Preconceived Notions

March 3rd, 2019

Going into something with the intent of not liking it during and after is a very popular pastime for a lot of people. Whether it’s having preconceived, negative opinions and judgements on movies, television shows, books or any other forms of art and entertainment, people just really love to hate things they haven’t seen or don’t watch anymore. (This is the part where over half of the people reading my feed quickly react in their minds, saying, “No, YOU DO.” But for real, you do it, and it’s obnoxious.)

Nowhere in pop culture is it worse than with @nbcsnl. If I had a dollar for how many times in my life I’ve heard people say SNL sucks, or talk about “how much better it used to be,” I would buy muzzles for all of the people who participate in this conversation of futility. Whenever I hear anything along these lines, I always ask: “But do you still watch it?” 99 out of 100 times I get excuses or variations on the word “No.” Which is mind-boggling. Like — how do you know anything about something you don’t know?

Last night’s episode with John Mulaney was outstanding. But this sketch stuck out, not because of how laugh-out-loud funny it was, but how refreshing its topic and tone were. John played a character who accompanies his girlfriend to an all-black wedding. He’s nervous about how everyone is going to react to him, but as the sketch cha-cha’s on, you learn his character not only already knows a lot of the people at the wedding, but he’s a positive part of their lives, as they are his. It’s an inclusive, heart-warming sketch, and one that is apt to get lost among the lunatics who think SNL and its political leanings are harsh or wrong — our president is the lunatic, and if SNL did anything else but put that on display for the world, then our comedians would have clearly lost their way.

What I’m saying is that if you want to have an intellectual, positive conversation about a piece of work, either consume the entire piece of work and have an informed opinion, or don’t be surprised when everyone starts to discount your opinions on everything. You earn your place as a person who respectfully disagrees or opposes. It is not a right; it’s a privilege.