VOICES: Why It’s Cool to Hate Popular Things

It’s OK to not like everything society tells you too. Hating is fine sometimes. (funkandjazz/Flickr)

Don’t be a dumb hater, do some research

Hating on something has always been a thing, but recently it’s be­come a trend. “Star Wars,” “Fortnite,” YouTube, the list goes on.

How many peo­ple today actually have a legitimate criti­cism for what they hate compared to some­one mindlessly bandwagoning? You won’t find accurate statistics on the subject, but you can tell when an individual is a sheep following the herd. Because of this, legiti­mate criticism doesn’t get taken seriously. But that’s not to say the other side is at fault.

Marvel Studios is white hot at the box office, and everyone is talking about them. Its films are beloved. But if you don’t like Marvel, you’re met scorn. If you say anything bad, if you don’t follow what’s cool right now, you’ll be isolated. There are two sides to any topic of taste: it’s either cool or dumb.

And that is why it’s so cool to hate, the feeling of having a different opin­ion from everyone else, than being challenged.

For me, I love when someone can change my opinion with an intelligent argument.. My friend Austin Weather­man, the former editor-in-chief of Or­ange Appeal, asked me what I thought about the video game “Fortnite.” I hate it because every­one talks about it.

Now that may seem like an odd ex­planation, but what I meant to say was how annoying it is to hear everyone talk about it. Annoyance is one the key elements to drive someone mad. Re­member Psy’s “Gangnam Style” or Yl-vis’ “What Does The Fox Say?” I still remember a student teacher in a math class at Southlake Middle School sing­ing “Gangnam Style” over and over.

The other key elements of hating: popularity and nostalgia. Before I go any further, some things in life worth hating. “Transformers” and “Twilight” are the best examples. These two have clear flaws that cannot be defended, especially the first “Transformers” film’s copy-and-paste plot, characters, and lazy writing.

As for “Twilight,” it obliterates everything within the vampire-wolf subgenres. Both these examples have something in common, exploiting source material.

Criticism can sometimes be labeled hate, which is different from criticism. When criticizing a topic you must offer
hate them. You will find, however, many fans use the prequel films for a comparison in their arguments. I will never forget what my English high school teacher said to me: If you use another piece to help better your argu­ment, you’re not a good writer. And as I watch and read all these reviews with that comparison, I can’t help but think my teacher was correct. For something so simple like a film, you can an­alyze the film itself and nitpick its flaws without having to bring up the prequels.

“Fortnite” was never this popu­lar, the video game was released in the summer of 2017, free to play, but nobody was playing it. At the time “Battleground” and “Over-watch” overshadowed “Fortnite” until recently, thanks to Drake’s pro­motion efforts. Now, the game is crazy popular, and everyone is playing. When the object – a film, TV series, manga series, video game – is overshadowed and only a few people are engaged, that it­self is cool. Having the object all to yourself, do you want it to be popular? So the concept of over­shadowing brings up a conflict when the object gets noticed: is reasons for its faults, but if you make a nasty comment without offering expla­nation, you’re a hater.

So when you hate, make sure you’re smart about it. Always establish a good argument. I hate the Patriots because they always win the Super Bowl: not a good reason. A much better response: Tom Brady and the Patriots cheated before, therefore I dislike them. Hating on success because is stupid. But may­be the path there is stupid and worth hating (i.e., Kim Kardashian).

Hence, without a good argument, you’re not being smart. On that note, separate your feelings. The newest Star Wars films created major debate amongst fans. Some love them, some there less value in the topic know­ing you were the first to engage it?

This is why so many people hate “Fortnite.” The people who played the video game first when it was unknown and unpopular are the ones hating on it now. And this is a good reason to hate something. You were the first, now everyone is jumping on the hype train, thus there is no more fun. There are many factors to include when you hate, but establishing the groundwork of a good argument will eliminate falla­cies or anything that is a threat to your reasoning. Inclusion, Apple sucks.

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