A possibly controversial question
Thursday, August 31st, 2006 06:15 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
seraiIs anyone else bothered by the rather virulent puritanical streak that's become de rigeur among people claiming to speak up "against intolerance"? It's a phenomenon that I find truly perplexing - that in arguing for a supposedly more "tolerant" society, they so often exhibit intolerance themselves. The very same people who plead that we should all make allowances for culture or upbringing or psychological asshattery will often turn around and slam someone mercilessly for some perceived failing, no matter how slight that failing may be. There seems to be no quarter granted these days, little effort to try and understand others' motivations or behavior (unless that effort will make the critic look cool).
The thing that really amazes me is that an artist or whoever can spend a lifetime creating great work, advocating genuinely for good causes, fighting against nefarious influences and social injustice, and yet these crusaders for societal perfection will damn that person for things that have nothing to do with their worthiness in the larger scheme of things. Folks these days (and it seems a growing trend among younger people) will angrily toss out any valuable contribution to society that a person might have made, no matter how large or influential, on the strength of an obnoxious habit, a comment perceived as offensive, or a less than pleasant encounter. A sense of perspective, once commonly accepted as a virtue, is now derided as some sort of capitulation to Teh Evil Patriarchy, or whatever shibboleth has reared its head this week.
This is one of the great dangers of the cult of celebrity, in my opinion. When we're constantly bombarded with clips and quotes and unwelcome paparazzi moments from the lives of those who have achieved some fame in their field, some people not only start to think they have a right to know everything about them, they also start taking for granted the right to judge someone they've never met. And these days that tendency is crashing head-on into the increasingly common belief that just because we have an opinion on how things ought to be, that gives us the right to look down on, harrass and demand particular acts or behavior from people we imagine have wronged us in some way, even if there is no connection whatsoever between us and them, or the supposed wrong has nothing to do with us.
What in the world has given people this bizarre sense of entitlement, the belief that not only do they have the right to demand that everybody act exactly as they judge is right, but that they have no obligation to be kind, merciful or tolerant themselves? It's pretty damn hard to take all this social crusading seriously when the crusaders are so quick to condemn others in their own turn. It comes off childish and whiny and pathetic, and certainly does nothing to convince me of the right of their claims.
The thing that really amazes me is that an artist or whoever can spend a lifetime creating great work, advocating genuinely for good causes, fighting against nefarious influences and social injustice, and yet these crusaders for societal perfection will damn that person for things that have nothing to do with their worthiness in the larger scheme of things. Folks these days (and it seems a growing trend among younger people) will angrily toss out any valuable contribution to society that a person might have made, no matter how large or influential, on the strength of an obnoxious habit, a comment perceived as offensive, or a less than pleasant encounter. A sense of perspective, once commonly accepted as a virtue, is now derided as some sort of capitulation to Teh Evil Patriarchy, or whatever shibboleth has reared its head this week.
This is one of the great dangers of the cult of celebrity, in my opinion. When we're constantly bombarded with clips and quotes and unwelcome paparazzi moments from the lives of those who have achieved some fame in their field, some people not only start to think they have a right to know everything about them, they also start taking for granted the right to judge someone they've never met. And these days that tendency is crashing head-on into the increasingly common belief that just because we have an opinion on how things ought to be, that gives us the right to look down on, harrass and demand particular acts or behavior from people we imagine have wronged us in some way, even if there is no connection whatsoever between us and them, or the supposed wrong has nothing to do with us.
What in the world has given people this bizarre sense of entitlement, the belief that not only do they have the right to demand that everybody act exactly as they judge is right, but that they have no obligation to be kind, merciful or tolerant themselves? It's pretty damn hard to take all this social crusading seriously when the crusaders are so quick to condemn others in their own turn. It comes off childish and whiny and pathetic, and certainly does nothing to convince me of the right of their claims.
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