By Cole Gee | Staff Writer
Pretentiousness.
It’s the “film bro” who rants about the superior quality of black-and-white European cinema, the wannabe art critic who won’t stop talking about modernism or your friend who watched a couple of TikTok videos about a niche novel and won’t stop trying to get you to read it. Pretentious people tend to either exaggerate or elevate the things they love to an extreme degree and gatekeep them from other people to seem more unique.
Oscar-winning actor Ethan Hawke had a story done by TIME Magazine in 2015 over his documentary “Seymour: An Introduction” In the interview, he discusses the act of being pretentious and how young people should be inspired to embrace it.
“If you do it with a sense of humor, if you have a sense of humor about yourself, it means you are inspiring to something,” Hawke said. “You’re only pretentious if you can’t laugh.”
Most people’s first experience with pretentiousness was probably a form of gatekeeping or hyping something up because it’s “underground” or “indie.” However, I’d argue that beyond all that, being pretentious should be about having a deep appreciation for whatever brings you joy in your day-to-day life.
Some of the most beautiful parts of life can be found in film, literature, art or any other creative endeavor. Writing off a hobby because they’re “film bro interests” or any other pretentious label does more harm than good. You’re isolating yourself from an entirely new world to explore, all out of fear of standing out too much.
Sure, that’s not to say that every pretentious person in your life secretly wants what’s best for everyone and their interests. There are gatekeepers and snobs who would prefer to sit high on their thrones boasting about their niche interests. But as long as you have even a small semblance of self-awareness and can take some criticism, you can handle it.
People now have the chance to see more art in one month than the average person hundreds of years ago saw in their whole lifetime. So if you get the chance to read a classic novel, watch an artsy, foreign film or support your local art gallery — do it.
There’s nothing more satisfying than discovering a new interest and falling in love with it. Explore the world around you, and don’t be afraid to seem pretentious about the things you love.
