I've noticed it in 'the real', but recently everywhere on the internet I seem to be swarmed with what I have termed 'the need to belong', more so than ever before.
The concept is simple: find something that is popular, rebel against it, but do so in a way that asserts your superiority. Look at any music video and youtube and you will find some dumb comment like 'wow this is amazing so much better than those idiot who like justin bieber people that like him are really stupid'. The same concept seems to extend to almost anything with preference.
It amuses me the lengths that people will go to be snobby about the most pointless of things, although admittedly this is usually on youtube so your IQ is halved as you type. Take for example, the Beatle's movie 'Yellow Submarine'. There are leagues of people that assert that it is simply the best cartoon ever made, period, and that anyone who thinks otherwise simply 'doesn't get it'. Likewise I've amused myself with the musical snobbery of many Radiohead fans on many an occation in the real.
Such trends can get even further ridiculous. I can recall talking to one of the snobbiest people of music I have ever met, who was one of the elite crew that thought Rhianna's Umbrella was the most important pop song for decades. He claimed it was untold genius.
Now, everyone is free to their own opinions, but this all reeks of pseudo-intellectualism to me. It appears people just want to identify with something and claim it belongs to them. It's the same principle that turns people off bands as they become more popular (subconciously I've been guilty of this).
The OCUK massive is guilty of this as well. Some of the comments regarding the recent 'do you like clubbing?' thread had me raising my eyebrows - it wasn't enough to not like it, people felt that they had to identify and put down those that did.
Succesful and attractive women become 'trashy ugly bints'.
Credible hollywood flicks become 'unartistic mindless nonsense'. We must all obey by the golden rule - eastern cinema is always better than western cinema.
Am I right in my observations? Do people truly enjoy things for the reasons they state, or is their an air of pseudo-intellectualism that drives people to make them think they are part of a social elite?
Discuss.
The concept is simple: find something that is popular, rebel against it, but do so in a way that asserts your superiority. Look at any music video and youtube and you will find some dumb comment like 'wow this is amazing so much better than those idiot who like justin bieber people that like him are really stupid'. The same concept seems to extend to almost anything with preference.
It amuses me the lengths that people will go to be snobby about the most pointless of things, although admittedly this is usually on youtube so your IQ is halved as you type. Take for example, the Beatle's movie 'Yellow Submarine'. There are leagues of people that assert that it is simply the best cartoon ever made, period, and that anyone who thinks otherwise simply 'doesn't get it'. Likewise I've amused myself with the musical snobbery of many Radiohead fans on many an occation in the real.
Such trends can get even further ridiculous. I can recall talking to one of the snobbiest people of music I have ever met, who was one of the elite crew that thought Rhianna's Umbrella was the most important pop song for decades. He claimed it was untold genius.
Now, everyone is free to their own opinions, but this all reeks of pseudo-intellectualism to me. It appears people just want to identify with something and claim it belongs to them. It's the same principle that turns people off bands as they become more popular (subconciously I've been guilty of this).
The OCUK massive is guilty of this as well. Some of the comments regarding the recent 'do you like clubbing?' thread had me raising my eyebrows - it wasn't enough to not like it, people felt that they had to identify and put down those that did.
Succesful and attractive women become 'trashy ugly bints'.
Credible hollywood flicks become 'unartistic mindless nonsense'. We must all obey by the golden rule - eastern cinema is always better than western cinema.
Am I right in my observations? Do people truly enjoy things for the reasons they state, or is their an air of pseudo-intellectualism that drives people to make them think they are part of a social elite?
Discuss.
