The arrogance of opinion

I know what I like. Most people that know me are aware of my strong opinions.

I’ve had countless arguments with fellow Ok, To Begin With… writers over all types of media, be it music, film, tv shows, art, whatever. But we don’t really consider it arguments, but discussions. To a third party it can look like an argument, but in general it’s all in good faith.

One ongoing discussion involves the pillar of Australian dance music that is The Presets. Me? I think they’re dreadful. I don’t see the appeal in a band who so shamelessly copies electro groups such as Daft Punk that were at their creative peak more than ten years ago. As I see it, they were a product of their time. Why would a band want to make average facsimiles of this music now?

Lots of my friends like The Presets. And that’s fair enough. I don’t, yet so many people seem to get offended when I make my opinion known. And it’s not like I don’t back up my opinion, I have my reasons.

A couple of weeks ago, my uncle’s step-mother came round for dinner. During the various conversations that arose over dinner, she asked me what I thought of Shaun Micallef’s current show Talkin’ ’bout Your Generation. Unaware that my uncle was good friends with him at university and his stepmother had taught him, I let my opinion known.

I think the show has a predictable concept, is utterly dreadful, pointless, and unfunny, and made worse by the host. I have never found Micallef slightly funny. Instead of listening to me and saying “fair enough, everyone’s entitled to their opinion”, both my uncle and his stepmother launched into a huge defence of Micallef and his show. But of course, they failed to address the reasons why I don’t like him and his show.

A similar thing happens when I get asked about movies. A common topic at the moment due to Inglorious Basterds, is Quentin Tarantino. When I’ve been asked what I think of his films, I can’t help myself. I could just say “yeah, he’s quite good, I liked Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction”. But instead I give my full opinion: he’s a hugely overrated director who has done absolutely nothing of note since 1994. Reservoir Dogs is stunning, Pulp Fiction is good but I think is idealised by so many due to its structure. Natural Born Killers was potentially a great film if Tarantino directed it himself, but Oliver Stone mangled Tarantino’s script. Everything else he’s done, I think is dreadful (*note: I am yet to see Inglorious Basterds).

Do you like Tarantino films? Great. I’m not going to stop you from watching them or try to change your opinion. All I’m doing is giving MY opinion. What’s so wrong with that?

I’m sorry, I have my opinion. Just please don’t get offended if you ask for it and don’t like it.

Image from Flickr user jontintinjordan