![\"DeclanColor\"](\"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernjournal\/files\/2015\/11\/DeclanColor.jpg\")
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By: Declan Hertel\r\nEntertainment Editor<\/pre>\n\u201cInternet comments are a roiling vat of toxicity and immaturity\u201d is a constantly beaten dead horse that I do not wish to punish any more here.<\/p>\n
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 \u201calways critic, never creator.\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
They go beyond what Nick Hornby calls the \u201cprofessional appreciator\u201d in his novel \u201cHigh Fidelity;\u201d it\u2019s worse than that.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not that these people didn\u2019t like the movie, it\u2019s that someone would DARE to make a movie that wasn\u2019t what they wanted, or God forbid, uses a device they\u2019ve SEEN BEFORE. Nothing is ever good enough: it\u2019s perfect or it\u2019s worthless. And now they have a platform to inflict their opinions on the rest of us.<\/p>\n
I am by no means saying that people shouldn\u2019t be allowed to air their grievances (kinda what I\u2019m doing here), but it\u2019s so easy now to satisfy oneself with being angry and useless. And it\u2019s the uselessness that worries me: so many people have an audience to angrily flail at about others\u2019 creativity that they have no reason to create something themselves.<\/p>\n
Plus, if you create something, there will be useless and angry people telling you that your art is worthless.<\/p>\n
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\u2019t fit what someone else wants. Forget the naysayers, your voice is worth hearing.<\/p>\n
To everyone else: if this made you think \u201coh God I\u2019ve been so angry and useless,\u201d there is hope for you yet. Go create. If you don\u2019t create, encourage those who do.<\/p>\n
If you want to defend your angry and useless tendencies: I can be reached by loudly proclaiming to everyone nearby, \u201cMy name is [your name here] and I deserve to be punched in the teeth.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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