Are you a ‘hater’?

I’ve seen this term thrown around a lot recently. Especially in the entertainment industry when someone’s clothes/music/style/acting is criticized.  The person leveling the criticism is automatically  labeled as a ‘hater’.  Sometimes I think it’s accurate because there will be a pattern of the same person picking at the same celebrity so that there is clearly something more going on than just a dislike of that person’s style. The Urban Dictionary define’s hater as:

“A person that simply cannot be happy for another person’s success. So rather than be happy they make a point of exposing a flaw in that person. Hating, the result of being a hater, is not exactly jealousy. The hater doesn’t really want to be the person he or she hates, rather the hater wants to knock some else down a notch.”

I get that I suppose. Under that definition then I am a New York Yankees ‘hater’ 😉

Most of the time though, I think it is thrown around much too loosely because when I hear the word “hate” I think of something much more anger driven. Hate makes me think you want that thing or person GONE. That on some level you’d be happier if they did not exist. It’s nasty & ugly.

By that definition I don’t hate anything or anyone.

But I know a lot of people do and it’s really disturbing to see it in action.

Of course following politics as closely as I do I am exposed to plenty of passionately driven individuals who cross that true hate line.  I almost (kind of) get that since politics is a pretty big deal and many people invest a lot of their time and energy into it.

But let’s throw politics out of this one.

What’s shocked me is the sustained displays of hate that I’ve seen leveled at people like a morning radio show.  Seriously. Last year I stumbled upon a twitter account of someone who signed up with a variation of the show’s name and posted tweets in response to the real show’s either on-air talk or twitter posts ruthlessly mocking what they said. Other posts were just horrible missives attacking each member of the show personally, including writing nasty items about their spouses and children! Day after day this went on until the people on the show found out & got the account suspended. You are thinking – ok, that was some nutjob like a celebrity stalker type, right? Who just gets their mania out on the internet instead.

Well, there’s a LOT of them out there if that’s the case!

I tripped over another one this week. Not a mock account this time. A real twitter account of a woman somewhere in the mid-west who is a fan of Kris Allen. He was the one who won American Idol last year over Adam Lambert. Naturally there was some rivalry there between their fans. Not between them, mind you – they adore each other & have been nothing but supportive of each other from the start. Unfortunately many of their fans didn’t care and even after the competition was over, even after the tour was over, even after who won or lost didn’t matter one BIT and they have each released a solo album & are launching their individual tours now – some fans could not let go. This woman is a case in point. One year later and every other tweet was an awful hate laced screed against Adam and/or his fans. In between she would praise Kris, or post about her own life, but man…Adam turns her into a devil woman!

I just don’t get it. How can you go about your life feeling that way? Why would you WANT to carry around that much vitriol in your mind and heart?

I might have a moment of white-hot anger at something/someone because of a particular event, but trust me, it is JUST a moment. I forgive & forget (ahem, usually) pretty easily. I know for a fact that there is not one single thing or person for which I could express my hatred in multiple twitter or blog posts over months and months!

As Adam said in response to some anti-gay protesters during the American Idol tour “I’m pretty sure God hates hate more.”

Yeah, me too.