Yes, there was a global pandemic. But what else will we remember about last year? Journalism students discuss the rest of the good, the bad, the serious, the trivial, the deservingly hyped, and the overrated from a year the world has been happy to put in the rearview mirror.

Kanye West Runs For President

By BAHIYAH LEITO

Kanye West, the 43-year-old rapper behind hit albums such as Graduation and My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, formally announced his campaign for the 2020 presidential election on July 4 of last year. West made the announcement on Twitter, where he wrote, “We must now realize the promise of America by trusting God, unifying our vision, and building our future. I am running for President of the United States,” with the hashtag #2020VISION. West ran as a “Christian Independent” under the “Birthday Party” (yes, you read that correctly). He campaigned for instituting school prayer, building a stronger national defense, supporting the creative arts, and “keeping human life sacred” by opposing capital punishment and abortion. His campaign received $6,771,472.66 in funding, with $6,760,000 of that coming out of his own pocket. West was on the ballot in six states: Arizona, Ohio, Wisconsin, California, Virginia, and West Virginia. After exactly four months, the rapper ended his campaign on November 4, right before the election.

West’s campaign couldn’t possibly be described in one word, but if one were forced to choose, an adequate fit would be “laughable.” While yes, the symbolism of a self-made black man running for office is quite profound, West's campaign was disorganized and reeked of ignorance. For one, West joined the election after failing to meet the deadline to appear as a third party candidate on six states’ ballots. He was also for a time a raging Trump supporter and really became acquainted with conservatives in mid-2018. West said that he would include elements of Trump’s campaign in his. Apparently whatever gets you in that Oval Office is fair game.

West exhibited some uncalled-for behavior, such as at his first political rally, when he yelled at a young black woman when she said he was avoiding answering her question on gun reform. In another moment at his rally, while discussing abortion, Kanye began sobbing and screaming “I almost killed my daughter.” It was an emotional moment, but meanwhile, orders were available for his new Yeezy Boost 250 V2s. All in all, Kanye made a joke out of black politics. But to achieve what? Sell more sneakers? Maybe he’s smarter than we thought.

NASA Launches The “Perseverance” Rover to Mars

By ABDULRAHMAN WAHIB and HUA BIN WU
On July 30, 2020, the “Perseverance” rover was launched at Cape Canaveral, Florida, scheduled to land on Mars’s Jezero crater on February 18, 2021. The crater is said to be an area with high potential for signs of past microbial life. Manufactured by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and nicknamed “Percy,” the rover has three goals: to identify past signs of living organisms, to test the validity of Mars for human settlement, and to test rock and soil samples.

Perseverance is one of the biggest rovers to be manufactured and sent to space, second only to “Curiosity,” which was launched in November, 2011. Perseverance is about the size of a modern day car, with a 7 foot height and a 6 foot width. It is the heaviest rover to be sent to Mars, at 2,260 pounds, packed with scientific instruments such as a miniaturized helicopter drone named “Ingenuity” that will help NASA researchers scout for locations to explore. With all its futuristic tools, Perseverance is truly a beautifully-engineered piece of machinery and a huge step forward in the scientific world. In at least this sense, 2020 wasn’t a lost cause, because it birthed a robot that holds tremendous potential and can possibly forever change the world of science.

Chadwick Boseman Passes Away

By AHAMED ALI

Chadwick Boseman, the star of Black Panther, passed away on August 28 after a secret four-year battle with colon cancer. Boseman grew up in South Carolina, writing his first play in high school and going to the historically black Howard University. As the first black movie superhero to headline his own franchise, Boseman was an inspiration. He took the role of Black Panther to another level, and it’s hard to see anyone else filling his place.

One of the films that really set Boseman up for greatness was 42, where he played the legendary color barrier-breaking baseball player Jackie Robinson. Robinson's daughter said, “We felt he was accurate; he got the intensity of my father. He really built on the importance of my dad’s character. He really felt the anguish and frustration.” Another movie that Boseman knocked out of the park was Get On Up, where he portrayed soul music icon James Brown. Brown's daughter, Dr. Yamma Brown, had this to say about Boseman’s method: “He came down to my dad’s home in South Carolina. We went through old costumes; he tried on clothes and tried to embody him and did a lot of research. He worked with the choreographer five hours a day and then came back, even after he got off the set, to do even more work.”

The last thing anyone was thinking was that this young healthy man was fighting cancer while still acting in all these movies. He also helped out at St Jude Children's hospital in his free time. Boseman was a real inspiration to black people, and all people. Even up to the end, he put 110% of his energy into everything he did, making the people around him happy. He has a special place in all of us. Wakanda forever!

Chess Makes a Comeback

By JASON LIU and IFAZ HOWLADER

Interest in chess spiked over the quarantine, and millions of people opened new accounts on free chess websites such as Chess.com. We owe much of this renewed interest in the intellectual sport to Netflix’s release of the seven-episode drama The Queen’s Gambit, directed by Scott Frank and adapted from a 1983 novel by Walter Tevis.

