I Hate The Way People Like Things
I know that makes me sound sick and evil, or like the devil or John Ashcroft, but hear me out. I don't hate the fact that people like things. I hate the way that they like them. For instance:
· "I like The Daily Show" translates to "It's, like, wow. Just, like, the way they do that show is just so good. It's, like, they totally, like, they compare things that were said earlier to things that people say recently, and, like, it's so easy, but it's so good... Like, Jon Stewart, like, presents it in such a way, that it's, like, they're comedians, yeah, but, like, they're like better journalists than... I mean, it's, like, those, um, journalism school... Like... You know?"
· "I like Chappelle's Show" translates to "I'M RICK JAMES, BITCH! I'M RICK JAMES, BITCH! Did you see the one where he said 'I'M RICK JAMES, BITCH!' Did you see that one? I was dying! I was literally dying! I'M RICK JAMES, BITCH! SO funny!!!"
· "I like Radiohead" translates to "Just, seriously, every time I listen to this, it's like a religious experience. I'm just in awe. Like, I can totally just feel the emotion when he sings this part... Do you feel that?"
· "I like Bob Marley" translates to "Man, every time I'm in a shitty mood, I just pop in 'No Woman, No Cry', and the bad stuff just, like, washes away... Like, if you saw him in concert, when he sings 'Everything's gonna be alright'... Gotta be in your top ten experiences ever. At least.
See what I mean? What gets me the most is that I like all of the subjects these people are talking about, but hearing them talk about them in this way makes me question whether I should like them or not. These are all actual things that people I've encountered have said, with as close to the actual wording as my memory and biased attitude towards life would allow.
I believe it's a pretty common feeling that people have: When people you don't like like the things that you like. It's an annoying feeling. You try to rationalize it to yourself by saying things like "Oh, I liked it before they did" or "Oh, they just like it because all the cool people do and they're trying to be like them" or "Oh, they like it for the wrong reasons". (All thoughts anyone has ever had, by the way, are prefaced with "Oh"). These are mostly irrational, of course, but you're simply trying to distance you as a person from them as a person because you don't like them. And of course by you I pretty much mean me. I don't know if this is as universal concept as I think it is, but many people I know have the same feelings.
But it really all comes down to how people say things in general. Many of the people who speak like the examples given are stuck in an attempt to try to make things sound way more important than they really are. Or they try to impress others with their knowledge on the subject and their overly deep take on it. But everybody does it to some extent. I myself suffer from "Hyperbolic Superfluism" (which in and of itself is an attempt to impress those reading... big words! Yeah!), in which I add the title "Greatest [insert medium here] In The World (and/or) Ever!!!!!!" to everything which I like even the tiniest bit. Usually I have to clarify afterwards to confused the confused audience that, no, I do not actually think this broken rubber band I found on the ground is the be-all, end-all greatest achievement of mankind for all eternity.
How do you express how you like something?
· "I like The Daily Show" translates to "It's, like, wow. Just, like, the way they do that show is just so good. It's, like, they totally, like, they compare things that were said earlier to things that people say recently, and, like, it's so easy, but it's so good... Like, Jon Stewart, like, presents it in such a way, that it's, like, they're comedians, yeah, but, like, they're like better journalists than... I mean, it's, like, those, um, journalism school... Like... You know?"
· "I like Chappelle's Show" translates to "I'M RICK JAMES, BITCH! I'M RICK JAMES, BITCH! Did you see the one where he said 'I'M RICK JAMES, BITCH!' Did you see that one? I was dying! I was literally dying! I'M RICK JAMES, BITCH! SO funny!!!"
· "I like Radiohead" translates to "Just, seriously, every time I listen to this, it's like a religious experience. I'm just in awe. Like, I can totally just feel the emotion when he sings this part... Do you feel that?"
· "I like Bob Marley" translates to "Man, every time I'm in a shitty mood, I just pop in 'No Woman, No Cry', and the bad stuff just, like, washes away... Like, if you saw him in concert, when he sings 'Everything's gonna be alright'... Gotta be in your top ten experiences ever. At least.
See what I mean? What gets me the most is that I like all of the subjects these people are talking about, but hearing them talk about them in this way makes me question whether I should like them or not. These are all actual things that people I've encountered have said, with as close to the actual wording as my memory and biased attitude towards life would allow.
I believe it's a pretty common feeling that people have: When people you don't like like the things that you like. It's an annoying feeling. You try to rationalize it to yourself by saying things like "Oh, I liked it before they did" or "Oh, they just like it because all the cool people do and they're trying to be like them" or "Oh, they like it for the wrong reasons". (All thoughts anyone has ever had, by the way, are prefaced with "Oh"). These are mostly irrational, of course, but you're simply trying to distance you as a person from them as a person because you don't like them. And of course by you I pretty much mean me. I don't know if this is as universal concept as I think it is, but many people I know have the same feelings.
But it really all comes down to how people say things in general. Many of the people who speak like the examples given are stuck in an attempt to try to make things sound way more important than they really are. Or they try to impress others with their knowledge on the subject and their overly deep take on it. But everybody does it to some extent. I myself suffer from "Hyperbolic Superfluism" (which in and of itself is an attempt to impress those reading... big words! Yeah!), in which I add the title "Greatest [insert medium here] In The World (and/or) Ever!!!!!!" to everything which I like even the tiniest bit. Usually I have to clarify afterwards to confused the confused audience that, no, I do not actually think this broken rubber band I found on the ground is the be-all, end-all greatest achievement of mankind for all eternity.
How do you express how you like something?
posted by MC Harv at 4:11 PM
5 Comments:
Jack, how is it you have readers? I don't. What did you do to grab peoples attention? Give me some hints.
Yo Jack thanks for the comment. I like your site, it actually has substance!
Dude I feel ya on the hating how people like things, when I hear some crazy bitch talking about how Thom Yorke helped her get in touch with her spiritual side, well... I wanna slapahoe.
Keep it up I'll be checking it out from time to time.
Perhaps part the distaste you (and most everyone else I know, myself included) feel towards the way people describe the things they like may be the superficial vibe it gives off. I mean, everytime you talk about something you like it always comes accross as the same way EVERYONE else likes it.
I think you're right that when you say things like, "oh, they just like it for the wrong reasons," but not just because you dislike the person (although sharing a common ground with someone you despise is probably one of the most surreal and derailing things). The distancing yourself from the other peron is also a way of saying to yourself, "I don't like it for the same reason evryone else does," it's that whole, "rebellion is sooo cool," thing. I mean, biological drives to make yourself stand out aside, being that crazy outsider kid is still damn cool, and no one wants to like the same thing everyone else does because then it feels like he only reason you like it is because everyone else does, which is a pretty shitty reason.
Maybe the best thing we can do is simply ignore why we like/dislike something and just live with the fact that we love it when we watch Dave Chapelle play Rick James.
I don't even know, and by sprouting off my thoughts on the matter I come accross as being a know-it-all dick, which is also, really fucking obnoxious. There's just no good way to answer this is there?
-Thomas
Are you sure you don't suffer from hyperbolic superfluism more with things you don't like?
I like beer and sex (though they are not mutually exclusive or inclusive). Don't talk about it much because I'm busy drinking it or having it, and frankly there's not much to say about either. Both rock.
(Oh, and I looooove your blog. Your blog is, like, an incredible statement of how people... you know, are. It's so... humm, you know...evil and funny, but in a sort of, um... funny and evil sort of way...)
You rock, too.
Yeah, thats exactly what everybody says about Chappelle. And it was much funnier when Chappelle was Prince; that was truly brilliant.
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