I find that these days, unless I'm with my most trusted friends, I think twice before expressing what music or films I enjoy. I didn't actually realize that I was doing this till recently but its almost like I have an automatic firewall now between my brain and my mouth that scans the music or film for controversy and then weighs it against the individual members of the people within earshot of my voice. To a certain extent we all do this, in general, for most subjects. Or at least I always have because its just considerate. But thats generally in relation to subjects that are not personal to my own life and therefore could be more sensitive to others. BUT nowa days I find myself more cautious of expressing a PERSONAL preference in film or music for fear of being judged and im not saying this is a bad thing, because of things like internet, our generations has real time access to opinions and information in a way that we never had before. Our culture is evolving faster than it ever has in history and we're more immediately aware of our actions on the wider community. This is a great thing... BUT
can one UN-enjoy a song or film that they've now learned isnt as harmless as they had thought?, SHOULD they try? is it even helpful to? are we even making the world any better by making people feel like they should? and at what point can I judge someone for enjoying something that offends me personally? Now these are of course rhetorical questions because nobody reading this has the answer unless they are in fact the human hive mind. My observation is that everybody draws the line somewhere different and everyone also has their own personal exceptions to the line they've drawn for themselves. It's a tricky sea to navigate and the only way through it is to listen, try to be considerate and strive to learn, whilst also being ready to be wrong and equally understanding that being offended and being right are not the same thing. Ultimately, try to lead with love and compassion in everything you do and you should be alright.

Comments