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Saturday, August 05, 2006

Being Prejudiced ...

Each one of us has been prejudiced sometime or the other in his or her life and regretted it later.
I know I have ...

But I guess its more like a human emotion than a process which everyone experiences and something I really hate doing ... but it happens at a sub concious level nevertheless ...
The one thing worse than being prejudiced is voicing strong (and loud) opinions based on your (prejudiced) opinions ...
Its something that really ticks me off ...

People cannot help being prejudiced, but atleast they should save others the trouble of perceiving them as complete idiots when they go announcing that this thing is bad and I really hate that stuff ... and oh that is so gay ... even without having given the thing a try ...

I have come across people reacting very strongly to things that they have never tried ...
Like, take the famous Harry Potter for example ...

I had never read any of the books till just about some months ago - that too out of curiosity, because basically the fantasy genre was never my type.
But when I did read the first couple of books, I really liked it and realised what all the hype was about !

Recently in a conversation with a person about books, this topic came up and I enquired whether he had read Harry Potter ...
To this, the guy gives me a very weird looked (cocked eyebrows and all) and says : "Puh-lese ... I don't read such crappy children's books ..."

Whoever did say they were for children only?

People generally have a tendency to be rebels and NOT do things that the entire world is doing at the moment.
They want to stand out of the crowd and "try" to be different.
I know because I do it many times ...

They form false opinions about things just to defend themselves as to why they aren't doing something which everyone else is doing ...
And then later, these opinions turn to convictions and then they start despising the people who form the herd ...

How many times have I heard "Oh ! You love the Lord of the Rings movies? Man ... you're weird"
Or, "How the hell can you like Batman Begins? That sux dude ..."
And the latest has been ... "You listen to Celine Dion ... Umm ... are you gay?"
Can you believe this?

It's amusing actually ... and, after you have come to terms with the fact that people will continue to be prejudiced about things and form opinions about you from the things that you like or dislike, you can have your own fun by disgusting them even more with harmless things like ...
"Oh ! By the way, I also listen to Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera and N'Sync !"

Hehe .. Good times :)

7 comments:

jomy said...

So very true !

But most of the times , people who come up with stuff like "What ! You yet listen to Celine Dion , Madonna !! I listen to Oasis , Greenday , Floyd ya know ! Awesum tracks ! " , are not under prejudices , they're just wid the crowd !
Nice post !

P.S : i do like Greenday and Oasis :)

Saurabh said...

Ouch! ;)
Hehe ...
Yeah ... you are right ...
The other point I was trying to make (by that statement) was - how people despise other people who just dont have the same tastes as them.

Somehow they feel superior if they are with the crowd and you are not ...
Hmm ... But again, there is no such thing as a superiority complex soo ... (need to muse on that one a bit)

But people generally will say that what you listen to is lame because it is not Marilyn Manson and Slipknot and what other noise exists out there !

And oh btw, the word I was looking up there was not superior ... it was cooler ;)
So there !

PS: And oh, I also like Greenday and Oasis :)

starry said...

It is wrong to form opinions before knowing what u are talking about.I know I do that sometimes , I think it is because that is how the human mind works but it is wrong. Acceptance of everyones opinions and their life style is the key.I always say u like this and I like that.so what.

Id it is said...

I guess we're all guilty of being prejudiced at some point or the other. So long as we are cognizant of this fact we're doing ok, hehe.
To be prejudiced (every once in a while) is human, but to make that our second nature spells trouble and loneliness coz you'll soon be friendless.
I like Oasis and Greenday too, but I like Keane as well.

Rishi Agarwal said...

nice blog...completely agree with u ( again ) .

Atleast u accept ur mistake ! But i dont ;-)

A.H. said...

Hi. an interesting post. You raise some interesting and valid points. Prejudice is a process… a deep and complicated one. True, it happens at a subconscious level, also at a conscious level. I’m not sure that voicing strong opinions is “worse” than prejudice: it’s rather a manifestation of prejudice. And holding deep-rooted racial prejudice, say, is far “worse” than speaking out about a book not read. I note that even in India you have picked up the UK slang “oh that is so gay”…which is of course an example of sexual prejudice, though you don’t comment on that: so I guess you don’t realise it, which rather proves your point about the unconscious nature of prejudice and how the really dangerous variety seeps into language unobserved. I think you hit a real truth about popular culture, however, when you point out how people make snap-judgements just to stand out from the crowd. It is so easily done. And often it is done by individuals to hide the fact that they have no critical skills. I too was suspicious about Harry Potter. Like you, I read a few before I judged. I didn’t like the hype and I didn’t like the books either. Sadly, Rowling has made millions by conning people into believing that she can write English Literature. That’s her greatest magical act!

Shalini said...

Jayne speaks Again!!

ya most of what u said is wise..!!

Been in the HARRY POTTER situation a lot! but now i just give a crap about people who say "Yikes! i Dont read kid Goop!".