Renegades: The Pop Culture Disruptors Of 2023
Taylor Swift owned pop music in 2023, but an unknown crooner named Oliver Anthony stole her thunder for a few magical weeks.
Barbie rocked the box office while an indie film that sat on a shelf for five years, Sound of Freedom, out-grossed some of Hollywoods biggest film franchises.
See a pattern? Theres more, too. And what began in 2023 might get even hotter in 2024.
This was the year of the pop culture disruptors.
Anthonys Rich Men North of Richmond broke through the media clutter without the benefit of a record label, name recognition, or even a band. Social media paved part of the way, along with Right-leaning influencers who promoted Anthonys battle cry against the elites.
It was the closest thing to an overnight sensation weve seen in music circles, and Anthony responded by eschewing politics and refusing to sign with the first or second label that approached him.
They needed him more than he needed them.
Screenshot: @RadioWV YouTube Channel
He wasnt the only singer to rock the music industry on his own terms. Rapper Tom MacDonald continued to rack up music sales by eschewing labels and mainstream radio airplay. Songs like Your America and American Flags skewered the anti-patriotic Left as well as anyone whod rather burn down their town than help build it back up.
The media all but ignored his successes, but that didnt matter. His songs rocketed up the iTunes charts and drew millions of views on YouTube without digital press clippings.
The story behind Sound of Freedom could make a heckuva movie. The Disney project sat unclaimed for several years before Angel Studios bought the rights from the Mouse House. The company behind Dry Bar Comedy and The Chosen decided to expand from TV to theatrical titles, and it felt Freedoms heroic saga would be a snug fit with its adherents.
Sound of Freedom | Angel Studios
The studios second official film release earned $184 million stateside ($247 million worldwide), surpassing Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, Fast X, Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning Part 1 and The Flash.
How? Angel Studios embraced a pay if forward ticket-buying model, along with a keen sense of what its fan base craves in a story.
Total disruption from a studio with just two film titles to its credit.
Even more impressive? Major media outlets savaged Sound of Freedom in cartoonish fashion , but the sour press only made the project feel more rebellious and necessary. Old-school word of mouth did the rest.
And lets not forget the ultimate disruptor.
The Daily Wires What Is a Woman? did a birthday victory lap on Elon Musks X platform, formerly known as Twitter. Musk personally retweeted the documentary link to his 140 million followers. The result? Millions of social media users sampled the groundbreaking documentary one year after its DailyWire+ debut.
DailyWire+.
X also allowed former Fox News superstar Tucker Carlson and sitcom queen Roseanne Barr a chance to be heard following their shocking dismissals from Hollywood, Inc.
A host of other rebellious documentaries also shook up the system in more ways than one.
The Fall of Minneapolis told a shocking story few journalists would ever share. The documentary from Minnesota-based Alpha News shredded key narratives following the death of George Floyd in 2020 in calm, reasonable tones.
The film would be the toughest pitch possible on Netflix, Hulu, or other streaming giants. So Alpha News dropped it, free of charge, on Rumble. The film racked up north of 2 million views in under two weeks.
Dinesh DSouza is one of the most successful documentary filmmakers of the modern era. Yet he embraced a hybrid approach to sharing Police State with the public. The film earned a brief theatrical release, shifted swiftly to a virtual/online premiere and then transitioned once more to Rumble and Locals.com, two free speech platforms.
Comedians also leaned into the years disruptive spirit. More comedians skipped the mainstream entirely, preferring to release comedy specials on YouTube, Rumble, and even OnlyFansTV. The latter let veteran comic Whitney Cummings weigh in on trans issues without fear of being censored.
Comic Shane Gillis enjoyed his biggest year to date, long after NBCs Saturday Night Live hired, and swiftly canned him for a strained comedy routine aimed at Asian-Americans.
Even mainstream media outlets admitted Gillis emerged bigger than ever following the SNL debacle, proving comedians no longer need the sketch comedy showcase to break out in a big way.
Since getting fired from Saturday Night Live in 2019 after videos surfaced of him using Asian and gay slurs on a podcast, Gillis has built perhaps one of the fastest growing comedy careers in America He regularly sells out theaters. Dont be surprised if he becomes an arena act.
No one on the current SNL roster comes close.
Mike Coppola/Getty Images for Bob Woodruff Foundation
Celebrated comic Louis CK lost his Hollywood career after he admitted in 2017 to exposing himself to multiple women. Unbowed, CK took a professional break and came back without any of the industrys support systems to prop him up.
In January, he played to a sold-out Madison Square Garden, all based on working outside the usual gatekeepers and speaking directly to fans willing to look past his deplorable behavior.
We might look back at 2023 and see more than some isolated cases of pop culture rebellion. It might be the dawn of a content revolution.
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Christian Toto is an award-winning journalist, movie critic and editor ofHollywoodInToto.com. He previously served as associate editor with Breitbart News Big Hollywood. Follow him at@HollywoodInToto.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
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