How would you feel if you were having a conversation with a friend, and you were discussing your job, or your family, you know, something that really matters? Your job is frustrating and your supervisor is demanding. A family member is placing an extraordinary burden on you. You share this with your friend in an attempt to gain some type of understanding or just some common relief if you will. And once you finish bitching to your friend he or she says “well you know blue is blue.”
Blue is blue? Really? Wouldn’t your first response to your friend be “ are you high?” It’s a ridiculous response right? So why is it acceptable at that very same moment to say, “It is what it is?”
I remember when I first heard that statement. I didn’t like the comment but it was a throw away. I didn’t allow it to bother me. I did some research then and found out that it was attributed to a NASCAR driver. Since then I’ve heard that Rodney Dangerfield would say it back in the 80’s. So that’s a redneck, and a comedian. I could live with it as long as the phrase stayed in those circles.
However, the phrase slowly started to seep into our daily lexicon. I started hearing it everywhere. It was starting to get absurd. USA Today proclaimed “It” the #1 cliché of 2004.
One day I’m watching an interview of the President of the United States. He was being questioned vigorously about the gridlock in Washington politics. He gave a very elegant, thoughtful, informative answer and then punctuated it with “it is what it is.”
I was crestfallen. This dumb, ignorant, hillbilly phrase fell from the lips of the leader of the free world. I couldn’t believe it. I knew then we’d never get rid of this phrase. It could not be murdered nor would it commit suicide. Like stupidity it would be with us forever!
Sidebar
I’m watching “Heat” a couple of weeks ago. Great movie; one of my favorites. There is a fantastic 5-minute scene towards the end where Pacino (cop) and Dinero (criminal) are having coffee at a diner. They are discussing what makes them tick, and they are foreshadowing their inevitable conflict. They start to discover that although they are diametrically opposing figures, they are essentially flip sides of the same coin. They seem to be embracing their kinship and then they go bottom line on each other. Pacino vows to take Dinero down no matter the fondness he developed over their conversation, and Dinero says. “It is what it is.” I guess I still hate the phrase, but I hate it now slightly less than I did before.
