Confessions of a Hater

Hello. My name is Leanna Renee Hieber. I'm very honored to be here. I am an actress, a playwright, an author and sometimes I've been a hater.

For my inaugural post here at popculturedivas I figured I'd best introduce myself. And come clean. Pop Culture and I have a stormy relationship.

I was the girl, years ago, at Miami University of Ohio, (J. Crew U. to many) a school with multiple thousands, who got stopped by someone on the street who took one look at my fishnets, my choker, my black combat boots, my black school-girl skirt and said "Hey, you're the one with the car. With the bumper stickers."

Out of thousands, I was visually picked out as the owner of the car with the bold black bumper-stickers reading "Anti-crombie" and "Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups" and "Bite Me" (replete with fanged smiley face). Oh, and I had a lot of plastic bats that hung from the ceiling of the car that bobbed pleasantly while I drove.

I reveled in the fact that I didn't subscribe to what everyone else was wearing or listening to, I defined myself as Anti-Pop by what was around me. I was, of course, creating another stereotype. Yet I did buck perceptions in rural Ohio. People looked at my goth-gear and I smiled at them. This 'perky goth' did not compute. I engaged many people in friendly, in-depth discussions about looks, styles, interests, attitudes and not judging books by their covers.

But what is Anti-Pop but just another vein of Pop Culture? I gotta tell ya, Hot Topic is pretty mainstream. (That's where I bought all those bumperstickers and most of my clothes.) Who's seen that South Park episode with the Goth kids trying to distinguish themselves from the "Douchy Vampire kids?" and so they burn down the Hot Topic? Definitely one of my favorite South Park episodes. (I like South Park. Happens to be pretty popular)

I was the girl that held out on Harry Potter. Everyone else liked it. I was skeptical. What is now one of my greatest treasures in all the world? One of the crowning inspirations for my own fantasy fiction?

Who is irresistible to me when she comes on the radio?

(Psst, she's pretty popular)

And since I work as an extra in New York based TV, what show do I work on most often?

That would be Gossip Girl.

I love working in Television, I love being on set, I love the details of what it takes to make a show. (Psst. TV = Pop Culture)

And my favorite TV show?

Last time I checked, pretty popular. (Yes, I'm sad it's over)

So I still wear the combat boots and the fishnets, no, it was not a phase. :) But I've come to terms with the fact that when something is popular, while it may not mean it's God's gift to society, I should check it out for myself and decide. And not be a hater. After all, don't bite the hand that feeds you.

Now. Your turn. What have you been a hater about? Have you held out on something you now find fabulous? Are you a pop culture skeptic or optimist? How do YOU define pop culture?

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Leanna Renee Hieber is the author of The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker, a Gothic Victorian dark fantasy series, debuting with Dorchester Publishing in mass-market paperback at the end of August.