Sandy Supposes....

Be careful when you follow the masses...

Prompt: Sunday news. This week the trailer for the new Ghostbusters reboot was launched and along with it came concerns of racism and sexism. My biggest question is this. Are we just looking for reasons to be offended in everything nowadays? Or is this new politically correct culture a byproduct of 24 - hour newscycles, combined with the internet and social media being in our faces constantly? Is being aware of everyone's opinions on everything somehow indirectly shaping our own?

         First of all many of the media criticisms re this movie reboot complain about women adopting the main roles. In the original film, the main characters were men. What a stupid narrow-minded viewpoint. If I cared about this, I might understand this fault - finding to be sexist. Why can't the Ghostbusters be female? Perhaps this is a fresh approach, a comedic one. This is after all make believe; anything goes. T he entire story/concept is fictitious. How can there be pre-conceived notions? Why make mountains out of mole hills?

         I don't believe this political correctness is something new. It has always existed. The various media platforms do make its delivery and sharing easier. I don't think I' m swayed by the opinions of others. I still have a healthy skepticism . I do not blindly believe everything I read, or rashly share all the byproducts of social media. There is a great deal of crap which I ignore. Slander rags have existed since printed media was invented. Unfortunately, there will always be people who are interested in idle gossip and wild speculation. It only survives with an audience, and I choose not to buy into it.

         The proponents of political correctness are trying to create problems where there aren't any to worry about. The majority of this earth's people are either male or female. This is nothing new, so why is this supposedly a problem? It's not a label, it's a fact. How can it be terrible to be recognized as one or the other? The colour black or the shade known as black is a viable descriptor . Some so-called activists take issue with using the word 'black'. Some protestors want to deny referring to sheep as black or white; the most common colours of this animal. Who are these people that find this offensive?

         We are free to disagree. We are not sheep or lemmings blindly, unquestioningly following each other. We are free to form our own opinions and ignore others. Be careful when you blindly follow the masses.... sometimes the 'm' is silent.