I write this article in a dusty lecture hall to Leonard Cohen playing in the background (his movie, if you were wondering, as my professor - and the rest of Montréal honestly- is abit of an enthusiast). In his drawling voice, he imparts Cohen-isms to wide-eyed impressionable journalists. He tells a microphone that just because his music is popular, it doesn't necessarily mean that it's good; it just means that it's popular. A room full of university students murmur in agreement and my heart sighs sadly. Cohen was speaking against institutions at a time where he was fully aware that his actions could mean his death that very same day. Meanwhile, today people are quick to think badly of popular culture and those who sincerely enjoy it. It is as if people fear difference in opinion from their peers to the same extent they would fear a firing squad. We are quickly assumed as the equivalent of mindless drones to household names and alums of pop culture; if Harry Styles tweets 'jump' it's assumed we, as a loyal fanbase, would tweet 'how high?' back.
(Ah yes, the unthinkable we - you're reading an article written by a happy and conscious consumer. Before you roll your eyes at the fact that I follow Harry Styles, and the rest of One Direction, on Twitter, I'll have you know that I - and many others - would respond to his hypothetical request for us to jump with a healthy 'lol why?')
Perhaps it is this that I find most toxic; the assumption that fans are the farthest one can get from a productive member of society who is able to think and examine critically. This is especially most apparent with those who particularly enjoy the more ~mainstream~ parts of pop culture. You’re more likely to get grief over listening to Taylor Swift than you are listening to Florence + the Machine. What this does is it invalidates the potential and the opinions of a large group of youth; particularly those who access mainstream media because it is most convenient for them. Opinions, and eventually even their very presence, is swept under the all-encompassing rug of a ‘mainstream fan.’ This encourages toxicity within the growing youth of our societies (not to mention the whole enforcing power dynamics thing but I digress).
What I’m getting at is this: do not underestimate or overestimate the behaviour, opinions, and personalities of fans who openly enjoy mainstream media. This is particularly because with the rise of a variety of mediums through which media can be consumed, there is also a rise in mediums through which youths can express themselves. In this day and age, it is easier to share information more than ever before. It is easier to be educated today. In fact, it has become increasingly difficult to turn a blind eye. We are trained now more than ever to be critical, and to examine information to gauge its harmfulness.
More often than not, this is what we do with our faves. Communities are built around the criticisms (and praising, when it is due) of popular culture and our faves that thrive within it. Therefore, because these communities are generally built on open social media platforms, our faves are also able to participate in the discussion. It is through the active listening of healthy criticism of their product or their behaviour and the apparent modifications they make that our faves can prove themselves as Real People Who Also Deserve The Recognition I Am Afforded. As we learn to make ourselves better and actively collaborate to create safe and healthy communities, we are doing the same for our faves who read our criticisms. We are encouraging them to better themselves while guaranteeing practically unwavering support.
Crank up the radio and mouth along to the new Bruno Mars. Just don’t forget to keep wanting to be better. Consume critically, y’all.
I think it’s now pretty evident to me that Google really is not God.
Now, I can almost hear you gasping at thatstatement, but the truth is, I still rely on search engines to answer almost all of my burning questions on a day-to-day basis. The internet is really an introvert’s best friend because it teaches you so much more about the things you are ever-so-curious about (check!) without leaving the comfort of your preferred surroundings (double check!), basically giving you the answers that you need within a short amount of time in the most efficient way.
And yet, there still isn’t any better guidance than the human kind.
Recently, my mother and I were sitting down in our shop, having our regular groceries-to-buy discussion, when a gentleman walks in and asks us for help. We nodded as he walked over to the empty chair next to me and sat down, panting (must’ve been the three flights of stairs he just climbed, I figured).
When he finally caught his breath, he starting narrating his story about how he had been searching high and low for “Aladdin” shoes. For those of you who are unfamiliar, these are the kind of shoes typically worn by Indian men to match their Indian outfits. He needed it to go along his Indian suit for a friend’s “Bollywood” themed wedding party that night itself. My mother told him to check out a few shops here and there, which he had apparently already checked to no avail. We made a few phone calls to our handful of Indian friends and family members in Brunei but nobody could help.
“I can’t even find anything on Google!” he finally exclaimed.
We shrugged and told him we were sorry and wished we could be of more assistance. Just as he was getting up to leave, he mentioned how his wife was also panicking at home because she bought a saree for the party but had no clue how to drape it.
“Bring your wife over before the party, I’ll tie it for her,” my mum offered.
True enough, he came back with his wife later that evening and 68 year-old mother got to work with me assisting her on the delicate part of the job, i.e. opening safety pins. The missus and I got to talking and once again she mentioned how spending hours of Youtube watching tutorials couldn’t do the trick of her learning how to wear a saree. At that moment, I realised how sometimes it’s really the skills people have that do wonders. In the end, both husband and wife were extremely grateful and looked “like Shah Rukh Khan and Kareena Kapoor”, according to my mother. They even took my number down and sent us photos from the party.
This is just one of the many instances that keep reiterating my point. I remember speaking to a friend about how the Internet was unable to give me the knowledge I needed in the area of religious studies. My friend’s reply, “Google isn’t going to help. A trip to India might!”
Long story short, these lessons are valuable reminders of the importance of the world and the people outside of the Internet. Unplug once in a while to meet and greet random citizens or strangers – you’re definitely going to learn something new, and often for free, or in my case, something worth writing an article about.
a global computer network providing a variety of information and communication facilities, consisting of interconnected networks using standardized communication protocols.
