Popularity is Good (also, Gaga)

Sometimes, you gotta like shit just because it's popular.

Think about it: Mean Girls, Glee, Lady Gaga... where would we be if we were alone in our obsession? What would become of our lives if we couldn't cry "Four for you, Glenn Coco! You go, Glenn Coco!" at random intervals, if we couldn't spend hours discussing whether or not the Glee gang's voices are too auto-tuned on the show, if we couldn't hear Gaga refer to us as "little monsters?" Sobbing underneath our covers with a cup of hot chocolate, that's where.

That's not to say that you should commit a felony because all your friends are doing it. If you really don't like something, don't like it. It's not a hard concept. And there are times when trends get so huge that they become a never-ending source of torture for all those who are less than in love.

But stardom has shone upon Lady Gaga, and I am not about to take it away from her (as if I could!).

Mean Girls, Glee, Lady Gaga - I only started liking any of them because they were so gosh darn popular. I saw Mean Girls for the first time four years after it came out and it's still talked about like it's the only movie ever made. I listened to "Bad Romance" - the first Gaga song I ever truly loved - because people in my Chem class couldn't stop singing the intro. I finally caught up with Glee on Hulu because my Yearbook class friend couldn't shut up about it. And while I genuinely adore Lady Gaga now, not for her popularity but for her songs and personality, I'm still not a honest-to-God fan of Mean Girls (even though I LOVE Tina Fey) or Glee (it's good, but like... it's not that good). But I still partake in the merriment surrounding them because it's so fun. Honestly. The hype around them is so much more entertaining than the actual things that I almost have to laugh at the people who are so vehemently anti-Glee. Shit man, stop freaking out about them screwing up a Queen song (I didn't like Vocal Adrenaline's cover either!) and accept that it's a show meant to entertain. One show doing a less-than-perfect cover of a classic isn't going to ruin the song forever.

And what would Lady Gaga be without her somewhat staged insanity, her hordes of adoring fans? Life would be no fun if virtually everybody in the room couldn't start singing along to her newest hit. Our weeks would be boring without Lady Gaga dress-up days - an excuse to smother your face in makeup just for the sake of looking crazy. If you don't appreciate her music, you can at least appreciate Gaga as a phenomenon. It's awesome.

Sometimes, your love for amazing things (Harry Potter, for example) makes them hugely popular. Sometimes, the popularity of things makes you love them. I'm not saying you have to love everything - shit, no matter how many times you play me "Tik Tok" parodies (which I DO love), I do not like Keh-dollar sign-HA - but if there's something big that you kind of like, just roll with it. You'll be happy you did.