Of all the sequels and franchise extensions in 2017, none were as ambitious as the reboot of the culture wars starring Donald J. Trump. He swept into office with the swagger of a one-man Justice League, bent on vanquishing the liberal-leaning entertainment industrial complex and its coastal elite base, one tweet at a time.



The phrase “culture war” first crashed into the national discourse in the late 1980s, as a catchall term for battles over values, ideals and national identity. The battlegrounds were college campuses, Hollywood, the bedroom — anywhere that moral relativism, secularism and the general “culture of depravity,” as dedicated warriors like Rush Limbaugh put it, held sway.

Today’s culture wars, like war itself, have moved beyond the old, clearly defined fields of contention and are just as likely to rage among old allies as traditional right-left antagonists.

Here’s a selective, not-so-nostalgic look back at some of the fiercest fights from a year when just about every cultural event and artifact became an arena for asking not just “Which side are you on?” but “Do you really have my back?”