The Dying Art and, Like, Probably Totally Huge Importance of Being Earnest

While I was hanging out with my brother last week, we had a conversation in which we both expressed our dismay at the death of earnest in contemporary culture. I feel like the rise in popularity of the internet has contributed significantly. Exposure to constant streams of content has overwhelmed seemingly everyone and their go-to response is to fall back on irony, because then no one can make you feel insecure about not being familiar with trends that seem to develop, change, and become passé at lightspeed. If you don't care about anything, no one can drag you online for anything.

It sucks and I feel like authenticity is non-existent. It's hard for art to survive in these circumstances. I don't think that good art can be made without coming from a place of genuine enthusiasm. If you aren't putting real creative energy into something, it will show in the final product and turn out shitty. But these days it feels like everyone has to care deeply about something, throw themselves into making it, and then act like none of that matters when it comes time to talk about it. It ludicrous.

If you talk about something you like, people expect you to do it with an air of detachment. Why would you want somebody to not be attached to what they like? It's insane.

My main problem with all of this is that earnesty is slowly being turned into a weakness, and that's dangerous territory. I would argue that young men turning to right-wing nihilism is a result of them being afraid of how being earnest will be interpreted. They're ironically detached from the world to such an extent that lash out just to hurt people. If you make being vulnerable a weakness, then the person will stop caring about anything that happens and stop feeling compassion.

If someone is acting earnest, don't see them as corny. See them as true. People liking things is good and your interests are part of what makes you distinct.

The other side of that coin is to be earnest yourself. Don't make being ironic and irreverent your only qualifiers for liking them. These are things are as valid as anything else, but they're not everything and they're a little played out.

Somebody trying to take you down because something you earnestly like is "corny" is almost definitely doing it because they're scared to own the things they like.

Just be earnest and be real.

Know thyself.