The Contrarian's EIGHT Commandments
I paid a visit to the Great Contrarian on high yonder mountain, and he delivered unto me these rules to live by...
Thou shalt not SCHMOOZE
Thou shalt not HYPE
There's a difference between "promoting" and "hyping." While promoting can get obnoxious, that's not a guarantee. Someone who promotes his/her work is just trying to draw attention to the fact that it's there for people to see. Hyping, on the other hand, is the nasty spawn of promoting. It is always obnoxious, because it is puffing up the work to be greater than it is. You know when something is being hyped when people run around squealing "Eeeeeeee! I can't waaaait!" Even worse is when they declare that this movie, book, whatever represents the defining point of their existence. You also know something is being hyped when the promoter calls it a "Once in a lifetime experience!" or "You have to see it to believe!" Well I've seen it and I still don't believe it.
Hyping isn't the personal property of bloated summer films or the latest "Tom Grishton" (Clancy/Grisham/Chrichton) novel: any of us can be guilty of it. So please, for the sake of dignity, let's vow to never punctuate our promotionals with exclamation points !!!!!!!!!!!!! or use words like "great" (or its big brother GREAT) and its many synonym siblings. The world will thank us for it.
Thou shalt WATCH THY WORDS
Words have power. If you repeatedly call someone "the most beloved" or "the most reviled," you convince people to nod and say "Uh-huh" until it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Never mind whether it's really true. This occurs especially in a community that is so closed-in, there is little to no opportunity for dissenting opinions. So THINK before you speak!
Thou shalt not get COMPLACENT
Thou shalt not be an ELITIST
Thou shalt not abuse POWER
Thou shalt not BACKSTAB
This means YOU!!!
No, not the guy behind you. YOU.
Last Updated October 16, 2000
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