The Necessity of Controversy

It is difficult to personally connect to issues that you cannot identify with. We might personally know about the issue and we may have some sort of weak opinion about it, but more often than not the issue simply loses traction over time.

Is this a result of the media switching their focus rapidly for any controversies not deemed large enough? Perhaps, though passion for an issue does not and should not come from repetition on the news.

Despite the video for “Elastic Heart” by Sia being merely a blip on the map compared to such controversies as Ferguson or the LGBT protesting during the 2014 Winter Olympics, it is one of the few topics that I can actually connect with and feel a strong opinion about. While my actual opinion on the video would take up its own, separate article, the main and arguably more important takeaway is that I can now feel compelled to debate and attempt to sway people towards the opinions of an issue’s intricate details affecting a wider society.

Why does this matter? This is the struggle between a vocal minority and a silent majority. Moving from silence to speech increases your influence, and makes it more likely for people to understand your opinion. Hoping someone else somewhere just so happen to share the same perspective as you do in addition to them communicating their point in addition to actually being convincing to people you care about rarely happens. You cut all of these variables out and state your point your way to anyone who you would want the point to be heard by.

What controversies do is dramatically increase the amount and variety of people willing to move from the silent majority to a vocal minority, even if momentarily and for a singular reason. They allow more people to have a discussion about more issues, and to have changed world-views and perspectives persisting past the media coverage of the issue. They test society’s tolerance and boundaries, and break our understanding of seemingly simple or established conventions. We may despise and question the moral fiber of society when they occur, Ferguson, Donald Sterling, Michael Brown, and the “A Rape on Culture” article all immediately come to mind, but that is perfectly fine. It is only with these that a basis for improving this moral fiber can begin or become amplified.

I cannot force you to have an opinion or to join in a discussion. This is merely stating what we can interpret and take from inciting incidents as a broad topic, and the importance of this section and opinions as a whole. At worst, you may not agree with a few, you might despise some, and you may be infuriated with others. These still add to the conversation even if they do not match your perspective. If anything, you may even become compelled to become more vocal about your own opinion. That is all we want.