Time Announces Best and Worst 2001

Who was best or the worst this year?

The Time magazine announced the best and worst 2001 throughout 7 areas such as person, cinema, design, sports, book, music and scandal.

The 9.11 terrorist attacks, which would be recorded as the most terrible incident in the U.S. history, seemed to have affected the process of selection. Former New York City mayor Rudolf Giuliani was selected as a person of the year, and an Iranian movie `Kandahar` based on the actual story of Afghan women was picked as the best cinema, ahead of innumerable Hollywood blockbusters.

In `best 10` person of the year, 5 women were included to illustrate the woman`s power in the world. Norwegian Crown Princess Mette-Marit, who had been sentenced to community service for possessing narcotics and married the prince as an unmarried mother, was ranked in the third place, and Japanese Crown Princess Masako who gave birth to a princess on 1st took the sixth place.

However, contrary to the expectation, Osama bin Laden was not included in any category.

▼ Person of the year = Former New York city mayor Rudolf Giuliani was engraved as strong and humanitarian leader in the hearts of the New Yorkers who were thrown into despair by 9.11 terrorist attacks.

▼ Best Cinema = `Kandahar` represented a tale of an Afghan woman crossing the desert incognito to find her sister in a visual and emotional magnificence.

▼ Worst Cinema = `Tomb Raider`, an action movie starring Angelina Jolie was selected as a never-see-again movie for Americans fed up with violence.

▼ Best Music = `Is This It?` is an album by `Strokes` comprised of 5 male singers, which evoke in us the nostalgia of the 1970s.

▼ Worst Music = `Invincible`. It was supposed to be the new, relevant M.J., but Invincible arrived with the same shots at the paparazzi, cheesy rap cameos and creepy children`s choirs in the background that marked his decline.

▼ Best Business = `Revival of World Stock Market`. As the U.S.`s Dow Jones, London`s FTSE, and Tokyo`s Nikei indexes recovered their normal state from the bottom line since the 9.11 terrorist attacks, they were selected as `best comeback` cases.

▼ Worst Business = `Bankruptcy of Enron Co.`. The bankruptcy of the U.S.`s biggest energy company revealed the shadow of the U.S.`s business management and accounting system, and took away jobs of about 4,000 workers.

▼ Worst Scandal = `Crash of the U.S. Navy Greenville and the Japanese fishing boat`. The Greenville bumped a fishing boat killing 9 Japanese fishers around Hawaii in February.

▼ Best Design = `Milwaukee Museum of Art`. Diagonal spine like a bird on an ascending flight path evokes exclamation.

▼ Worst Design = `NYPD and FDNY Imitation Logos`. After Sept. 11, hats, T shirts and jackets bearing the logo of the New York City police or fire departments were worn everywhere as a show of support. But these logos were not licensed.

Jung-Ahn Kim credo@donga.com