ON HYPOCRISY AND CRITICISM
Today is one of those days when you wake up and conceive the idea of thanking God for waking you up from a terrible nightmare. As you begin to find strength to mutter a word of prayer, you stop in your tracks, realising that there was no nightmare. You are further clothed by grief, anguish and despair. Hmmmmm…… so it is real that…… I can’t even bring myself to type those words.
What further saddens me is the talk of the hypocrisy of those who didn’t agree with her style of music but are mourning her. This is where I believe that some people have erred. They have misconstrued criticism and blown it out of proportion.
As humans, it is normal to have preferences. From football teams to genre of music to religious organisations to choice of apparels, there are bound to be preferences. A preference is an issue deeply rooted in the tree of human nature hence it should be treated as such.
With respect to our Ghanaian culture, it wasn’t out of place to find people castigating and lambasting Ebony for her style of presenting her music. The only question I asked myself was whether these critics found anything wrong with the appearance of Beyonce based on the premise; what is wrong is wrong irrespective of the one who does it. If Beyonce’s music could be enjoyed way back in Ghana, I found it a bit disheartening that some people tore into Ebony for her way of dressing rather than focusing on her boldness and ingenuity.
To criticise is to express disapproval of someone or something. Criticism is simply expressing an opinion on how we feel that something ought to be done. I do not think that criticism in itself is in bad faith. Based on cultural factors, some people felt that Ebony should have done better with her mode of dressing. These are just opinions and I personally do not think that any of them did that in
bad faith.
At the end of it all we must all realise the bigger lesson. You have to stay true to yourself and be a realist rather than a conformist. At the age of twenty, her ingenuity and boldness became the deciding factor in Ebony’s short but remarkable music career.
Let us not misconstrue criticism to mean that we do not wish people well because in one way or the other, we all criticise.
An irreplaceable gem and unique talent has been lost and its better we focus on what she stood for rather than blowing the essence of criticism out of proportion. REST WELL, REALEST EBONY!
Baiden Gideon.
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