Pretentious and Proud

Pretentious and Proud

Last night I watched Oscar winning, classic Disney animation Beauty and the Beast for the first time. I had been told of this masterpiece and how I needed to view it now. So I sat down, I watched it and what did I think? A resounding meh. At first I thought I was just watching an overrated film but then I realised it may be my own pretentious nature setting in. Feeling very pretentious and pleased with myself that my standards are far more refined than Oscar winning animation I went with a friend today to watch SpongeBob Square Pants a Sponge out of Water. My refined standards spontaneously combusted as I not only enjoyed but laughed out loud multiple times throughout the film. Sure nostalgia played a role but why was I so pretentious about a high quality film but loved a random kid’s film that showed me what it would be like to be stoned?

 

The definition of the word pretentious is attempting to impress by affecting greater importance or merit than is actually possessed. Here’s the problem. I was not attempting to impress anyone with my opinions of these films, if I was my opinions would surely be switched around. But these are just two films, a very small sample. Maybe I should look deeper.

 

When you meet a new person and you hear them speak what kind of thoughts are going through your mind. What are the first few things you will often say after the typical greeting? I am a very dry individual so I often can’t help myself but use a bunch of witty and sarcastic humour. My friend meanwhile will be incredibly happy and bubbly and try to be as enjoyable as humanly possible. While all the happy makes me very sad it does point out that one of us is very accepting and friendly while the other is more reserved and pretentious.

 

Yes I am admitting I am pretty pretentious at times. When I sit with my large group of friends I interact in a witty and sarcastic way. Sarcasm in itself can be pretty damn pretentious. All comedy is based of misery, sarcasm in many ways simply put’s the user slightly above the victim for a brief moment in highlighting something they’ve done. To me it’s funny but many dislike it for being too pretentious which is understandable.

 

Being pretentious is kind of similar to pride. At times it seems both are necessary, just not too much. When you call someone pretentious you mean they are pretending to be more important than they are. Isn’t being more important one of life’s great goals for some of us. Some of us are happy being in the background but some of us want to be the very best (like no one ever was). Some of us want to be recognised, to be remembered. Some of us just want are born to strive to be better.

 

We all have that one friend. They’re a massive idiot and let’s face it … a bit of a cock. We know who they are and we know what they’re like but they’re our friends anyway. Why exactly? Because they’re the type of idiot who is very likeable along with it. The likeable idiot amongst us isn’t an idiot because they’re not smart, rather they’re an idiot for being pretentious. They’re pretentious because they became like that from their surroundings and they’re pretentious because they enjoy it. They see themselves as societies elite and why? I don’t know but who cares, they’re still a cock but your friend anyway!

 

Fellow pretentious people don’t let anyone stifle your natural ways. You carry on using unnecessarily long words, you carry on speaking metaphorically for no apparent reason. You carry on using wit and claiming you’re the comedic genius of the group and carry on claiming you’re the intelligent one of the family! Why? Because it’s who you are and what you are and if you’re like me you’re probably right anyway. After all, I am the genius of the family.

Introverts and Extroverts

Introverts and Extroverts

I was sitting with a large group of people, having a discussion about something I can’t remember when someone talked about someone they dislike and said “They’re such an introvert”. Confused, I asked what was wrong with that to which they just shrugged it off. It got me thinking, what is bad about being an introvert or are they just misunderstood?

 

What actually are introverts and extroverts? The first thing google says is an introverts are shy, reticent people. This is the general consensus but it is not true at all. In fact being shy has nothing to do with being an introvert, it is very possible to be a sociable, self-confident introvert. An introvert is someone who energized by being alone and concerned with their inner world rather than external things. An extrovert meanwhile is someone who is energized by being around people.

 

We all need our time to relax and re charge. If you’re an extrovert then chances are in your spare time you try to meet up with people a lot and spend all your time with other people if possible. But is it so hard to believe some people need their time alone to recharge? It doesn’t make them unsociable, it means they relax in different ways and just because you may enjoy your alone time, it does not mean you don’t enjoy spending time with people. It just means after time with people you need some time alone, this is the definition of introvert. In fact 60% of the worlds gifted population (Look it up) is made up of introverts. You could easily be an introvert without even knowing it.

 

It is common for an introvert to sometimes want to spend some time alone, even away from people they are comfortable with. As I said earlier an introvert will like to spend time sieving through their own thoughts and reflecting on past experiences and thoughts. Even if they have great social skills, this time alone can be key to an introvert feeling secure and content. It’s similar to an extrovert needing time with people to socialise and talk about anything that comes to mind. Neither is a bad thing, it’s just different aspects of their personality.

 

Introverts can often enjoy talking with people just as much as extroverts, it’s likely to be the desired topic of conversation that is different. An extrovert will often enjoy or be happy with talking about anything. This can be from deep discussion to general small talk about anything that comes to mind. It is also more likely to be in a large group. An introvert will likely prefer the deep in depth discussion about ideals, ideas and concepts, not just random small talk. An introvert is more likely to think before speaking. They can thus be wittier but then again can add less in a big group. It can be more reserved but thoughtful. This mirrors the kind of thoughts during the alone time.

 

Everything I have said so far does not negatively capture being an introvert in any way. It also does not say anything bad about being an extrovert, it’s is simply a different trait in a person. I also don’t want to generalise people into these two categories, in fact introvert and extrovert are the two extreme levels of a scale, everyone has a bit of both in them, just usually more of one than the other. So why does introvert have such negative connotations?

 

Maybe it’s because introverts are rarer. They take up about 25% of the population while people with more extrovert like qualities are more common. It is easy to be wary of what’s different, equally old presumptions and stereotypes can be difficult to forget. However I think there’s more to it than this.

 

People think introvert just means shy. Shyness is the product of nerves and anxiety, while introvert just defines how you can be re-energized. Maybe people do just misunderstand what an introvert is and don’t realise people they like or even themselves have these qualities. Going off alone to re-energize doesn’t make you un sociable or depressed, if anything an extrovert who has to spend a lot of time alone is far more likely to be depressed. I think they key is to embrace either set of qualities and just like with many things accept the people who are different. Being an introvert myself, while I dislike hearing people bad mouth people like me I am incredibly glad I know a large number of extroverts. They have qualities I lack and I’d like to think I have qualities they lack and if nothing else I’d be very bored if we were all the same and everyone was as great as me.