I am SO not above ranting.

I shall now attempt to tackle yet another one of those topics that polarizes and upsets people. Especially me. It's another of my minor quibbles with an overused word, a quibble that has been blown way out of proportion by a mind lusting for appreciation (my own).

Pretentious.

In a world where everything and everyone is BLACKANDWHITEONEORTHEOTHER, we seem to be very often faced with two unappealing choices of adjectives, and very little hope of achieving an equilibrium between the opposites. These adjectives are then embossed on our foreheads, a permanent trademark astonishing in its restricting capabilities.

Loud or quiet. Nerdy or stupid. Leftist or outdated. Do you conform, or do you rebel? What would so and so do in such situtation? Superficial and brief analyses of character that mean more than truth. I am no less guilty of this than anyone else, but I resent the fact that I cannot break away. I resent the fact that, despite our desire for rebellion, we find it so difficult to be original.

Original. What does that mean? Creative. Innovative. Says and does things others have not thought of. Fun to be around. Will go down in history in some way. Inspiring. Unusual. Strange. Weird. Difficult to understand at times. Sees things a different way. Bold. Adventurous. Interesting.

It's more than this, though. I view true originality as a near-unattainable dream, a hope of somehow becoming more than a combination of genetics, instinct, and society. And it is near-unattainable in part because it does not exist among the BLACKANDWHITE adjectives. Instead, everyone seems to be either unoriginal (images of androids marching perfectly in step spring to mind) or pretentious.

According to the dictionary, pretentious describes someone "characterized by assumption of dignity or importance", "claiming or demanding a position of distinction or merit, especially when unjustified." Well, I'm sure this post could be considered pretentious. I'm sorry about that, guys, because I don't want it to be. I'm certainly not trying to assume an air of superiority.

But leaving my snobbish blog aside, have you noticed how often original or beautiful is substituted by pretentious? Think of music. (Simon and Garfunkel: assumption of dignity and importance or just really pretty?) Think of paintings and art. (No examples necessary.)

We're destroying our concept of originality by adding a negative connotation, linking it to this terrible word. How long before we are afraid to be original?