The film’s ending—a surprise cameo by the real Andy Lau—served as the ultimate "fan service," rewarding both the characters and the audience for their shared memories. Final Thoughts
Truly Lin wasn’t a hidden beauty or a genius; she was average. Her struggles with self-esteem and her idolization of pop stars felt deeply authentic to the teenage experience.
Perhaps the most significant shift is the collapse of a shared public reality. In 2015, we still largely trusted the same news sources. Now, we have epistemic bubbles. Depending on your feed, the same event looks heroic or catastrophic. The rise of populism globally—from Brexit (2016) to the election of Donald Trump (2016)—wasn’t just political. It was a symptom of a deeper fragmentation. Truth became tribal. The pandemic of 2020-2023 only intensified this: mask or no mask, vaccine or natural immunity, lockdown or liberty—each became a shibboleth for belonging.
And in film, the battle lines were drawn: Mad Max: Fury Road was the critics' darling—a fever dream of practical effects and feminist action. Meanwhile, Star Wars: The Force Awakens broke every box office record, reminding us that nostalgia was the only reliable currency left in Hollywood. our times 2015
These are our times. Exhausting. Brilliant. Terrifying. Unprecedented. And we are just getting started.
The same year, the United States and Cuba re-established diplomatic relations, marking a new era in their relations after decades of tension. This historic move was seen as a significant shift in U.S. foreign policy, as the two nations began to normalize ties and re-engage in trade and travel.
In music, 2015 was the year of the mixtape finale. Drake released If You're Reading This It's Too Late , a dark, brooding masterpiece that defined the "rap-sung" genre. Adele returned with 25 , and "Hello" became the first song since "Uptown Funk!" to feel truly inescapable. The Weeknd’s Beauty Behind the Madness brought a haunted, synth-wave R&B to the mall parking lots of America. The film’s ending—a surprise cameo by the real
Our Times 2015: The Last Analog Year of the Digital Age
If you had to draw a line in the sand for when the 21st century truly began to feel like a distinct, chaotic era, 2015 is a strong candidate. Before that, we were still lingering in the transition from analog to digital. After 2015, the world shifted into overdrive. These are our times: an age of breathtaking acceleration and deep, pervasive anxiety.
2015 was the bridge. On one side was the scrappy, wild-west internet of the early 2010s. On the other side is the curated, anxious, algorithmic hellscape (and heaven) of today. Perhaps the most significant shift is the collapse
In 2015, the world witnessed a series of monumental events that altered the global landscape. One of the most significant was the European migrant crisis, which saw over a million refugees fleeing war-torn countries like Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan. The crisis put a strain on European countries, highlighting issues of immigration, national identity, and humanitarian responsibility.
Why write about "Our Times 2015" ten years later? Because 2015 was the last year before the rupture. It was the last full year you could live without hearing about "Russian bots." It was the last year Apple still put a headphone jack in the iPhone. It was the last time you could walk down the street and see people looking at the street instead of at a screen, watching a TikTok dance.