Bring fun back

Life is exhausting. Society is constantly projecting the impossible standards and trends of models and actors. You have hipsters who think the “mainstream” is lame and then you have mainstream pop fanatics that will crucify you for not keeping up to date on the latest fashion trends and music. Then you have another group that claim to not fall into either category, being above it all, while still judging what you wear, read, listen to or watch. Honestly, I’m tired.

What happened to the good old days where people did things because they were fun? When teachers would take 20 minutes out of the day to read the BFG, not because it was required reading you were going to write an essay on, but because it was a really rad book. When did you stop recommending your friends the latest Taylor Swift song, not because it was an objectively good song, but because it was fun to dance to?

We should bring that back. I want to read bad YA lit because it’s silly and fun and distracts me from mundane high school life. Students and people in general should be encouraged to take an hour out of their life and just enjoy something, not because it holds literary merit or social importance, but because maybe it’s a little bit bad but it’s fun.

Recently, every TV show, movie and song feels political or about something more than its pure function: entertainment. The entertainment industry has lost its heart. They should make things for the public to enjoy, and that doesn’t mean it has to make some grand commentary on life or solve the mysteries of the universe. Constantly bogged down by limiting yourself to liking things that society likes or only reading Fitzgerald because everyone thinks he’s a genius bores me. I want to enjoy a cheesy Stephanie Perkins book and watch Sharknado 5. I want to enjoy life, not feel obligated to limit myself to media that is deemed “important”.

That’s not to say some people love Fitzgerald, and movies commenting on 20th century American Politics. If that’s your niche, and it brings you joy, I’m all for it. People should stop judging others for how they enjoy life, but encourage each other to take sometime out of their stressful lives to remember to enjoy life. You only live once and all that jazz.