Everybody loves a
story about an underdog who overcame incredible odds, or a prodigal
son/daughter who found redemption. This in itself does not qualify as “Inspiration Porn”.
(1.) In general, Inspiration porn is when an individual takes someone else’s genuinely inspirational
story and uses it to support their point of view on something. (This point of view is often revolting and completely detached from the life experience of the
story they are using.)
Example: A guy posts a
story about a multiple amputee athlete with something
like, “Quit your excuses” when the guy is neither an athlete, or suffering from a physical disability. (Just hates fat
people).
(2.) When someone takes a one in a million odds story, and tries to use it to make a case that X, Y,
Z, systemic issue is not really a problem, because this one person in a million
got past it.
(3.) When a person with all the tact and empathy of a
rock, uses inspirational stories to justify their general lack of compassion, (often while laboring under the delusion that they themselves are beacons of total self-sufficiency.) This sort of person often pays scrupulous attention to the beginning and end of an inspirational story, while ignoring everything in between.
An inspirational
story wouldn’t be considered inspirational if the outcome was likely or probable. So you’ve got to be equal parts revolting and stupid, to try and use “inspiration porn” as an argument for what every person should achieve. Especially when that life experience is completely out of your depth.
Be careful to watch out for
snakes who try and use inspiration porn as an excuse to keep the
world just the way it is, while ignoring systemic injustices.
