling,
Movies and TV shows new and old, social commentary, and devastating cancellations have left me constantly buying boxes of tissues this year. Here is a list of my top 10 pop culture screams of 2022.
1
Reunion with “Bojack Horseman”
Let me preface that by saying I’ve seen Bojack rider before and occasionally picked up episodes when it was on the air. But this year I decided to watch it in its entirety, and the first season was a kicker. I never realized how sad this show was. As I write this, I’m getting closer to Season 4 and to see Bojack’s development unfold into something of a nothingness breaks my heart. I’d like to say that the fictional TV star is the embodiment of “one step forward, three steps back,” but clearly throughout the episodes he’s just standing there and going nowhere.
2
Lea Michele’s Funny Girl hit
Nothing has brought me more joy than recovery joy child when seeing Lea Michele take on the role of Fanny Brice on Broadway’s Funny girl. These goods really the happiest of tears, yet a never-ending wave of emotion. With casting born of controversy – both Michele and her history of bullying and Beanie Feldstein’s beef with the show’s production team – I felt like such a proud mom to see her master the role (with no bad reports so far sportsmanship). , record the revival album and open the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
3
Basically everything from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
That was a good movie. A really good movie. But beyond that, it was an emotional tribute to the late Chadwick Boseman and a rewarding journey of grief, love and acceptance. I don’t think anyone went to their performances expecting to walk around with dry eyes. But even considering that, it delivered way more gut punches than I expected.
4
Monologue “The Bear”.
Jeremy Allen White, my husband. After doing unspeakable things for 11 seasons shameless, he jumped to a new comedy-drama with an eerily similar tone. While The bear Never pretending to be a carefree series, the season finale’s opener was particularly brutal and left no stone unturned. It starts with White’s Carmy Berzatto going through a flawed dream sequence in which he gives a cooking lesson to a fake audience and ends up having an outburst about his brother’s death and their troubled relationship. This causes him to wake up in a panic and unpack the dream during an emotional speech at an AA meeting. I found it to be one of the most difficult ten minutes of television of the year.
5
Standing ovation from Brendan Fraser for “The Whale”
Brendan Frasers 7 minutes standing ovation at the Venice Film Festival made him cry, it made me cry, and judging by the reactions I’ve seen on my twitter feed, it made everyone else cry. There isn’t much to say about this one. What was tearful about that? Was it the genuinely surprised look on his face? Are we only crying because he is crying? Is it the inspirational comeback story? I don’t know, I just know it broke me and I’m happy for this man.
6
Saw Princess Diaries 2 for the first time
My friend let me watch Suddenly Princess 1 and 2 for the first time this year and that silly scene in the sequel where Anne Hathaway is Mia Thermopolis recruits a bunch of orphans to march alongside her in a parade to the beat of Kelly Clarkson’s “Breakaway,” which made me cry. It was sweet, sue me.
7
“Spring Awakening” performance at the 2022 Tony Awards
I’m going to theater kid in this list, sorry not sorry. But along with the Lea Micheleaissance, the resurgence of spring awakening – especially after the overthrow of Roe v. Wade – did something to me that I will never recover from. Every time I think about her performance of “Touch Me” at the 2022 Tony Awards, I need a few minutes to chill. The choreography. The all-black costumes. The moment Jonathan Groff and John Gallagher Jr. put their arms around each other and smile. So much love. I hurt just thinking about it.
8th
Don’t Make Me Go ending
Talk about a splitting ending am I right? The end of do not let me go is a rough place for many. Some viewers felt it was a cheap shot, reducing its overall impact and turning a smooth watch into a waste of time. I, on the other hand, was too stunned to interpret anything about the tragic events that unfolded on screen. Needless to say, immediately after finishing this film I called my father and told him not to have any health concerns any time soon.
9
“Under Pressure” scene in “Aftersun”
while all After sun was soul crushing, the “Under Pressure” scene left me heartbroken. And for some reason, A24 uses a clip of the scene (which I don’t want to go into too much detail about because it’s a spoiler) for promotional purposes, so it’s literally impossible to escape. I would not only name this year the best Needle Drop of 2022, but also the most heartbreaking scene of 2022. I will never be able to listen to this song again, but at least we made it some good memes out of here.
10
Cancellation of ‘Tuca and Bertie’
Hello It’s Me, Tuca & Bertis biggest fan. I discovered this series after the Netflix cancellation and only fell in love with it when the second season was released. It was the Nighttime Friends episode that made me go, “Huh, they’re just like me,” and I was hooked from there. I fell in love with this show and admired it for its fearlessness in tackling taboo subjects and showing the importance of female friendship. There’s also my ridiculous crush on speckle. I know he’s a bird, but I also think he’s the perfect TV friend. The show’s cancellation on HBO Max felt like a major betrayal. It has already been canceled once, how dare you cancel it again? A big ‘old ouch!