The New Trend: 'I Hate Everything Mainstream'

To judge is to assume without knowing much, but it being a primarily social function, here I go:

My guess is, the reason you are here is either you are one of those people who hates most things ‘mainstream’ and wants to see how I am in the wrong, or you have been hated on for loving something doing the rounds in pop culture and want to know why that is.

Either way, I think this definition of ‘pop culture’ by Cambridge Dictionary sets the scene pretty well:

“Music, TV, cinema, books, etc. that are popular and enjoyed by ordinary people, rather than experts or very educated people”

And there you go! All you need to know about the hows and whys of this trend get laid out pretty neatly on the table.

Nobody wants to be ‘ordinary’. Which means nobody wants to be seen enjoying things that only ‘ordinary’ people would enjoy!

Case in point, the growing obsession with hating the series ‘Friends’. Mind you, I have been an ardent lover who has slowly drifted away from the series over the past few years. So I see the picture painted on both sides. But the concerning matter here is the fact that the passionate fans of the show are now seen as being too ‘vanilla’– if not outrightly called out for having no taste.

Yes, there are problematic themes in the show, just as there are in most, if not all entertainment pieces. But it has almost become ‘fashionable’ to hate it. Probably because it’s a show for the masses; and ‘massy ain’t classy’ my dear!

The way I see it, anything that flows into the paradigm of pop culture is quickly being disregarded because of the underlying belief that if it appeals to a wide majority of people, it must cater to only an average band of intelligence. To put in other terms, since average also means being below the higher standard, anything that suits the taste of a majority must also be a dumbed-down version of the best!

Which is why the MCU universe, however skillfully created, can never compare to a Broadway or an Opera house performance. Only the polished and highly intellectual can appreciate the latter, while the former caters to the humbler wants of the ordinary.

In such a shallow climate where even your choice of entertainment becomes a measure of your intelligence and ingenuity, how is one to stray away from this luring trend?!

Because it all does come down to the urge of wanting to be different. Of being a non-conformist. Of being a contrarian. But most of us don’t realise that when we break away from one large group, chances are we are joining another large group trudging along on the other side.

And interestingly, the deeper you go, this pattern of hate leads you to another pile of victims. Those closely linked to teenage girls and their ‘hormonal hysteria.'

Heard of One Direction? What about Taylor Swift? The Twilight series? K-dramas? They are just a few of those in the mainstream media that were/are hated owing to this trend. To be precise, it works out to be a simple case of ‘if teen girls love it, I hate it!’

After all, when has anything feminine ever been regarded as superior?

And it’s not a new phenomenon! The Beatles’ OG fans were in fact ‘crazy’ teenage girls. And this fandom was so passionate that their passion even got its own name – Beatlemania!

But not everyone hopped on this train that early. At the time, ‘expert' critics just didn’t understand this craze and resorted to calling the ‘hysterical’ girls – in one form or another – as being nothing more than a mindless horde.

If only they possessed the vision of these hormonal women. *sigh*

So it goes. Half a century later, we are still in the clutches of the same disease. And I somewhat understand why.

We are but a result of what society sees us as. Our observed self is our only self. So it makes sense to bend to the rules of our culture. And current culture dictates that only what is different is of value. In the widely-populated herd, you need to stand out to be seen.

This means the popular culture is also… not popular.

But if disliking the mainstream and disliking the popular is the ‘trendy’ thing to do, is that notion also not becoming popular? And if so, are we stuck in a superficial loop? A war of pop and alt? Where today’s pop might become tomorrow’s alt and vice versa?

And if that really is the case, then I have only one thing to say.

To hell with this trend!

(Here, I must point out my own ‘contrarian’ view of not going with the trend of disliking the mainstream...see the loop?)

We might just be better off liking what we like! Just like teenage girls who like and love with passion, and not in keeping with that day’s trend. And if you are one to ride the wave against the popular perception, you might learn one or two valuable lessons from them!