No guilt in guilty pleasures!

I often wonder what makes a person intelligent. What is the combination of characteristics that deems a person’s intellect superior to another’s? I wonder about this because ever since I was a little kid, I had one big fear, and that is the fear of being stupid. You know, part of the masses, the loser that laughs at his own jokes while everyone else in the room stares at the floor, who states truisms as if they were his own rational thinking and who makes it awkward for other people in the room (have you ever noticed that it’s the smart people who feel awkward for the dumb, the latter rarely –if ever, realize?).

I’m thinking about this because more often than not I hear people say that they would never watch this show, read that magazine, or go to that place because it is beneath them. Well, I for one consider myself an intelligent person – actually, strike that, I don’t consider myself to be one, I am one! Still, I very much enjoy watching Jersey Shore (b*tch!), reading gossip magazines, following the Kardashian’s on Twitter (Kim’s off the market, by the way), day dreaming about Lloyd Banks and the list can go on! You would think that now I would have to list a number of things that would compensate the above, such as telling you where I went to school and what classes I took, maybe drop some business lingo, or what classics I enjoy reading, what my favorite section of the Financial Times is or some other nonsense. You expect me to do so because in your minds these are punishable acts, or at least actions that need an explanation and an apology.

I was watching an episode of America’s Next Top Model (see how I keep throwing ‘negative’ examples at you?) and Tyra Banks’ mom gave the following advice to this contestant who was constantly bickering about being stuck in an environment of stupid girls: you don’t have to flaunt your intelligence every time you get the chance to. If you are intelligent, it’s going to shine through.

So many times people are ashamed to admit that they have guilty pleasures because they think it undermines their image of being cultured, educated people. But shouldn’t such people be more complex? Shouldn’t there be more layers to a person?

I feel that if I would surround myself ONLY with literature, political news, philosophy and the occasional BBC documentary or Oscar winning drama, I would very quickly become the world’s most frustrated person. I prefer dancing to Jay-z, because, in all honesty, I would have to be institutionalized if I would bump and grind to Beethoven's 3rd Symphony. And then again, why do I need to compensate my appreciation for rap music with anything else? Does that make me less interested in the world issues?

 

Maybe my perception is distorted, and maybe being intelligent and living intelligently are two completely different notions. I do however hold that an intelligent person is entitled to distractions, and more than that, he or she is entitled to enjoy these distractions just as much as the more groomed aspects of life. So fist pump with pride my dear friends, no shame in our game!