Day Six: Likes and Dislikes

I like what I like, regardless of what others say.

This one took a long time for me to come to. When I was in high school, I had a lot of friends who would look down on people because of what they liked or didn’t like. I actually hid the fact that I was on Student Council and Prom Committee for two years because I was so worried about what they would think. It wasn’t so much as anything overt, but I would hear a lot of “God, that band is lame” or “Why do you want to see that movie? It’s stupid.” I don’t think they meant to make me insecure, but it did. What people don’t realize is that we are taught very young to pick favorite things and to make those things a part of ourselves.

 This goes equally for those things which we don’t like. People are always surprised when I tell them I’m not a fan of JRR Tolkien. Everyone likes Lord of the Rings, so why wouldn’t I?

“You’re an English major, aren’t you supposed to like good books?”

When someone said this to me, I felt like punching them. They made me feel as though my intelligence was somehow lacking because I didn’t enjoy a certain book.  And then the other day someone very close to me made this comment: “Anyone who likes Twilight is retarded.”

Word for word.

First off, we won’t even go into the fact that they shouldn’t have used the word retarded in a derogatory manner. Secondly, I like Twilight. I’m aware of the fact that is subpar literature and the story line has a couple plot holes so large you could drive not one but several semis through it. I’m aware that the movies receive more hate than they deserve and the fans don’t help themselves with their odd portrayal of their obsessions.

But I like Twilight because it’s an easy read.

I spent most of my college career reading books about academic standards and ancient poetry and obscure Russian literature. Sometimes it’s really nice to read something that my brain doesn’t have to work overtime to digest.

Aside from Twilight, I also like Justin Bieber. I like One Direction and The Jonas Brothers. I love Salena Gomez and Taylor Swift too. I get a lot of grief from my friends and sometimes my family because of the books, movies, music and activities that I enjoy. People don’t do it on purpose, but I’m telling you now that I have no desire to hear about the things that you don’t like. Tell me about the things you do like, give me a chance to tell you why I think Train’s new CD is genius.

Sometimes we say things without thinking about who is listening, even if we know who that person is. Like I said, I hid a lot of my activities from my friends for several years because I was scared of being mocked for them. And every time they slammed StuCo for their spirit week ideas, they weren’t aware that they were slamming me.

 And just in case you think I’m the only one who has this problem, check out this article here where Taylor Swift talks about being insecure about her newest album because an old boyfriend made her feel bad for liking and performing music that was popular.

 Challenge to my Readers:

Before you knock something, think hard about what you might be saying. The next time you have the urge to say, oh, Twihards are retarded, try saying something more constructive, like: Twilight isn’t my thing.

Instead of talking constantly about things that you hate, talk about what you love and what makes you happy. If someone else is made happy by something you don’t like, don’t comment, just move on. You have no right to disrespect their happiness.