Per Google’s 2003 Year-End Zeitgeist:
1. britney spears
2. harry potter
3. matrix
4. shakira
5. david beckham
6. 50 cent
7. iraq
8. lord of the rings
9. kobe bryant
10. tour de france
The page says “zeitgeist,” a German-derived term, is “defined in English by Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate� Dictionary as “the general intellectual, moral, and cultural climate of an era.”
Based on these rankings, I wouldn’t rate this era’s intellectual climate as one of its strong points.