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By Joanna DelBuono
Brooklyn Daily
When did we become so mean?
In this day and age of political correctness and a kinder and gentler nation, we have become the nastiest species on this little rock.
It seems to me that the more we boast about our perfect political correctness, the meaner we actually are. Underneath all the smarmy, smiley, have-a-nice-day crapola, beats the heart of a hard, black-as-tar, mean-ass soul.
True good humor and pleasantness has gone the way of black and white TVs and (I can’t believe I’m writing this) Twinkies.
Years ago, before political correctness became the call of the mild and was forced down our collective throats, we were a lot more honest and a lot less meaner. People said what they meant right to your face. Not many suffered from “Smiling-to-your-face-and-stabbing-you-in-your-back syndrome.” Well there were some, but it was a rarity, not the norm. There was open and honest discourse and nary a snarky comment to be heard. Sad to say, but today snarky is the norm, not the rarity.
The only reason that I can come up with for the increase in mean is that it is a whole lot easier to be mean when you hide behind a keyboard than if you have to say it up-front and personal. And thanks to all the social networks we have, the keyboard has become today’s weapon of choice.
Several instances come to mind— Rex Reed in his movie review, calling actress Melissa McCarthy a hippo, (I hit that subject last week), and this week, British writer Hilary Mantel wrote that Kate Middleton was a “Plastic Princess with no personality.”
Don’t get me wrong. Columnists and writers have taken a certain political incorrectness regarding the exploits of the hoi polloi, those in the public eye and the rich and famous, and not-so-famous since the days of Hedda Hopper and Louella Parsons.
But nowadays, its the regular Joe Schmos that have hopped aboard the mean train with nasty comments and a big dose of downright meanness toward one-another.
Not for Nuthin,™ but I liked the world a whole lot better before we became so politically correct and meaner than a junkyard dog.
Follow me on Twitter @JDelBuono.
Joanna DelBuono writes about national issues every Wednesday on BrooklynDaily.com. E-mail her at jdelbuono@cnglocal.com.