My Tangle with “You Made It Political”
Alright, so this “you made it political” thing. Been bumping into it. All over the place, really. At first, I’ll be honest, wasn’t entirely sure what the big deal was. Just another online catchphrase, I figured. Saw it, nodded, kept scrolling. Didn’t really stick with me.
But then I started to actually pay attention. Wasn’t just random, see. It always popped up in these specific kinds of spots. Like, someone would post about a new comic book. Then some other guy jumps in, “Ugh, why’d they have to make it political?” And BAM! Someone else would hit ’em with, “You’re the one making it political by complaining about a female lead!” That’s when my gears really started turning.
My “practice” with this meme, if you wanna call it that, was mostly just watching. Observing. I started seeing a pattern pretty quick. It felt like a defense, almost. Or maybe a way to flip the whole script on someone.
- Someone moans a game is “political” ’cause it has a gay character.
- Someone claims a history lesson is “political” ’cause it dares to mention slavery.
- Someone whines a company is “political” for putting up a rainbow logo in June.
And that comeback, “YOU made it political,” well, it started to make a whole lotta sense. It’s like saying, “Look, this thing was just… existing. Or trying to be a bit inclusive. And you decided to throw a political fit about it.” Simple as that.
I even caught myself thinking it the other day. Seriously. Was reading some chat about, I don’t know, putting more bike lanes in the city. Pretty basic stuff. And someone pipes up about it being some “radical leftist agenda.” My first thought? “Pal, you’re the one making bike lanes political.” Didn’t type it out, but the thought was loud and clear in my head. It’s kinda become a shorthand for me now, for that whole ridiculous situation.
Funny, isn’t it? How a simple phrase can suddenly just crystallize a feeling you’ve had. A feeling you couldn’t quite put your finger on. For me, “you made it political” just nailed that frustration. The frustration of seeing perfectly normal stuff get dragged through the mud. For no good reason at all. It’s not like I’m out there slinging memes left and right, not my style. But getting this one? It felt like I finally understood a small piece of why online talk can be so damn exhausting. It’s a way to point out the sheer absurdity of it all. Without writing a whole essay, you know? Just a quick jab. And sometimes, a quick jab is all you need.
Still mulling it over, though. It’s one of those things, isn’t it? Easy to see the symptom. Much harder to fix the actual problem, the reason this whole thing even exists in the first place. But yeah, that’s my two cents on it.
