Monday, April 23, 2012

Culture Consumer's Code of Conduct

It's no secret that obsession surrounds this blog and its fantastically amazing contributors; it's right there in the title. So, I'm sure I'm not the only one who fights the urge to rip the face off of humans who feel the need to point out why they hate the objects of said obsession Here's the thing, I do not, by any means, expect the entire world to love the things that I love so very much. It would be boring and blah, blah, blah diversity. But there's a certain...insensitivity to having someone list the reasons they don't like the thing they know you love. This is getting convoluted; allow me to demonstrate.

John: Hey! You know that book you love?!

Max: Oh course! I do love that book!

John: Yeah! I read it! I had a problem with the nature of the characters, some of the plot, and the ending. What the hell was that?!

Max: Oh...I actually really loved all of those things.

John: Yeah, I mean they were okay, but I guess it didn't really move me. I did like it all, but I was definitely disappointed.

Max: I was really moved by it but, it doesn't have to move everybody.

John: The thing with the characters is...why do they always have...

And so on.

Now, John goes into this conversation knowing that Max loves the book he is about to critique.  That's crucial. It is very likely that Max would be down with discussing the faults of a book that he's read, but a book that he loves? I know this is something that I need to work through, but when someone wants to tell me all of the reasons they don't like the thing that I love, I want to rip their face off. Yeah, we are all entitled to our opionions, I get it. I like that about society! But I also take it personally. I love stories. I love books, television, and film because they are stories that make my brain buzz with everything from devestating pain to contentment and every possible combination of those feelings and all of the feelings in between. Basically, all of the emotions. I don't get all Julia Sugerbaker about everything I read or see, but when I do find one that completely surrounds me, I really, really love it. I have to find out everything about it.  That's part of why I am a contributing author here. So, that is why I want to rip John's face off.  I mean do I walk up to him and say, "Hey! You know that kid you love so much? Well, she is really irritating. I mean her verbal skills are so subpar. What's up with that?" No, to answer my own question, I do not do that. It would be rude. And that is really the entire point of all of the words before this. It's rude! I don't think everyone needs to walk around being polite and all...creepy all the time, but I'm down with tact and mutual respect. Until that happens, I will just wait and wait until John starts to tell me about something he loves, and then I will gleefully tell him that I hate it.

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