The 1990s
10 HYPES — 1997
10 hypes that took over America in 1997.
1997 felt like the decade hitting its stride. A sinking ship became a phenomenon, a British girl group taught America to say "girl power," and a handful of beans in a tag could start a fight at the mall.
#10
tech
DVD Comes Home
The first DVD players reached U.S. stores in 1997. Most living rooms were still VHS, but the idea that movies could look that sharp — and skip that fast — started the living-room argument that would end the videotape.
1997#9
movies
Austin Powers
Mike Myers turned a swinging-'60s spoof into a catchphrase factory. Yeah, baby — the hair, the glasses, and a comedy that made kitsch feel current again.
1997#8
tv
South Park Debuts
Comedy Central's little cutouts arrived in August and immediately sounded like something you were not supposed to watch. That was the point. Kids found it. Parents found out.
1997#7
tv
Teletubbies Hit the U.S.
Four brightly colored creatures from a British kids' show landed on American PBS and then on every merch rack that would have them. Toddlers were hooked. Everyone else had an opinion.
1997#6
music
Hanson and MMMBop
Three brothers from Tulsa turned a nonsense chorus into a national earworm. You did not have to like it. You just had to survive it.
1997#5
movies
Men in Black
Will Smith in black, Tommy Lee Jones unamused, and a summer that made sunglasses and a neuralyzer feel like required equipment. The soundtrack did the rest.
1997#4
toys
Tamagotchi
A keychain pet that died if you ignored it. Schools banned them. Kids smuggled them. America discovered that guilt could be a gameplay loop.
- Bandai's virtual pets were already a Japanese smash; 1997 is when U.S. kids made them a classroom crisis.
1997#3
music
Spice Girls
Wannabe had already cracked the charts. 1997 is when Spice mania went full merch — dolls, movies on the horizon, and five nicknames every kid could recite.
1997#2
toys
Beanie Babies
Ty's small stuffed animals were treated like a stock market. Tags stayed on. Retired designs sparked rumors. People really did believe a plush toy was a college fund.
1997#1
movies
Titanic
James Cameron's shipwreck romance opened in December and did not behave like a normal movie. People went back. And back. The iceberg, the door, the song — 1997 ended with America living on that deck.
- Titanic became the highest-grossing film ever at the time and kept playing like a weekly appointment.
1997