I want to scream I love you from the top of my lungs (but I'm afraid that someone else will hear me)
in defense of being a chalant tryhard
Anybody who’s had conversation with me for more than 15 minutes knows my stance on AI — I absolutely despise it.
Don’t get me wrong — I’m well-aware that, when applied correctly, AI has the ability to make lives far more convenient. However, given its common applications, we’re not exactly reinventing any wheels here. Anything produced by AI is (to me at least) soulless, especially when it comes to art. Regardless of whether we’re talking about studio ghibli slop or music that’s produced with a push of a button, none of it has any meaning. It’s lazy, and is antithetical to the entire concept of art-making to begin with.
Why must everything seem effortless? Shouldn’t effort be appreciated and rewarded over something that took very little time and energy to produce? The truth of the matter is we’re not all born geniuses. There will always be a learning curve to something, no matter how steep. We’re not meant to be immediately good at everything straight away, and that’s perfectly fine. A sense of accomplishment can only be experienced with struggle. Otherwise, the task is simply completed, as opposed to being achieved.
This desire to appear nonchalant trickles down into our interpersonal relationships in ways that we may not perceive immediately. We’re balls-deep in an empathy crisis, defined as a perceived decrease in empathy or understanding of others' feelings and experiences. I would argue that this comes from a lack of willingness, as opposed to a lack of ability. Being empathetic towards someone requires putting ourselves in their shoes to understand their emotions, which translates to putting in some work in a bid to show them we care. And god forbid we put in the work or show emotion — it’s simply unfathomable! Me? Showing emotion? Potentially appearing vulnerable? Absolutely the fuck not. It’s this very mindset that hinders us from forming meaningful connections and feeling lonelier than ever. I once saw someone use ChatGPT to draft an apology to a supposed friend to avoid doing the difficult and uncomfortable work of reflecting on their actions and offering a sincere apology. My soul immediately leaves my body when I choose to open up to a friend, only to be met with “shag, bro” as the most feeble attempt at comfort.
It’s the same for romantic relationships as it is for platonic ones. As someone that’s already pretty hard to want, why do I want to make things harder for myself by playing hard to get? I don’t want to pretend that I don’t like someone for fear of seeming overly-invested, and I don’t want to someone to seem uninterested just to keep me on my toes and wanting more. What happened to sincerity? Just tell me I’m cute and call it a day. What benefit is there to this vicious cycle of a cat-and-mouse game? What are we doing here? Isn’t dating hard enough as it is?
The fact of the matter is, anything remotely of value is worth the effort. Making art is worth the effort, even if it means practising the same chords on the guitar until callouses form on your fingertips, or being hunched over a desk for hours with a pencil in hand until you get that one detail drawn just right. People are worth the effort. It comes in the form of showing up, and occasionally means needing to have difficult conversations. It’s not always the easiest or the most enjoyable, but that’s how you show that you care. Clichéd as it seems, life is simply too short for anything other than sincerity, so you might as well live in the comfort that you’ve done everything you could and said everything you’ve needed to.
Thanks for making it to the end of the post! Here are a couple of interesting online finds:
The Art of The Music Video: in an era of lyric videos and visualisers, this video breaks down what makes a music video iconic and withstand the test of time.
Alex Melton Covers 'Viva La Vida' By Coldplay: Alex Melton is one of my favourite musicians on youtube, and in the same vein of putting in effort to create art, he analyses the makeup of Vive La Vida by Coldplay and does the work of looking up the song and artist history to produce a well-thought out reinterpretation of this iconic song.
How Live Nation Is Devouring The Music Industry: the Wall Street Journal explains how Live Nation essentially is the absolute devil, both to artists and fans alike.
Why Radiohead Is So Effective In Visual Media: so it turns out that radiohead’s music is more than just for male manipulators to listen to!
In Space, No One Can Hear You Girlboss: Pitchfork releases a scathing indictment of Katy Perry’s 11-minute journey to outer space.