Entertainment

20 Lessons Summer 2013 — and Miley Cyrus, 'Orange Is the New Black,' and More — Taught Us

It's the dog days of summer, and September has started sooner than we were prepared for. Back-to-school supplies are taking over Staples, sweaters are replacing crop tops at H&M, and pumpkins are now being sold at CVS. Seriously. Don't spend all your time in mourning, though; celebrate the season's biggest movies, TV shows, albums, and more with 20 lessons summer 2013 taught us: pop culture edition.

by Rachel Simon

It's the dog days of summer, and September has started sooner than we were prepared for. Back-to-school supplies are taking over Staples, sweaters are replacing crop tops at H&M, and pumpkins are now being sold at CVS. Seriously. Don't spend all your time in mourning, though; celebrate the season's biggest movies, TV shows, albums, and more with 20 lessons summer 2013 taught us: pop culture edition.

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1. Racism Will Get You Far in the Game, but Not in Life

CBS' reality series Big Brother — surrounding a group of houseguests who live together, isolated from the rest of the world and under 24/7 surveillance for three months — has faced its share of controversy over 15 seasons, but none have warranted as much attention and criticism as this year's racism scandals (yes, there was more than one). Several contestants unabashedly used derogatory language, with one houseguest, Aaryn, telling Asian contestants to "go make some rice" with disturbing ease. At first, CBS refused to air the footage, but after public outcry and a 27,000+ strong petition, the offensive remarks were aired. As the season enters its last month, the racist houseguests (sans Aaryn, who was finally evicted Thursday) are still in the competition, but have faced serious off-show repercussions for their actions. Aaryn, Amanda, and GinaMarie all lost their jobs, proving that while the major networks may have too much tolerance for discrimination, the outside world does not. Image: CBS

2. Maxi-Pads are Surprisingly Useful

The 13 episodes of Orange is the New Black taught us a lot of things about prison: Don't insult the chef, or you'll get a tampon in your breakfast sandwich; if you want to have sex, no one ever checks the utility closets or the chapel; don't tell your fiancé insulting stories about your fellow inmates, because there's a good chance they'll up on NPR. Most importantly, though, OITNB taught us that maxi-pads are a prison must-have, and not only for the reason you think. The sanitary napkins can be used as shower shoes, surgical masks, and even Christmas pageant headwear. Who knew? Image: Netflix

3. Taylor Swift is Just like You and Me

At the VMAs last weekend (more lessons to come from that, don't worry), we learned that Taylor Swift is not quite as innocent as she seems. The singer, apparently still bitter from breaking up with One Direction member Harry Styles, mouthed "shut the fuck up" when the band accepted an award onstage. Cursing and hating on an overrated boy band? Taylor, you're just like us. And speaking of One Direction...

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4. When You Let 12-Year-Olds Vote for Awards, You're Not Gonna Like the Results

When One Direction took home the award for "Best Song of the Summer" at the VMAs, the majority of people were far from pleased. The in-house audience booed, and viewers at home took to Twitter to display their shock over the wrongly titled "Best Song Ever" winning instead of more deserving songs like "Blurred Lines" or "Get Lucky." They shouldn't have been so surprised though — the VMAs are voted by teenagers. Did anyone really think the boy band of the moment wouldn't win?

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5. Sorry, Tara Reid: That Comeback isn't Happening

Poor Tara Reid. She got famous for American Pie and stayed in the spotlight with a recurring role on Scrubs, but since 2005, no one's paid any attention to her. And then came Sharknado, the terrible, awful, no-good made-for-TV movie that took over your Twitter feed for a couple of weeks in July. Unfortunately, Reid's starring role didn't do much to revive her career, instead reminding people that there was a reason she dropped to the D-list. Image: SyFy

6. Not Everything Johnny Depp Touches Turns to Gold

For awhile in Hollywood, it seemed like the presence of Johnny Depp in a movie, no matter how bad, was enough to make the film number one at the box office. This summer's The Lone Ranger, though, did disastrously with critics and moviegoers thanks to a too-long script and a racism controversy, proving that Depp's involvement doesn't always guarantee success. Image: Disney

7. Some Shows Really Are Perfect From Beginning to End

With four episodes left until the series finale, it seems like every Breaking Bad viewer has a theory about how it all ends. Most likely, none of us are even close to being right, because Vince Gilligan and co., have managed to surprise us every step of the way. Over six years, the show has received almost unanimous critical acclaim, picked up an armful of Emmys, and has become one of the most talked about TV series of the Internet age. No matter what happens in the finale, there's no doubt that our beloved Breaking Bad will go down in the history books. Image: AMC

8. Teens Deserve Good Movies, Too

Post-John Hughes, a large number of movies about teenagers have revolved around shopping-obsessed girls or fart joke-loving guys, with little room for characters who have more than one dimension. And then came The Spectacular Now, a little movie about teens falling in love. The film, directed by James Ponsoldt and starring up-and-comers Shailene Woodley and Miles Teller, is beautifully told and refreshingly realistic. Since its release in August, it's received major critical acclaim, even sparking talk of recognition come awards season — not bad for a movie about high school. Image: A24

9. "Blurred Lines" Will Never, Ever Leave Your Head

"Blurred Lines," Robin Thicke's ode to misogyny, may have sexist lyrics and a cringe-worthy music video, but there's no denying that it's really, really, addictingly catchy. You can try as hard as you want to get it out of your head, but you'll be humming "Blurred Lines" until at least October.

