A Controversial Post

This is just going to be a short post about language – namely, the word controversy, which I feel like in the internet age has lost all meaning. Much like words such as “literally” and “epic”, the overuse (and incorrect use) has made the word “controversy” pretty much a non-word.

The definition of controversy: “an argument that involves many people who strongly disagree about something; strong disagreement about something among a large group of people”

Before I continue, let me list a few “controversies” that I’ve read about in the last week:

-Donald Trump encouraging Second Amendment people to “do something” about Hillary Clinton
-Donald Trump calling Barack Obama the founder of ISIS
-Malia Obama smoking weed at Lollapalooza
-Gabby Douglas not putting her hand over her heart during the national anthem
-Players not being able to interact with other players in No Man’s Sky video game
-Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has beef with one of his Fast 8 co-stars

With the advent of the internet and social media, “controversy” is pretty much everywhere. After all, what bigger group of people is there than the entirety of the internet? Anything that people might disagree on has become controversial simply because the internet allows everyone to interact at once.

But let’s face it: is the dress being blue or white actually a controversy?

No, it’s not. Yes, by definition, it’s an argument between a lot of people disagreeing about something. But is it really controversial? Have you even thought about the dress in the last six months before I just talked about it?

Donald Trump’s run for president is controversial because people have been arguing about it for over a year. Black Lives Matter and the treatment of minorities by police officers is controversial because it’s part of an important civil rights movement. Abortion is a controversial subject because even though it’s been legal since Roe v. Wade 40 years ago, there are people still trying to outlaw it and condemn it as wrong. Prostitution is a controversial subject because it’s illegal and yet is still considered the world’s oldest profession and it’s usually readily available to anyone who wants to go looking for it. Vaccines are a controversy because people are idiots who don’t understand that there is absolutely no research connecting vaccines and autism, but still choose to believe there’s some sort of connection.

A teenager smoking weed at a big concert is not controversy. A person not holding their hand over their heart is not controversy. A game not having a feature is not controversy. Two alpha male actors disagreeing on a movie set is not controversy. Hell, a few months ago Harambe was a “controversy” for a good week. Now the only thing I hear about Harambe is when people get their dicks out for him. At best, all of these things were manufactured to be news stories – people wanting to argue for the sake of arguing, and other people stoking the fire because they know people like to argue.

And aren’t we better than that? Shouldn’t we, as a culture, be better than that? We have our moments – there was lots of social media backlash at the attempt of creating controversy for Malia Obama smoking pot, and a general outright refusal to accept that bullshit as a news “controversy.” Don’t fall for bait, don’t argue about things that aren’t important. Debate is fine, but stop letting media dictate what you should and shouldn’t care about.

Don’t allow yourself to fall victim to manufactured “controversial” subjects. If you want to care about something, do it. Life’s too short to get angry and argue about trivial things. Life’s too short to let the media and other people make you mad because they want you to be angry, too.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go visit a forum on the internet and complain about controversy being overused. Because that makes me angry.