Unpopular Opinions and Why We Need Them

Fred and Velma should have ended up together. That’s one of my unpopular opinions.

I think “unpopular opinions” are incredibly important. They’re what make the world go ’round. Without differing opinions, and the boldness to speak up about them, we can easily fall into traps of thinking that everyone thinks the same thing as us. It creates a divide between you, your people, and the “others.” 

Expressing an unpopular opinion, as extreme or minute as they may be, can speak the unsaid into the world and disrupt the status quo. We’ve been taught by the school system to sit down and play our part cohesively and not raise our voice. But as we’ve grown older, we’ve (at least I have) seen how important it is to speak your truth.

I may not believe every opinion out there, but it is yours to own. While you may rock the boat, I find that this is often how you find your tribe. Not when you’re following the crowd, but when you’re willing to put yourself out there for what you believe. Whether that is your faith, your movie choices, moral views, or even what ice cream flavor you think is underrated, you won’t ever be alone.

There is a reason why coming of age books and movies, alongside things like The Hunger Games that are more dystopian, are best-sellers. Standing up against the mean girls. Finding your true friends. Fighting for your freedoms. These tropes sell because people have an innate desire to rebel and stand up for themselves. I find that the only times you will be shot down (unless it is in good, friendly fun) will be if you’re surrounding yourself with people who are too homogenous or who don’t respect your opinion enough to listen and think about what you’ve said.

Here are some questions you can ask yourself before expressing your unpopular opinion:

• Am I being kind in stating this? Or just trying to rock the boat to rock the boat?
• What can I learn from everyone through this discussion?
• Is it the right time and place to be sharing this opinion?
• What can you learn from this situation (either good or bad)?
• Why do I have this opinion?

Well. Enough of the seriousness! At the beginning of this, I wrote my unpopular opinion. These were yours:

Rachel should have left Ross and gone to Paris and lived her dream.

Phoebe & Joey should have been together.

Ross is awful.

Sounds like I’ve got a lot of friends who love Friends.

Lukewarm water is better than cold water.

Agreed.

The Notebook is a garbage movie.

…Also agreed. Am I finding my tribe here?

People should be less afraid of disagreeing with each other.

Fighting words about fighting words.

We need to stop with all the comic book movies.

Taylor Swift is the best…ever.

1000% agreed.

The Office was over-hyped for me. It’s funny but makes me cringe.

Christmas drinks at Starbucks are better than the Fall ones.

Starting kids younger in football is safer and smarter as a parent.

Eating by yourself is underrated.

I’d absolutely encourage anyone to try this out.

Hocus Pocus is not the end-all-be-all Halloween movie.

I don’t like The Beatles.

I don’t like dogs.

Ending on a hurtful note, sorry.

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Do you have any unpopular opinions you’d like to share? Leave ’em in the comments down below!