Some Weirdos in my Life

[theFallenGod]

Ok, this one may be a little long so bear with me it is serious....

I recently made a HUGE change in my life.. having moved from the armpit of hell (florida) to Toronto... after this move I began sort of an introspection of my life over the past 29 years... and I came to some startling realizations... (such as my last thread about me not feeling comfortable in the gay community)... So here I am again with a new realization and have decided to post here since I got some excellent feedback from you guys on my last issue... ( because of the awesome diversity in this forum the feedback tends to bring about all sides of a conundrum... which I appreciate)

Now as I took stock of my friends ( those who have supported my move and those who I thought were friends and now ignore me that I am 1200 miles away) I seemed to notice a certain tread in some of my friends...

I have quite a few friends who seem to be, for lack of a better word, anti-pop...

what I mean by this is that quite a few of them seem to be under this delusion that if something is liked by more than say 10 people it has to be crap.... most often without giving it a second thought or giving it a chance...

For instance.. my current roommate (which is an issue in and of itself which I will not get into here....yet) is having an issue with the fact that Borat seems to be intensly popular among our fellow canucks... only knowing his antics as "Ali G" my roommate has come to the ineffable conclusion that he sucks.... without even giving his movie a chance... I can't say I blame him considerring that Ali G was kinda boring and we all saw what happened with that movie... however this movie tends to be recieving good marks and being well recieved... he won't give it a chance...

I also know people who only listen to specific music, read specific authors, watch specific movies because no one has ever heard of them ( most of the time with good reason being talentless hacks) but resent anything remotely mainstream.....

I have an opinion on this as being against the mainstream sort of elevates them above the rest of the herd but thats just my opinion....

Anyway I am wondering if any of you have ever encountered anything like this before and your thoughts on the matter

 

[deerborne]

You will eventually come to the conclusion that unless you are profiting from mainstream culture then none of it truly matters in the big picture. It is always changing and is always fleeting and other people’s opinions only serve those who express them.

Oh fuck, how is that for back-handed philosophy?

 

[argomac]

I'm familiar with the delibrate non-conformist behaviour I think you're describing. It's not necessarily that they dislike the product, but resent being part of the mainstream audience. You never know, though, they could secretly be plowing through the Harry Potters in the privacy of their own homes!
What I think you should ask yourself, is whether or not it affects your friendship. If you really really wanted to see Borat for example (I agree with your friend, however: I can't imagine why you would) would your friend go and see it with you, putting his taste aside, because he is you friend?

 

[Soilwork]

pop culture today sucks.

That Borat movie is a hit because it's yet another movie that celebrates mediocrity... we get to laugh at the stupid backwards people and the stupid lame-os.

It's no different than any Will Farrell movie.

not my thing... but hey.. people like to feel superior to something, so they go see movies about stupid losers.

 

[theFallenGod]

hmmm I dont think your understanding my post...this isn't about Borat that was merely an example of such... this is more about people who's sole purpose in life is to rebel against what is currently popular for no other reason than the fact that its popular....

 

[Soilwork]

hmmm I dont think your understanding my post...this isn't about Borat that was merely an example of such... this is more about people who's sole purpose in life is to rebel against what is currently popular for no other reason than the fact that its popular....

ah yes.

It's called "trying too hard to be a non-conformist".

it's how I spent my teen years.

I still find myself doing it from time to time.

 

[theFallenGod]

aka Garbages "Stupid Girl" Syndrome

 

[NickCole]

hmmm I dont think your understanding my post...this isn't about Borat that was merely an example of such... this is more about people who's sole purpose in life is to rebel against what is currently popular for no other reason than the fact that its popular....

If it's their sole purpose in life that's kind of obsessive, but rebelling against pop culture seems to me a sign of strong character, a healthy sense of self.

It doesn't take any imagination or creativity or thought to go along with all the other sheep, buy the books or CDs everybody is buying, go the movie that's this week's hit, wear the same clothes in the same style that everybody else is wearing.

I think people who find their own way, even those who aggressively reject what's popular simply because it's popular, are generally more interesting than people who trot along with the herd. Don't you get tired of hearing the same shit from person after person after person? I love hearing something original.

