Wednesday, February 25, 2015

war of opinions

The Oscars were televised Sunday night and I'm still reading and hearing people bitch and complain about everything from some young girl's hairstyle to the movie that took home the little statue for best picture - and everything in between. Everyone has an opinion... on the host and his performance, on the speeches where winners expressed their personal opinions on a certain subject, on the fashion, and my personal favorite... the song that won best song, it's performers, and their speeches.

We all have personal opinions. What gets me is how people feel like their personal opinions are the only right ones. They fail to see that we each form and nurture our own opinions, which in most cases won't align with theirs. They get upset, if not down right mad, when those opinions don't line up with their own. They then form negative feelings towards those who have different opinions and some even want to argue that their opinion is the only one with merit, and before you know it, we have a war of opinions.

Of course, I'm generalizing a little. Not everyone does this, and we all do it to different degrees. Yes, all of us. As much as this situation bothers me, I have to be honest with myself and admit that I can get upset and frustrated with people and their opinions. I have been known to call someone an idiot more than I'd like to admit. This is something I recognize and will continue to work on.

There are reasons I feel like we've ended up in this spot, the war of opinions, and maybe I'll write my opinions on that at another time. What I'd like is for people to stop and think before they express their own opinion(s) or slam someone else for sharing theirs. Expressing one's opinion isn't necessarily wrong, it's how it's expressed that could be the problem. If it's done like it's the only right way of looking at a situation, then it usually is a problem.

Back to the Oscars... personally, I thought the host wasn't the best, but he wasn't the worst. We can't, and shouldn't, expect perfection. As far as the dresses, and tuxes, and hairstyles, and even jewelry... there were some real winners, but that doesn't mean the others were losers. The movie that won best movie deserved to win, whether I wanted it to or not, because a group of qualified voters cast their individual vote, also known as their opinion, and the majority said that was the movie most deserving.

And the best song winner, well, maybe we just chalk it up to 'haters are going to hate.' The Glenn Campbell song was beautiful and pulled at our heartstrings, but again, a group of voters deemed that Glory was the better song. But it seems like because it was sung by two colored men, about the plight and on-going struggle of people of color, and from a movie that shines a light on the history and realities of racism, it riles people up and brings out rude and hurtful opinions. I thought their speeches were beautifully said; from their heart and expressing the feelings that so many people have in dealing with injustice and hate.

But hey, this is all just my opinion.