Are we really this easy to influence?

People nowadays say anything they want just to look cool and get a few laughs because, after all, we're living in a generation where stand-up comedy is highly popular and for some valid reasons. Stand-up comedy is an art form where a single person shares life lessons and experiences in a humorous way.

The "370 wali biryani" controversy is trending these days. That boy said whatever came to his mind just to appear cool, and what concerns me as a member of society is that people are now using that statement as a parameter to judge others. A random person says something senseless for attention or humor, and suddenly it becomes a benchmark based on which we start forming opinions about people.

It's surprising how quickly we let a casual remark made for laughs turn into a standard for judgment. 

Just wow. 

 We usually derive our standards of judgment from broader cultural influences or communities. For example, many people grew up watching Shah Rukh Khan's films from the 1990s and thought, "I want to be a son like that, a boyfriend like that, or a husband like that." Whether right or wrong, those characters represented ideals that people looked up to. 

But when did random guys saying absurd things during crowd work become a benchmark for judging people? A person says something nonsensical for a laugh, and suddenly it turns into a social standard that everyone starts discussing and judging others by.

If we're allowing random, contextless remarks made for entertainment to shape our perceptions of people, then it says more about us as an audience than about the person who made the joke. It reflects a lack of critical thinking on our part.