I think the instinct of nonconformity is admirable in today's world where we're goaded into conforming everything from job to house to car to clothes to entertainment to our own looks.

 

[theFallenGod]

while i agree that non conformity is to be applauded... my roommate is just out of hand... it honestly seems like if there was any word or even a little hype he has to hate it with no thought as to whether its good or not... like the borat movie for one example... ther other one off the top of my head is Brokeback Mountain... everyone in the chat rooms was discussing this movie... he KNEW he was going to hate it and sure enough with a huge chip on his shoulder we went to see it... he walked out thinking it was the worst movie ever made...(IMO I really didnt care for it either BUT it wasnt the story... I thought the story was really good and the acting oscar worthy I just think that Ang Lee is a pretty boring director) now I can understand not liking it for that reason or for thinking the acting was horrible hell everyone has an opinion but to hate it primarily because it is liked by so many people is just plain outlandish...

 

[blackbeltninja]

I personally only like the idea of non-conformity in someone who is genuinely a non-conformist.

Hating something and refusing to experience it solely because x many other people like it is as narrow-minded as any one person could possibly be. And it's as mindless as any person merely following the herd, since you're just mindlessly following the other herd. What do these people do when something they do like becomes popular?

Oh yes - I forgot. They pull the old "they've sold out and gone commercial" bullshit.

Please, spare me.

-d-

 

[deerborne]

Could be that he has control issues and this is how he reacts to things he does not instigate or influence.

Could be that the more popular something is the more it represents conformity

Could be that he finds it easier to denigrate something then create something himself.

Could be that he has issues with esteem or is even a bit of a “Bully”?

Could be that I’m full of crap…Never the less, time’s up get off my couch, I have another appointment waiting.

 

[Swellegant]

"If there is anything the nonconformist hates worse than a conformist, it's another nonconformist who doesn't conform to the prevailing standard of nonconformity." ~ Bill Vaughan

Personally I have no time for reactionary people who judge things based on what other people think... a person who rejects something out of hand just because other people like it is just as deluded and ovine as the person who likes something just because other people like it. Either way, you're basing your actions and preferences on other people's beliefs, and either way you are part of the crowd.

Unfortunately, the Uninformed Nonconformist is a popular pose among the young. I remember toying with the pose myself in my late teens. And I harangued a young friend of mine out of the pose a few years ago when he finally got my goat by disapproving of Coldstone Creamery even though he'd never had their ice-cream. We were on a long drive and he couldn't get away from me, and we had a real hootenanny of an argument about it.

He told me that I was just as prejudiced about things, and I readily admitted that I had an automatic reaction to things being organic or vegetarian, but that my reaction was based on my own experience of badly-prepared "organic" food and logic-challenged "vegetarians" whose ethical objection to eating meat was largely based on Disney movies... so that my reactions, though just as reactionary and wrongheaded, at least were based in personal experience.

And though I tended to avoid organic and vegetarian food, I wouldn't refuse it if someone offered me some because that's rude. I've had some lovely vegan meals that were prepared with the taste-buds in mind, though the predominant theme I have experienced was mortification of the mouth; and there's certainly nothing wrong with organic produce, but I don't care enough about it to pay extra.

So anyway, getting back to the topic at hand, the problem with your friend is a lack of experience. Just remind him that Contempt Prior To Investigation is the hallmark of the atrophied mind: if you don't know what you're sneering at, you're just as conformist as everybody else who sneers at the thing.

PS: I have no intention of seeing Borat, either. But not because people like it, but because it doesn't look like my cup of tea. Nobody pretty involved... when I plunk down my cash, I want something pretty to look at.

 

[theFallenGod]

ahh the post I had been waiting for....

the voice of the clear headed and reasonable....

as always Robert~Marlene your post is the most thought inducing one and so profound.... Thank you

and thank you to all the others who posted on this... it is good food for thought in what direction my life is going...

your advice and wisdom is a comfort and a guidepost for my further travels down the road of enlightenment....

thanks everyone..

 

[Michael Luc]

I think another name for these so-called weirdos is "snobs."