Dave Grohl summed up my feelings on guilty pleasures in this quote, adored by Tumblr: "I don't believe in guilty pleasures, you know. I believe you should be able to like what you like, if you like a fucking Ke$ha song, listen to fucking Ke$ha."
So why do Dave Grohl, Chuck Klosterman, and I all hate this phrase?
Because why do you have to feel guilty about something you like? Unless your pleasure comes from murdering people, you should be able to enjoy anything you enjoy. The connotation of this phrase is literally "I totally love this thing but I feel ashamed about it."
ABC
We need to not be ashamed of entertainment we like (unless it's Two and a Half Men -- then you should be ashamed). It is entertainment. It's there to entertain us and ment us. We should only feel pleasure from it. So rock out to Ke$ha, love Revenge, and, I dunno, be really into ice dancing if you want. Just don't call it a guilty pleasure.
1407 Comments