“Don’t listen to him, he’s just a [fill in blank here]”
You may not have noticed as the world has subtly changed, but labels have taken on a new role—especially when we stick them on people. We used to think an identifier simply helped clarify who a person was. And I guess things like, “He’s a philanthropist” or “She’s very creative” still do. But nowadays it’s more and more common to have labels serve a completely different function—they’re a simple, shorthand way of getting people to shut up. Think about it.
I recently spotted a blog, for example, that was commenting on negative Hunger Game movie reviews. The blogger complained that he had almost not gone to see the movie because of some of the critical reviews he had read. And when he did see the flick, he realized how “moronic” those reviews had been. Instead of debating the merits of any pros or cons made, though, the blogger simply railed at those who had written the reviews, saying, “Haters, please go choke yourself to death.” And many fellow bloggers cheered the idea.
Now that’s just an isolated anecdote about a fairly innocuous rant, but let’s face it, his “hater” label certainly isn’t limited to being used on the blogosphere. You can find it and dozens of other sneering tags leveled in all manner of official statements, personal posts, political jabs and opinion articles all over the Web. Sometimes the most vociferous users thrive in the world of entertainment: Not thrilled with the sexuality shown in HBO’s Girls? Question Cam and Mitch’s relationship on ABC’s Modern Family? In some people’s eyes, you’d be a hater.
And the label serves its purpose.
If you’re labeled a “hater” or worse, well, then your opinion is automatically deemed invalid, no matter how untrue the label may be. Who’s going to listen to one of those people? For that matter, who wouldn’t be reticent about being tagged as one of those? It makes sense that if you get hit with that kind of verbal flagellation often enough—even if you have a perfectly valid point—you’ll most likely just start keeping your opinion to yourself. And that’s where the labeling ploy hits its full stride.
Even if a TV comedy shows gay teens hooking up every week, does anyone want to complain about it and maybe risk being labeled a “homophobe?” Or, for that matter, do you really want someone thinking you’re a “narrow-minded fundamentalist” because you might want to voice an irritation over Hollywood making PG-13 movies fouler and fouler? Probably not.
And that’s too bad. For once the vocal dissent fades away and reasonable discussion, or even disagreement, is quashed under the weight of a distasteful label, then the next phase kicks in. That’s when the labelers start saying:
“Well, everybody knows that [fill in blank here]”
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