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| 50 Cent and his dog Oprah |
This morning on my treadmill, I was watching Oprah
interview Curtis Jackson (the rapper, 50 Cent). For years they had been at
odds, or rather, Jackson had been at odds with her. Oprah has publicly come out
against rap music which glorifies violence, uses the N-word, or has misogynistic
language toward women. Jackson took that personally.
“I would see moments
when you would discuss your feelings on the (rap) culture, and everything that
was wrong with the culture was what was on my CD, and I was like, ‘Oh, she
doesn’t like me,” said Jackson, even though Oprah had never met him nor said
anything negative about him.
So what did he do?
He waged a war of words against her. He criticized her, said she
pandered to white people. He named his dog Oprah, then tweeted that he had a
bitch named Oprah.
In this interview, Oprah asked why he said all those things
about her.
He responded, “I guess I was saying, If I can’t be your friend, at least
let me be your enemy, so I co-exist.”
His response blew me away. Most of us wouldn’t be that
self-aware, and if we were, few of us would admit it.
But isn’t that what people do?
Perez Hilton is a perfect example. He wasn’t rich and famous, so
he criticized those who were, and in doing do, he made himself relevant in
their world. (He has since seen the error of his ways.)
I wonder if we all do that in some way- especially when we
judge others. Are we knocking them down a peg in order to make ourselves feel
relevant in relationship to them?
Definitely something to ponder…
To keep myself in line, I have my favorite quote taped above my desk:
When you judge others, you do not define them. You simply define yourself as someone who needs to judge.
-Wayne Dyer
