Too Cool For School.

I'm not an insider.

Good morning, afternoon, night, and welcome back!

I will be very honest with you, there are so many times I stopped and started something because my brain just can’t handle anything. I am currently going through a rut and while I am enjoying life, maybe it is taking away my ability so effectively flesh out my thoughts. So with that being said, this will just have to be a stream of consciousness. If I make any errors, I am truly sorry. Will I go back and change things? Maybe. I just know that if I put this computer down, I am not picking it up again. If I open another tab, I will lose my place in where I am and my brain will forget everything. Okay, let’s talk about the internet. Sorta.

My problem with discussing the internet is mostly because it takes a lot of brain power and talking to figure out if this is an internet thing, or if it’s something that started on the internet and has bled its way into our lives. Everyone has access to the internet and everyone is on it. Gen Z, Gen Alpha, Millennials, Boomers, Gen X, all the girls!

What I want to discuss is how being on the Internet, getting into these communities and finding community in things you like can ultimately lead to bad things happening. You become jaded and ultimately too cool to engage in the thing earnestly. If you feel like this is Megan shade, maybeee. I do not find this to be exclusive to her, however. In this day and age, everyone has an opinion. Which, of course. I don’t say this as a breaking news thing, but I say this as someone who watches everyone be critical but not in a critiquing way, but in one that is self-serving.

I have seen people pick apart choices that Sabrina Carpenter has made for her career regarding her singles, outfits, songs, and tour. A sold out tour that has gone viral the entire year. It’s so fascinating that we’ve gone from enjoying the thing, to being too smart to engage with the thing earnestly. Everyone wants to be critics, but they don’t have the experience nor the language, or brainpower to formulate an exact critique and so they criticize. They pick apart the thing so they don’t look like the loser that is passionate about something or someone.

It reminds me of wrestling fans.

In online wrestling communities you have smarks.

These are people who know the show is fake (obviously) but engage in the show with a more pessimistic way. Wrestling is predetermined (spoiler alert) and many of the things happening, you can find online through people who actually talk to those within the business. Most people know who is winning the match and who will be feuding for months weeks ahead of it happening; and they kick, scream, and throw tantrums the whole time. They rebel against what the program is because it’s not exactly what they want. This is something that has translated outside the internet because when everyone has internet, everyone can hijack a show. There’s usually an outpouring of boo’s and chants to derail segments and prevent the story from being told. This may sound familiar, but this is also how those who “stan” television shows operate as well.

I cannot tell you how many times I have seen people try to hijack Abbott Elementary with their ideas of who should be on the show and what stories they should be telling (school shooter story being the peak). There’s many instances of a show not giving viewers the gratification they want, and so they become erratic with their own ideas, what if’s, and sometimes even going as far as discussing the show from an outside perspective involving the writers and the producers of the show.

This is a hard line to walk mostly because I do not want to be someone that tells everyone to drink the pickle juice. Contrary to what I am saying, I am very strict and have grown to release myself of anything I do not like. I am currently ignoring Haim’s entire album rollout because I do not like Addison Rae and they keep obsessing over her. Trust me, I do not like everything nor am I arguing for everyone to do the same.

I am simply urging people to remember what it’s like to be a fan or at least learn how to critique things without attempting to be an A&R or Pitchfork writer. I am urging everyone to engage with art with care. To engage with people’s work earnestly, instead of with pessimism. It’s not always required of you to be too cool for school. It isn’t always healthy for you to engage with things you like with pessimism, especially to separate yourselves from stanning.