Set during the Cold War era, The Queen’s Gambit is the story of female chess prodigy Beth Harmon and her journey to becoming the greatest player in the world amongst a male-dominated chess scene, while also struggling with personal addictions. Besides encouraging women and showing that anyone is capable of playing chess, the show creates a cool and interesting “chess world” with an attention to detail that is impeccable. The sets perfectly embody the vivid scenes and vibe of a chess tournament, and the matches are choreographed extremely well, through consultation with former world chess champion Garry Kasparov. Filled with excitement, intensity, heartfelt moments, and occasional humor, the series broke Netflix’s viewership record, with 62 million views in four weeks, and earned a 97% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Nick Barton, the director of business development at Chess.com said that since quarantine began in March, the site added over 12 million new members, including 3.2 million who joined shortly after the debut of The Queen’s Gambit in late October. Many of these new players are young girls inspired by the show. During quarantine, Twitch streamers participated in PogChamps, a Chess.com-run tournament. The beauty of chess is that it was built to be difficult, and the participants were mostly beginners, so the tournament was interesting to view since it displayed their learning processes. One silver lining of 2020 is that it has blessed chess, opened new understandings of the game, and offered an opportunity to celebrate complexity and curiosity.

Charli D’Amelio Hits Milestones, Faces Backlash

By ANI KUKE

Charli D’Amelio, a 16-year-old TikTok star, skyrocketed in followers from 16 million on January 6 of last year to 100 million on November 22, making her the first person on the platform to do so. D’Amelio gained popularity as the face of the “Renegade,” a trendy dance originally choreographed by Jalaiah Harmon. However, her ride to fame hit some speed bumps along the way. On November 16, a viral video of the D’Amelio family having dinner emerged, in which Charli and her sister appeared to act rudely toward their personal chef, and Charli also received criticism for wishing she could reach 100 million followers within a year of hitting 1 million. Her follower count quickly dipped from 99.5 to 98.4 million, and she allegedly received death threats. D’Amelio responded on November 19 through Instagram Live, breaking down in tears while explaining the situation as a misunderstanding, which brought back some sympathetic supporters.

D’Amelio’s domination of TikTok was a remarkable achievement. Unlike TikToker Noah Beck, who focuses mainly on sponsorships, D’Amelio takes pride in using her platform to also spread awareness about causes such as cyberbullying and Black Lives Matter. Her progressivism and activism make her an ideal role model for her younger audience. D’Amelio’s echoing of important matters through her soft voice has inspired others to fight along with her.

Yet, rather than being praised for her accomplishments, D’Amelio was nearly “canceled” for not thinking twice before making a harmless joke about her follower count and for some immaturity at a family dinner. To make matters worse, a brave and genuine response from D’Amelio, where she broadcast her vulnerability and accepted her accountability, was viewed by many as childish and weak. Unlike other influencers such as Youtuber Laura Lee, who faked tears for sympathy, D’Amelio remained authentic by staying true to her raw emotions. Through an admirable display of resilience, D’Amelio has persisted amidst the media’s unattainable standards for a teenager, and continues to post lighthearted dance videos and spread positivity.

‘The Last of Us II’ Finally Comes Out

By CYNTHIA WU

After seven long years of waiting, Naughty Dog finally released The Last of Us II, the sequel to their award-winning entry from 2013. The game, released on June 19, is set in a post-apocalyptic United States with the player playing in a third person view. The Last of Us II continues the story of Ellie, potentially the only human immune to the deadly fungus that has ravaged the earth, and her surrogate father, Joel, the main character of the first game. The main gameplay mechanics involve firearms, creating weapons, and stealth, along with the occasional bit of open world exploration.

[Warning: Spoilers Ahead!] Over a play time of around 25 hours, I became immersed in the game’s cruel and unforgiving world, experiencing the tragedy of losing loved ones and the drive to continue onwards. Near the beginning, I was introduced to Abby, a mysterious woman whose objective was unclear. After helping her avoid dangers, the player witnesses Abby’s true intentions as she violently murders Joel with a golf club while Ellie is unable to do anything but cry out to him. After Abby kills another one of Ellie’s friends, the story completely reverses, backtracking to the beginning and putting players in Abby’s perspective. This was very different from other games, as I began connecting with Abby and feeling sympathy for her, despite my bitter feelings in the beginning. The Last of Us II is full of twists and turns, pulling your heart in all directions, making it difficult to decipher right from wrong. The graphics also truly set a high standard for the new generation of action adventure games. Every scene has dynamic lighting and realistic reflections.

Though the game has an extremely memorable storyline, many of the main characters seem like one-dimensional filler. Jesse, one of Ellie’s friends, only has a few scenes, and his death is very quick and then never mentioned again. In addition, the gameplay is very similar to the first game, with only a few adjustments. There is nothing wrong with The Last of Us II‘s gameplay in general, but it becomes boring and repetitive near the end. After all the build up throughout the game, the ending feels unsatisfying, with no clear resolution, only a presentation of the message that revenge has consequences.

The first The Last of Us was so monumental that it altered the way people thought of games. Although The Last of Us II did not live up to the substantial precedents the first game left, overall it was still a remarkable game on its own.

The Midwood Argus is an open forum for student opinion. The views expressed in the paper should not be taken to represent those of the administration, faculty, or the student body as a whole. To submit a letter to the editor, click the button on our homepage.

The Argus 2020 Year in Review, Part 1