By: Declan Hertel Entertainment Editor
“Internet comments are a roiling vat of toxicity and immaturity” is a constantly beaten dead horse that I do not wish to punish any more here.
But I do think that comment sections (especially pop culture comment sections) provide a breeding ground for a certain type of insufferable human being: the caustic “always critic, never creator.”
If you enjoy not being suicidal, never visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDB) message boards. All that is to be found there is a seemingly endless supply of people who hate the very concept of movies, yet pay actual, real money to complain about them.
They go beyond what Nick Hornby calls the “professional appreciator” in his novel “High Fidelity;” it’s worse than that.
It’s not that these people didn’t like the movie, it’s that someone would DARE to make a movie that wasn’t what they wanted, or God forbid, uses a device they’ve SEEN BEFORE. Nothing is ever good enough: it’s perfect or it’s worthless. And now they have a platform to inflict their opinions on the rest of us.
I am by no means saying that people shouldn’t be allowed to air their grievances (kinda what I’m doing here), but it’s so easy now to satisfy oneself with being angry and useless. And it’s the uselessness that worries me: so many people have an audience to angrily flail at about others’ creativity that they have no reason to create something themselves.
Plus, if you create something, there will be useless and angry people telling you that your art is worthless.
So, to the artists: do what you do. If you have a vision, execute it. Do not compromise or throw out your vision because it doesn’t fit what someone else wants. Forget the naysayers, your voice is worth hearing.
To everyone else: if this made you think “oh God I’ve been so angry and useless,” there is hope for you yet. Go create. If you don’t create, encourage those who do.
If you want to defend your angry and useless tendencies: I can be reached by loudly proclaiming to everyone nearby, “My name is [your name here] and I deserve to be punched in the teeth.”
