It's been an unprecedented time in modern history – and yet, this year, we all started acting so... precedented. Historically, tumultuous times have brought about great inventions and, while the scientific community has excelled in creating vaccines at pace, the rest of us normal people simply turned into clichéd sheep, watching, well, Normal People.
Together we ran, baked, tuned into IGTVs, did TikTok challenges (pillow outfit, anyone?) and went full-on Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen meets Stacey Solomon, crafting and fixing up our homes – even if it was just Zoomscaping the one corner everyone could see.
At the same time, our Instagram Stories and TV-watching histories became almost identikit. And while, for many of us, clocking 5ks and baking banana bread ready for our Zoom quiz might have seemed a personal revolution of sorts, it was hardly revolutionary since we were all doing the same thing. 2020 was the year we all leaned into the cliché.
‘With 2020 being so traumatic, people are in a kind of “throwback” reality, where the’re revisiting clichés,’ says psychologist Dr Tracy Thomas. ‘People need things to be simpler at a time that’s intensely complicated and unstable. These things are soothing to the most emotionally sensitive people who feel completely overstimulated by all of these dramatic changes.’
The escapism, shared experience and conversational currency we get from the same TV shows we can understand. The 5ks are probably rooted in the time ‘one hour’s exercise’ was the only escape we had from our homes – and the sense of being trapped in those homes, away from those we love, accounts for everything from the Zoom calls to the interiors, crafting and gardening crazes.
But why the banana bread? Like, did we all just over-order in our first panicked online shop, thinking we’d max out on healthy lunches?
Counsellor Natasha Crowe suggests that banana bread is ‘fairly straight-forward to make and doesn’t seem too indulgent. It’s wholesome, nourishing and good for the soul; and that’s just what people need.’
OK, maybe she’s on to something there. Actually, that description kind of explains the whole Connell obsession as well...