You are not unique. You are not special. You are just you. Too many people want to “gatekeep” things nowadays. People yearn for a sense of individuality, and that by gatekeeping things they like, they preserve the uniqueness they so desperately want. But the gag is, you have been fed almost everything to you by something or someone else. Whether by an algorithm on an application you have grown a physiological attachment to, or by the people around you. We never just “discover” new art. There is always something feeding you what is new.

I think this is something akin to people who want to so hard maintain this air of individuality in loving Taylor Swift. You see, I’ve always found her appeal to be the “every woman”, inherently that means her music is very generalized and popular. But for whatever reason, some Swifties want to act like loving Taylor is some grand new thing that is undiscovered. At the very least, they don’t gatekeep loving her. But man… it’s strange seeing this idea that a Swiftie is some sort of persecuted minority in the world, when she is the most popular artist in the Western world (man, woman, or otherwise).

No, for weird gatekeepers, look no further than Radiohead fans. What do you mean that “no one fw radiohead like i do”?????? The most popular alt-rock band of the last almost 30 years? With millions of listeners on Spotify, YouTube, etc.?? What sense does that make??? Especially, when it’s some lonely early 20s kid who espouses this notion. Gatekeeping Radiohead from women, younger men, and non-binary individuals. What the fuck are you doing, fuckhead?

Instead of gatekeeping, or pretending you are unique for loving something, let’s instead keep building community. The artists we love, the movies we love, the genres we love deserve to have support. Keep building community with the people who share your interests. Create Discords, Subrreddits, join these spaces and share the love. In this life, with how incredibly isolating it can be, there needs to be spaces for reprieve. Places we can fully sit there and love something, unconditionally and genuinely. This is what I feel like is missing online. Places where we can just love something without feeling like we need to be superior about it. To love is to be free; and when you are free, you live.

That’s my gripe for the day, thanks.