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-UE
A Thing That Bothers Me A Great Deal: Pretension
Namely, the fact that while everyone has a thing or two and one hundred people they find "pretentious", nobody can or is willing to properly explain why.
What causes one to call another individual "pretentious"? The very definition of pretension is the act of using complicated terms in conversation to sound more intelligent than one truly is, or "to use big words." But how can one truly quantify how intelligent the speaker is, if one is not familiar with the language used? Only one who is equally familiar with the terms and jargon the speaker uses can know for a certainty the speaker's intelligence.
As such, more complicated emotions arise: frustration at not understanding what was said, resentment at the speaker over unrelated but equally-important issues, all of which tie into one immensely pervasive and destructive sentiment: "Why can't you talk like me? You're not better than me." This sentiment, this spite can (and certainly has) lead to even more destructive roads: pride in ignorance, hatred of others of the same group as aforementioned speaker, and feelings of superiority over the misfortuned. It is in many ways an extension of equal misery for all.
At the same time, what causes one to label a work as "pretentious"? While I believe that the problems of communication as stated above certainly are a factor, I also believe there is also a compulsion to play the contrarian at work, especially if said, work is widely popular. Consider also how caustic and damning the label of "pretentious" can be to a work. I for one have been compelled many times to cautiously think about what caused another to mark something I loved as having pretension, that irrevocably changed how favorably I viewed it.
Ultimately, I believe that the true source of the label of pretension is an aversion to what is perceived as disingenuous and insincere, regardless whether such a thing can objectively be known to be true.
What causes one to call another individual "pretentious"? The very definition of pretension is the act of using complicated terms in conversation to sound more intelligent than one truly is, or "to use big words." But how can one truly quantify how intelligent the speaker is, if one is not familiar with the language used? Only one who is equally familiar with the terms and jargon the speaker uses can know for a certainty the speaker's intelligence.
As such, more complicated emotions arise: frustration at not understanding what was said, resentment at the speaker over unrelated but equally-important issues, all of which tie into one immensely pervasive and destructive sentiment: "Why can't you talk like me? You're not better than me." This sentiment, this spite can (and certainly has) lead to even more destructive roads: pride in ignorance, hatred of others of the same group as aforementioned speaker, and feelings of superiority over the misfortuned. It is in many ways an extension of equal misery for all.
At the same time, what causes one to label a work as "pretentious"? While I believe that the problems of communication as stated above certainly are a factor, I also believe there is also a compulsion to play the contrarian at work, especially if said, work is widely popular. Consider also how caustic and damning the label of "pretentious" can be to a work. I for one have been compelled many times to cautiously think about what caused another to mark something I loved as having pretension, that irrevocably changed how favorably I viewed it.
Ultimately, I believe that the true source of the label of pretension is an aversion to what is perceived as disingenuous and insincere, regardless whether such a thing can objectively be known to be true.
Comments
The example I most commonly bring up regarding pretentiousness is the game Braid. It very clearly wants you to think it's deep and artistic, because before each level there is a sign you can optionally read that has some vague storytext relating to actions and consequences and questing, but none of it actually amounts to anything even a bit coherent, leaving that part of the game utterly void of any meaning.
So I guess my definition of something pretentious is something that makes an effort at a certain appearance (often, but not necessarily, intellectualism or artsiness), but a close examination reveals that it's just trying to mimic the look or feel without having any of the underlying reason for existing.
Regarding these two points:
I actually think Braid is a very good game, since it has innovative, fun gameplay. Fortunately the pretentiousness is kept in entirely separate areas from the game part of the game.
I hope I don't sound full of myself when I say that I think it's possible in some cases to identify something as insincere (or at least, empty of what it claims to contain) with a degree of objectivity.
Yeah, people are much harder to nail down in any regard, especially this one.
I agree with what Kraken said about how criticizing something for being pretentious can equate to "pride in ignorance," whether that ignorance is related to art, knowledge, or what have you. Honestly, while I think ClockworkUniverse is right on target about what the definition of pretension should be, I feel like a lot of times when people use it they just mean that the way something is done seems arrogant.
I guess an example of that would be people thinking that using big words is a way to show off how smart someone thinks he or she is. Another instance of that pretension might be making a super opaque play, movie, or poem. At least, those are the kinds of things that I see associated with the word "pretentious" these days.
Yeah CU nailed it for me.