21 pop culture moments from 2018 we’re celebrating

PARIS, FRANCE – NOVEMBER 08: Ezra Miller attends “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes Of Grindelwald” World Premiere at UGC Cine Cite Bercy on November 8, 2018 in Paris, France. (Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)

Ezra Miller’s fashion

In nearly all respects, the Fantastic Beasts franchise is a bust. The installments work neither as individual entities nor as parts of an ongoing story. By both heaping on extensive new mythology and actively screwing with old mythology, they appeal to neither casual viewers nor avid Harry Potter fans. Sure, they’ve made Warner Bros. a decent amount of cash; as someone who paid to see all three (!) Hobbit films in theaters, I understand the misguided sense of loyalty that love can spawn. But at what cost?

Ultimately, the only thing that’s prevented the franchise from being a total waste is Ezra Miller’s press tours. When promoting Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, the actor shamelessly flirted with Colin Farrell. (To be fair, who wouldn’t?) Then, when making the rounds for The Crimes of Grindelwald, he turned heads with his unorthodox fashion choices, both on the red carpet and during photoshoots.

Maybe posing for Playboy isn’t a revolutionary act of queerness, even though Miller has publicly identified as queer since 2012. Yet, with so many actors of his generation scrubbed clean by PR teams of their edges and personalities, Miller’s unapologetic eccentricity is a blast of fresh air. He can say something like, “I barely identify as human,” and it seems honest, even somehow deep, rather than affected. And, in contrast to, say, Shia LaBeouf, he has the charisma and thespian skills to back it up. The fact that the one-two punch of We Need to Talk About Kevin and The Perks of Being a Wallflower didn’t catapult him to stardom is a serious failing on Hollywood’s part. He gave a legitimately good performance in a Zack Snyder movie.

Still, if you’re going to be stuck in two dead-end franchises, you might as well do it in style.