I recently wrote this blog about the 1975 TV version of Tom & Jerry — which I abhor, especially compared to the fully animated classics that preceded it. In the blog, I mentioned a T&J fan who has taken the exact opposite stance. He has devoted a comprehensive website to the ’75 T&J series, and he makes it clear that he prefers the later TV version of the duo over the earlier theatrical cartoons.
I really seem to have set this guy off. He left me a long message at the end of my blog about how he would defend this series to the end, and he did the same thing on Facebook (where I had left a link to my T&J blog). Apparently, I have deeply offended this man, and I just want to say:
It’s only my opinion.
We all, happily, have the right to like or dislike whatever we want without having to face a firing squad because of our choices. There are people who absolutely adore cole slaw, while to me, it looks, smells, and tastes like cardboard covered with a garish amount of mayonnaise. Some might agree with me, but does that make it a fact? Of course not. It’s an opinion. And if you want to ruin a good hamburger by placing it next to a side of drippy cole slaw, that’s your prerogative.
A while back, I wrote this blog about opinions. One of the things that our currently divided country forgets is that it’s okay to disagree. I did not create a campaign to wipe out the TV version of Tom & Jerry for good. I didn’t deface the guy’s website. I merely said that I disagree with it. End of story.
When the movie Monty Python’s Life of Brian was first released and caused an uproar among the ultra-religious, film critic Gene Siskel gave a rave review to the movie on his TV series (the one with Roger Ebert) and said, “I feel bad having to defend it…Do [religious leaders] think people who have deep, personal religious faith will have that faith shaken by a 90-minute movie? How shallow. How patronizing. How insulting to people of faith.”
I think that applies to all such disagreements. Opinions are opinions. Don’t feel as though you have to give the Internet the scorched-earth treatment to defend your favorite book, movie, whatever. If you don’t agree, let it be.
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