Conformity Sucks: The Difference Between The Rebel and the Fonz

Rebel is such a vague word, and on a college campus there are several variations. There is the pothead hippy rebel, the bohemian intellectual rebel, and the wild and crazy punk. Some of you probably resent how I just simplified everyone who acts differently into three broad categories. I could have done that to invoke anger, or to make you think about the way you judge. But that would be a stinking lie. The fact is that these 9 second interactions are all we have, and everyone judges. It is human; a basic thought process known as generalization that allows our minds to multitask and excel in more advanced functions. However, generalizations can hold us back.

Avante garde stuff is interesting to me, as well as surreal movies, anything apocalypse related and less specifically, science fiction. I enjoy riding my skateboard. Not because its “cool,” but because it makes me happy. As Willie Nelson said in Half Baked, “Its not the thing to do, because it’s the thing to do…it’s the thing to do, because it gets ya high, ya dig?” Except that I don’t even drink, much less use marijuana, and while I like intricate and sometimes bizarre art, I’m really tired of the word “trippy.” I love metal, not because I want to let the world know how much it sucks – I just like the power and speed. The disjointed yet technical musicianship is like energy-drunk Bach in a torture chamber.

Sometimes people talk to me like they think I’m going to criticize them. Just because I have particular tastes does not mean I think mine are better than yours. Maybe I should work on my facial expressions, because I do not want to convey this message. I may joke around, but as long as I think you have good intentions, I’m incredibly accepting, laid back, and friendly. I don’t like being pidgeon holed as the hotheaded petty-rule-breaker, or the cold atheist or the bleeding liberal, and I don’t adhere to vague statements such as fuck the system. I think I’m opposite of what most people assume I am: even though I don’t have much of these qualities, I value patience, discipline, and humility.

Someone who likes loud music, and looks a certain way, or will get in your face is not a rebel. A rebel doesn’t have a self-glorifying smile that screams they are cooler than everyone else. Rebellion is an internal thought process, and a true rebel does not necessarily act rebelliously. I think that rebellious actions are more often the result of angsty teenagers and repressed adults who are angry at the world. They are trying to prove something, so they conform to society’s definition of what it is to be a rebel. A rebel is someone who goes against social norms, and that can be me sometimes, but that is not normally how I act because I don’t like drawing too much attention to myself and I don’t like making waves. I try to be mellow, and while I am trying to establish myself as an individual, I am experiencing some difficulties. I have a hard time being myself in large groups of people because they make me anxious, and I do care about what people say and think about me, and I’m horrified of being humiliated in public. Other than that, I’m just trying to be the death metal loving nerd I am without isolating others for not being the exact same. I try to keep my attitude in check, and hang out with honest and friendly people.

When people stereotype me, I understand where they are coming from, for assuming that I hate their music or their beliefs, but I have found through experience that most judgmental people just don't understand you and/or they are projecting qualities of themselves. They are either insecure about their beliefs and interests or they really dislike my beliefs and interests, and so they treat me the way they're afraid of being treated. Or more often, they have the same Bob Marley tshirt I do and they smoke pot, so they think I do as well. When you make general statements about how metal takes no talent, or that so and so doesn’t look like a skateboarder, it just shows to me how uncultured and naïve you are.