I heard Dennis Miller say some time ago that Contrarianism is creativity for the untalented. This is a very thought provoking statement and the more I have thought about it the more true it becomes. If someone with no talent wants to create something, whether it is a painting, a poem, a news article or just anything that can be created they many times look at another persons work and say, “I am going to do the opposite”. Doing the opposite makes it look as though the person thought of it on their own, since no one else has done it before. Only the opposite has been done before. “Look at my painting. I call it the Lisa Mona and it has a man with a big smile in it.”
Many times these untalented individuals take a look at the basic rules and morals of society. They see the lines that have been drawn for decency and decide this is where their creative genius is; it is in doing the opposite. This is what produces much of the “controversial”, “leading edge”, “pushing the envelope” kind of art, music and such. This is where we get people making lewd and disgusting materials and calling it art. It could technically still be called “art” but let’s be honest, it didn’t take much talent. The more people they offend the more these individuals feel talented. Then they may often proclaim that they are so creative that no one really “gets” them and no one understands their creative genius. This, of course, to the thinking person, is not creativity at all. Obviously there is no originality in their creation but rather just being contrary because it will get them attention. True creativity does not begin with seeing another’s idea and simply flipping it, or with just trying to offend everyone. Such a thing could make for a good joke, but I wouldn’t actually say the person who did it is talented or creative.