Ever since The Emoji Movie was released in early 2017, the general consensus has been that it’s… well, rubbish. This was officially confirmed by the 2018 Razzies back in March, during which The Emoji Movie was awarded a total of four awards, including Worst Picture. Past winners of this award include Catwoman (2004), Jack & Jill (2011) and M. Night Shyamalan’s The Last Airbender (2010).
In addition to Worst Picture, The Emoji Movie received Worst Screenplay, Worst Screen Combo and director Tony Leondis received Worst Director. The only movie that came close to receiving as many awards was Fifty Shades Darker, which took two trophies home for Worst Sequel and Worst Supporting Actress (Kim Basinger). Weirdly enough, neither of these movies was nominated at the Oscars that followed the Razzies last month.
Of course, emoji are more than just the odd focus of a 2017 cash grab that will hopefully be forgotten over time. They make up the first language created in and for the digital world, used to add emotional nuance to texts, social media updates and other online languages. Created by the Japanese in the late ’90s, emoji have become a staple in the way human beings communicate with each other.
Like every other language in existence, emoji has had to evolve as the years pass. While in the beginning there were just a few icons known as emoticons in the emoji lexicon to represent emotions, intent and objects, now there are thousands of emoji to represent everything and everyone. Now, language barriers aren’t as much of a problem when we communicate with others around the world, as everyone can understand emoji regardless of their native tongue.
With universal celebration, it’s no surprise that emoji swiftly began to inspire other businesses and industries, becoming a part of popular culture in a matter of years. These days it’s hard to go outside or online without seeing something covered in emoji.
Clothing, home decor, luggage; you name it, we bet we can find anything with an emoji on it. In fact, one of the most popular pieces of emoji merchandise is simply cushions that look like the varying faces we’ve come to know and love.
The love for emoji goes far past material objects, though. Even before The Emoji Movie was released, the entertainment industry was embracing emoji.
There’s a musical named Emojiland that premiered at Rockwell Table & Stage in May 2016, while many television shows including Doctor Who have created emoji-centric episodes.
There are even games including emoji-themed online slots, which can be found at numerous online casino platforms such as Casino Euro, alongside other pop culture staples-turned-slots. It’s even rumoured that leading iGaming developer NetEnt will soon be releasing an official emoji slot for fans of online casinos.
Needless to say, emoji are far more than the protagonists of a Razzie-winning movie. They allow us to communicate with more than language, which comes with many barriers and hindrances. Plus with each passing year we can expect even more emoji to exist, so we can’t imagine them going away anytime soon.
