2012 through YouTube clips
January – Costa Concordia
Almost exactly 100 years since the Titanic sunk in the Atlantic Ocean, the luxury cruise liner the Costa Concordia ran aground off the coast of Tuscany in Italy, killing 30 and 2 missing, presumed dead. The striking image of the colossal ship submerged proved that the sea could still conquer man.
George Ryan
February – Shelling of Homs
One of the greatest tragedies of 2012 is that of the civil war in Syria. Cut off from the world, atrocities have been taking place that may never be fully understood. The shelling of the city of Homs is one such tragedy. The indiscriminate shelling and gunfire of snipers killed innocent civilians, including many women and children.
GR
March – Kony 2012
Until Kony 2012, viral videos mainly consisted of kittens falling over and children biting each other. The Kony 2012 video became one of the most viral videos of all time, surmounting hundreds of millions of views in just a few days. A little known Ugandan warlord became instantly recognisable the world over. Although Kony has not been found in 2012, his name won’t be forgotten.
GR
April – The Omnishambles
Perhaps the most noted decision made in the 2012 budget was to put VAT on hot pasties, such as those served at Greggs. The issue quickly went viral, the working and middle classes seemingly in agreement for once, and the Labour party decided to ‘dine out’ on the issue, in an attempt to make the Chancellor seem ‘out of touch’. Whether this had any lasting effect on the standing of either party remains to be seen, however.
Andrew E. King
May – Hollande wins French Election
François Hollande was elected president of France on 22 April winning 51.6% of the popular vote in the run off ballot. He became the first socialist to win the presidency in France since François Mitterand in 1988. His victory offered a ‘plan B’ of anti-austerity for Europe, against the fiscal conservatism of Angela Merkel. His victory came largely down to his anti-austerity message and reaching out to the young and ethnic minority voters. This unofficial election video features the Kanye West track ‘Niggas in Paris’, the suited and booted Hollande appears somewhat awkward in comparison.
GR
June – Diamond Jubilee
The month of June saw the loyal subjects of her Majesty celebrate the 60th year of doing her job. Neighbours finally learnt each other’s’ names through the forced-fun of street parties and the BBC exhibited the dire journalistic skills of some of its famous faces with their coverage of the Flotilla – known as “that boat thing” to us mere mortals. Royalists plastered their houses with flags and bought all amount of Union Jack-covered paraphernalia, while the rest of us just revelled in the days off work.
Lauren Clarke
July – London 2012
London 2012. Well, what can I say. It was planned for years and had an obscene amount of money poured into it, but you can’t deny that it was a truly magical time. We watched Ennis well and truly earn her stripes as the golden girl of the Olympics, coming away with one of Britain’s sixty-five medals. Mo ensured that ‘The Mobot’ became dance-move of the summer and Wiggo brought sideburns back into post-19th Century fashion. The Paralympics proved how incredible the human race can be against all odds – giving us some of the most inspiring and heart-warming images of the year. And what about that Opening Ceremony (we don’t mention the flop of the Closing Ceremony) – there was a turfed hill, an industrial revolution before our eyes and the Queen jumping out of a helicopter. But, let’s be honest, the lasting image of London 2012 will be that one time Boris got stuck on a zip wire
LC
August – Mars Curiosity Rover
In August watched as the human race took another step in space exploration. We “oooh-ed” and “ahhh-ed” over the pictures of Mars, which look suspiciously like the plains of Utah and were all secretly a little bit disappointed that there weren’t any aliens in the pictures posing for the camera. All-in-all, we watched NASA make a big deal of landing WALL-E on the surface of Mars.
LC
September – Nick Clegg Apology
September saw Nick Clegg post an unconvincing apology video for the rising of tuition fees, vaguely reminiscent of the ‘We’re Sorry’ campaign run by [BP in South Park](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDqatJPvOfk). What he hoped for was for the electorate to welcome him back with open arms. What he got was ‘The Poke’ auto tuning his video, and this being broadcast on the BBC. If people weren’t interested earlier, they were now: mocking responses flooded in from around the country. Nick Clegg was sorry all right, but not about the pledge – about the video!
AEK
October – Darth Disney
October saw George Lucas sell the rights of Lucasarts to Disney in a 4 billion dollar deal. Some fans of the franchise, outraged, took to social media to complain about the loss of integrity. These complaints were countered by the reminder that The Avengers had been created under the Disney umbrella, and the issue quickly faded into obscurity. Star Wars Episode 7 is predicted to be released in 2015.
AEK
November – Obama wins
The big issue of November 2012 was the US presidential election. Warwick SU was filled with students keen to know the results, the media buzzed with predictions and twitter was filled with relevant trending topics. Upon the announcement of Obama’s re-election, he tweeted a celebratory picture with the caption ‘Four more years’ which quickly went on to become the [most re-tweeted picture of all time](https://twitter.com/BarackObama/status/266031293945503744). Most of the world then went on to celebrate, even if many in America did not.
AEK
December – Gangnam Style
Gangnam Style became the most viewed video on YouTube, surmounting a formidable one billion views. The cultural significance of Psy’s video should not be underestimated. The video is the first K-Pop record to top the charts across the world. Psy is now a household name across the Western world and the Gangnam style dance is almost universally recognised; even UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon did it. The West has been the cultural hegemon for the past two centuries, perhaps this is about to change?
GR
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