So it begins...
A post on Jakob Lodwick’s blog (http://jakoblodwick.com/post/20610702) got me thinking about the current state of popular culture, and how a type of thinking the AV Club’s Nathan Rabin dubbed “everything sucksism” is rapidly infesting all levels of media and methods of human interaction. For the next few days, I will be using this Tumblr as a means of sharing thoughts and examples of “everything sucksism” in the hope that they will develop into a paper by, ohh let’s say, this Thursday at 2:00. So, if I seem a bit obsessed with the idea, sorry. Let’s start off with a revised and expanded version of my e-mail response to Jakob:
The writing on Gawker is based not only on the premise that “people are bad,” but also that “everything is bad.” This is not exclusive to Gawker; this kind of thinking is prevalent in all forms of media. From the anonymous assholery of Gawker commenters to any countdown of ”Awesomely Bad” bullshit on VH1, it is clear that everything sucks (for no real reason), and should thus be mocked.
Since everything sucks, anything that is something sucks. As soon as one defines himself as a something (e.g. a fan of a band, movie, or videogame), he is automatically and categorically “lame.” The anonymity of the internet makes it the perfect breeding ground for such thinking. Online, one can exist as a formless entity of pure insult and derision, instead of a human being with values and beliefs.
Our culture, especially internet culture, demands that you be nothing. You cannot feel strongly about anything, and if you do actually like something, it can only be ironically. You can only like something inasmuch as you dislike it.