What is it about humans that makes them always want to fit in?  That makes being part of society some deep imbedded need.

I know what you're thinking ... what's she bitching about now ... well I'm not bitching exactly ... just curious about a contradiction I realized a couple days ago.

People who want to be popular baffle me.  Particularly the young set and their herd mentality, where they have this great need to be just like the popular people in some hope that it will make them popular too.  They hate being different ... and think being the same as the 'in' crowd is some great accomplishment.

But here's the contradiction.  Popular people are popular because they're ... wait for it ... different.  That's right.  Popular people get that way because there is something about them that stands out and sets them apart and above the crowd.  Something that makes them special.  That makes them individuals.

Yet somehow people get the idea that to be popular themselves they have to be the same as others?  Where the hell did that warped thinking come in?

Now I'm sure some of you are baffled by that and are wondering if I'm right ... thinking back to the popular people you know and wondering if they really were different, individuals ... special.  Well, hell yes and stop being so damn slow.

Look at celebrities.  They're the epitome of the popular crowd.  Each and every one of the top celebs ... that everyone emulates ... there's something that sets them apart from the crowd.  That makes them different ... special.  If they were all carbon copies of each other then what would really be the big deal about them?  Do we really need two Will Smiths?  Two Julia Roberts?  I mean it wouldn't be bad depending on your point of view ... but what makes Will and Julia so spectacular ... is that they are unique.

If we had more than one Julia Roberts would she be so special?  Or simply a dime a dozen ... no big deal cause we'd be bombarded by thousands of movies like Notting Hill ... which while wonderful ... wouldn't go down so well if we have a thousand movies just like it that offers nothing more or nothing less.

Think about it.  The Matrix ... the original movie ... fucking brilliant.  Matrix Reloaded and Matrix Revolutions?  Utter crap.  First of all they brought nothing new to the game, and really did nothing that we didn't already see in the first movie.  Sure there were a couple amazing fight scenes and action sequences, but what made the Matrix special in the first place, wasn't just the fight scenes.  It was the entire premise ... that Neo was special and a savior ... but then the other two movies just crashed and burned by making him one of many in a long line of 'special saviors' and ended by pointing out that he didn't make much of a difference to the survival of Zion or the humans.  That the best he could hope to do was stay off the inevitable for a while longer.

Compare that drivel to The Lord Of The Rings trilogy ... yes they were all based on the same story, leading to one ultimate conclusion ... but they all told their stories differently.  They were all vastly different and the only thing they had in common were the characters.

It's what makes us special that makes us popular.  I can remember the popular crowd from my high school ... each of them were different ... had something 'unique' about them.  Good and bad.  No two were the same and if there was someone that had a similar personality to one of the top crowds, they unfortunately became expendable.  Not really popular, not really memorable ... just one of those hangers on.

Just so and so's friend.  Until that friend graduated then they could claim top spot.  Because we don't need two top dogs.  There's only room at the top for one.

Continue