Haters Gonna Hate Hate HaAAAAAAUUUUUGGGHHHhhhkk

I know I’ve expressed this sentiment before but it’s arisen in my mind again because lately I’ve been waking up to Taylor Swift’s “Shake It Off” (“haters gonna hate hate hate”) because the radio station plays it at the same time every morning:

We need to eradicate the phrase “haters” from our society as if it were polio.

I don’t hate the song “Shake It Off” or Swift because hating would imply that I care. I just can’t stand the vacuous phrase “haters gonna hate.” Saying “haters gonna hate” (or “haters gon’ hate” because we even need to make slang out of a word that is already slang) is another way of saying “I refuse to muster any self-reflection when faced with legitimate criticism.”

When someone criticizes something, it might not just be blind hate. The critic might have a well-reasoned critique. I might not like the melody of a song or find the instrumentation abrasive, for example. Responding to that with an automatic “haters gonna hate” is just an ignorant, immature way to engage with that criticism. Find a thoughtful response that addresses the actual criticism rather than basically saying “Talk to the hand.” It’s just … stupid is the only way to really describe it.

Certain artists are very susceptible to the “haters” response to criticism. Swift gets a lot of it and Adele and Beyonce seem to get a lot of it, too. It’s like with certain performers, there can be no dissent. These people perform on TV or release a new single and you get these embarrassingly rapturous reviews the next day like “Queen Bey wins the Internet now and until the end of eternity” or “Adele’s latest breakup ballad is everything and will make you cry like a colicky infant.” Nothing against these artists but the adoring slobber is a little much. Dial it back. I love Madonna but I can acknowledge that some people have legitimate reasons for not liking her music and I won’t automatically dismiss them. We can coexist.

No artist or artwork is above criticism. Some people do offer stupid critiques of a performer’s body of work but it’s misplaced entitlement to dismiss all criticism with the dimwitted phrase “haters gonna hate.” The song “Shake It Off” is very efficient at responding to haters. Before, Swift would wait until after someone criticized her to write a song responding. Now, the response comes as part of the song itself. If you don’t like something she’s doing, you don’t have a point; there’s something wrong with you. It’s pre-emptive defensiveness.