My Opinions Are Mine

I was thinking the other day about how I routinely mock movie trailers that I think look stupid, rip apart television shows that I find sexist or just plain bad, and how those posts sometimes attract trolls.

The trolls amuse me so much because they don’t see the inherent irony in posting rants on my blog about how I “take things too seriously” or need to “lighten up.” They think I’m the one taking things too seriously when they are just plain hurt, hurt, that I dislike things that they enjoy.

But when I reread that last post I wrote about the troll droppings, I wondered if people other than trolls are offended by what I write. I wonder if people read a post where I tear into Game of Thrones and think, “Damn, I feel stupid. I liked that episode.”

Now, I’m not vain enough to think that I’m so powerful that I SHAME THE WORLD into sharing my opinions or second-guessing their own, but on the off chance that I have made people think that I doubt their intelligence by enjoying something I don’t, trust me – that is not my intent.

My opinions are mine. By sharing my ideas, I hope to provoke thought, discussion, and reconsideration, because I think we could all stand to examine our opinions and why we hold them. That doesn’t mean I negatively judge people who disagree with me.

I think The Help has racist elements to it. I do not think this means that people who enjoy The Help are racist. If I did, I would be a big stinking hypocrite because Gone With the Wind is one of my favorite movies. That movie is twice as racist as The Help. I love it anyway because of the cinematography, costumes, score, and Vivien Leigh giving one of the best performances I’ve ever seen on film. That doesn’t mean I ignore its blatant racism or refuse to acknowledge it. I just love the film in spite of those things.

Liking art that has problematic elements doesn’t make you a bad person. I just think it’s important that we acknowledge those problematic elements rather than ignoring them.

There’s also a little thing called intersectionality that I think about when analyzing the art I enjoy. A text can be awesome in one respect and problematic in another. I think Glee‘s focus on teen LGBT issues is wonderful, but the show is made of major FAIL when it comes to its representation of female characters. The Vampire Diaries has some of the strongest female characters I’ve seen on TV, but I don’t like the fact that being a black person not named Bonnie in Mystic Falls is equivalent to walking around with a target on your back. Game of Thrones has wonderful female characters but they could rename the program Game of Boobs and Rape and no one would blink an eye.

Disagreeing with me won’t earn you my disrespect. Writing trollish comments on my blog and acting SUPER HURT that I don’t like something you like, as though criticizing a television show or film is equivalent to kicking your puppy, will earn you my eternal disdain, though I will be grateful to you for giving me a good laugh.

For those of you who aren’t trolls, though, and just read my blog regularly or from time to time – I don’t think any less of you if you like something I don’t. That’s not how I roll. We all have different reasons for liking things that we like. Sometimes I will hate a story that I can objectively tell is well-written and just not my cup of tea, and sometimes I will enjoy things that I know are bad but something about it just speaks to me on a personal level.

I judge the text. I don’t judge your reaction to the text.

People, I own the Spice Girls Greatest Hits album. I am in no place to judge your taste.