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10. Not Every Popular YA Book Needs to Be Made Into a Movie

The people behind the movie adaptation of The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones, the first book of Cassandra Clare's hugely popular YA series, must've had high hopes. They'd seen the success of other adaptations of teen-friendly series like The Hunger Games and Twilight, and probably imagined that The Mortal Instruments was on its way to the same type of fame. Unfortunately, the movie bombed upon release with critics and viewers, proving that not all YA book series need to hit the big screen. Image: Screen Gems

11. Even the Most Beloved Personalities Can't Always Recover from Scandal

In June, it was revealed that TV cooking personality Paula Deen had repeatedly used the n-word and engaged in racist behavior over the course of her career. She was hit with a million-dollar lawsuit brought by a former manager of one of her restaurants, and over the following weeks, as news leaked about the scandal and Deen's apologies were met with criticism, support for the chef dropped dramatically. In a matter of days, she was dropped by the Food Network and lost most of her endorsement deals. Last week, the lawsuit was dismissed, but no one seemed to care. No one seems ready to forgive Deen for her behavior anytime soon.

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12. 'Bridesmaids' Isn't the Only Good Female-Led Movie Ever Made

Yes, Bridesmaids is amazing, but judging by people's surprise this summer over the success of female-led movies like The Heat and The To-Do List , you'd think the Kristen Wiig comedy was the only good movie made by and starring women ever made. Thankfully, that's not the case. While there's still a long way to go before women find equal representation in the movies, this summer showed that progress is being made, at least in the indies: Blue Jasmine, The Lifeguard, Short Term 12, and Frances Ha all had three-dimensional female leads, a huge step for Hollywood. Image: 20th Century Fox

13. Everyone's Finally Tired of Justin Bieber

For a few months there, it seemed like you couldn't go anywhere without hearing something new about Justin Bieber, who spent the beginning of the summer partying and peeing his way out of our good graces. Recently, though, Bieber's dropped out of the spotlight, not even making an appearance at the VMAs, and we couldn't be more grateful. Let's hope the next time he makes the news, it's for releasing good music, not getting reprimanded by Bill Clinton.

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14. But the Kardashians Aren't Going Anywhere

Between Kim giving birth to North West and Lamar and Khloe's impending breakup, it looks like the Kardashian clan isn't going away anytime soon. Maybe next year?

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15. George R.R. Martin is an Evil, Evil Man

Fans of the Game of Thrones books already knew this a long time ago, but for those of us who just watch the show, it was only this summer that we discovered that author George R.R. Martin is a terrible human being. Okay, not really — but he did create "The Red Wedding," the most infamous scene in Thrones history. When the blood-soaked episode premiered in June, it shocked viewers so much that a video showing people's reactions as they watched the climatic scene unfold garnered 9 million views on Youtube and the laughs of Martin. Cruel. Image: HBO

16. Next Time a Former Child Star Has a Mental Breakdown, We Probably Shouldn't Laugh

It was all fun and games until Amanda Bynes got hospitalized. For months, the increasingly bizarre antics of the former Nickelodeon star, from creepy tweets to Drake to oddly-fitted wigs, captivated and entertained the public. Everyone made fun of the actress, laughing at her behavior and analyzing her constantly-active Twitter. Yet when Bynes was arrested and placed under a psychiatric hold for what appeared to be a serious mental condition, our amusement turned to guilt. Perhaps making fun of someone who was now-obviously having a breakdown wasn't our best moment. Thankfully, it looks like Bynes is improving, and so we can all issue a very-necessary apology to her soon enough.

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17. Keep An Eye Out for Michael B. Jordan

Before this summer, Michael B. Jordan was known only to fans of critically acclaimed but low-rated shows like The Wire, Friday Night Lights, and Parenthood. After the success of July's Fruitvale Station , though, the actor's now on his way to becoming a household name. Based on a true story, Fruitvale, about the events leading up to the 2009 murder of Bay Area resident Oscar Grant (Jordan), won unanimous praise and garnered Oscar talk for its leading actor. Not one to be typecast, Jordan will soon play the grandson of Apollo Creed in Ryan Coogler's Rocky spinoff Creed , and has expressed interest in taking on the role of the Human Torch in a Fantastic Four reboot. Whatever he chooses to do next, we know we'll be watching.

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18. Not Everything Gets Better With Time

We wanted to love the new season of Arrested Development, the beloved, canceled-too-soon comedy of the mid-2000s, but we just couldn't. The Netflix revival had moments of hilarity, but the majority of the season was underwhelming and left us feeling like we'd made a huge mistake. Image: Netflix

19. TV Won't Be the Same Without Cory Monteith, James Gandolfini, and Other Stars We Lost Too Soon

Summer 2013 saw the losses of Glee 's Cory Monteith, The Sopranos ' James Gandolfini, Law & Order 's Dennis Farina, That '70s Show 's Lisa Robin Kelly, and Rizzoli & Isles ' Lee Thompson Young. Their deaths were felt by fans across the world, and TV won't be the same without their unique talents.

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20. Miley Cyrus is Serious About Making 'Twerking' Happen

You didn't have to watch the VMAs to hear about Miley Cyrus' now-infamous dance — you only had to open the Internet to be bombarded by a thousand articles, blog posts, and GIF sets lamenting the loss of the singer's innocence. Her risqué performance earned the wrath of many viewers and the Parents' Television Council (no surprise there), but made it clear that Cyrus — and "twerking" — are here to stay.

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