I genuinely am sure of the fact that each one of us knows somebody close to us who believe that it is “fun” to dislike popular things. People who think it’s cool to go on and hate on things liked by the mainstream audience. More often than not, you will observe that they have no legitimate reasons for actually doing so. To these people, the popular things are awful and people who like them are equivalent to sheep who quite simply are simple-minded with herd mentality.
By dictionary, being a contrarian refers to a person who takes a contrary position or attitude. Someone who not only likes to disagree with other people but also often expresses opinions that are not so popular. Almost like clockwork, whenever there is something that starts garnering praise (and/or accolades) and it feels that there is the mainstream adoption of said thing, these people come out just to publicly announce their feeling of displeasure. This feels like an attempt to not only be NOT generalized with the aforementioned sheep but also make themselves feel somewhat different and special.
“In our society, having an unpopular opinion has become somewhat popular these days.”
The hate would have been somewhat understandable had it been down to personal preferences but not when the only motive is to look “quirky” and “different”. With the increase in the easy availability of internet and platforms for people to express their opinions there are increasing examples of popular things being attacked purely because they are popular. Also the fact that these people are so cynical and narrow-minded about certain things loved by the mainstream public that as soon as something becomes popular, they feel like they need to hate it, just so they’re not the same as everyone else.
It’s genuinely sad that there are people who are somehow offended by the fact that others enjoy whatever they do enjoy on their own peril. Another reason for this contrarianism is the fact that controversial and opinions against the popular notion always get more attention compared to conformist opinions.
We live in a fast-paced world that’s constantly changing and evolving. Where every day something new is in focus for the right or the wrong reasons. Our life moves from one trend to another or alternatively from one social media movement to another almost every single day. To make a mark on you in this ever-changing world we are often subjected to overexposure to the same thing multiple times. People are bound to hate some stuff when something is forced onto your face at every opportunity. We all definitely are allowed to have different likes, dislikes, and interests based on our own preferences. Our lives and experiences form our likes and dislikes and no two people share the exact same past. It makes the world much more intriguing as well as diverse. We don’t really have to pretend to be the same person but at the same time we shouldn’t be hell-bent on hating stuff just for the sake of it.
We must realize the fact that it’s quite straightforward and easy to take down people for what they love instead of developing an opinion and sticking to it. Hating on tribalism of widely adopted things for no absolute reason makes no sense at all. The saddest thing about this culture developing in our society is the fact that we are starting to build our personalities around who we aren’t and what we don’t do instead of who we are and what we really do. We must realize that individuality should be celebrated and promoted but not at the cost of baseless hatred towards those who conform with popular opinion.
I believe with all my heart that we as members of this society shouldn’t be remembered (or identified) by the things we hate. Being “anti-culture” shouldn’t be a cause of celebration or an achievement. It should be considered cool to like things once you’ve actually tried them and developed an opinion based on them. Joining the bandwagons of hate on the internet does more harm than good and it really isn’t something which would be beneficial in the long run. Being the exception in the group may seem fun at first but would only lead to further isolation in life.
We do not need to deprive ourselves of things that we might enjoy just because majority of the people like it. It is perfectly fine to be in the same category as the majority. There is a reason why it appeals to many and that is because it is most probably good. The only way to be cool and different is to try it all and form our own true opinions about things instead of trying to dismiss everything popular.
