No nuance November: the U of R’s hot takes

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“how could you say something so controversial yet so brave?” -hannibal buress Shae Sackman, manipulated by Kate Thiessen

Say it and run

By Marty Grande-Sherbert, Carillon Staff, and and Contributors

Every November it seems there is some kind of mass social “challenge” everyone partakes in, probably because November is about the most boring and uneventful month of the year. It seems to have flown by already without anyone noticing, but as usual, there was something new to keep us all entertained meanwhile.

This year the challenge was “No Nuance November,” where we are encouraged to “post hot takes and run.” Many have used this as an opportunity to state their opinions about relatively inconsequential things like whether Star Trek is better than Star Wars, while some others have taken it as an invitation to give “no nuance” takes on things that probably definitely need some nuance. It’s important to remember, in this editor’s opinion, that just because stating an opinion causes an exciting stir doesn’t mean it’s responsible to do so. Sometimes, failing to consider all sides of an issue can cause you to sound like you’re totally disregarding the experiences of others, and if it’s an important conversation it’s not a good thing to always approach it in bad faith. Most importantly, you shouldn’t really be posting “hot takes” on things that don’t affect you. Giving a “no nuance” opinion about racism, for example, if you’re a white person, sort of leaves BIPOC to deal with the implications of what you said while you just get to treat it like a fun challenge. Again, nuance has its place!

That being said, there are some stances that I do think deserve to just exist unapologetically, and I also think sometimes people need to be able to express their discomfort with something without being picked apart for it. In that spirit, and in the spirit of jumping on another bandwagon, I decided to solicit some No Nuance takes from the Carillon staff and the general student body for this, our final issue of the semester. Most of them just turned out to be the silly, inconsequential things, but that doesn’t mean people can’t get fired up over some of them.

Without further ado, here are the takes. I decided to weigh in on my reaction to them –not because anyone asked for it, but because I’m writing the article so I’m adding my verdict as a treat. I will categorize all these takes by either “agree,” “disagree,” “no comment” (for things I don’t really have an opinion on or the context for), and “needs nuance” (for things that I think actually need to be explained a little more or have some qualifiers.) If you’re sorry you missed your chance to weigh in, there’s still a post up on the Carillon’s twitter and Facebook profiles where you can comment.

From staff writer Holly Worby:

Boneless bites are better than wings because you can actually eat the whole thing so you’re not paying for bones in the weight.

EDITOR’S VERDICT: No comment

Cliffhanger endings are from the devil – I want closure, damnit.

EDITOR’S VERDICT: No comment

Ketchup chips are the worst chip flavour. Ketchup shouldn’t be the dominant flavour in anything.

EDITOR’S VERDICT: Disagree

Veggietales has some absolute bops.

EDITOR’S VERDICT: Agree

Tomato-based sauces are the worst pasta sauces.

EDITOR’S VERDICT: No comment

Tech editor Shae Sackman:

Horror movies suck.

EDITOR’S VERDICT: Disagree

Crunchy peanut butter is superior. always has been, always will be.

EDITOR’S VERDICT: No comment

Web writer Gillian Massie:

There is not one bad song from the entire Phineas and Ferb series.

EDITOR’S VERDICT: No comment

Ice cream trucks should be a thing again, even in the winter.

EDITOR’S VERDICT: Agree

Editor-in-chief Taylor Balfour:

Jujubes are DISGUSTING and don’t even get me started on the chocolate covered ones.

EDITOR’S VERDICT: No comment

Everything to do with Harry Potter is super overrated.

EDITOR’S VERDICT: Agree

The Cheetah Girls were the best music act to ever come out of Disney.

EDITOR’S VERDICT: Agree

Contributors:

Andrew Garfield is the best live action Spider-Man. (Grayson Suchy via Facebook)

EDITOR’S VERDICT: No comment

The minimum wage does more harm than good and should be abolished. (Alex Norleen via Facebook)

EDITOR’S VERDICT: Needs nuance

Raichu is better than Pikachu. (Amir Said via Facebook)

EDITOR’S VERDICT: Disagree

Being in school is way easier than the real world. Study hard. (Shaynee Modien via Facebook)

EDITOR’S VERDICT: Needs nuance

What are some of MY no nuance takes? That’s a secret I’ll never tell. XOXO, gossip girl. (Honestly though, although I try to include as much nuance in my articles as possible to avoid being misinterpreted, you can probably read through them and figure it out what I refuse to budge on pretty fast.)

On a related note, thanks to all my contributors, writers, editors, and readers for making it possible to have this very weird semester of the op-ed section. I only hope that more of you and a wider variety of you will be able to participate, contribute, and be compensated for such in the future. After all, hot takes are what it’s all about.

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