Being popular doesn't necessarily make something bad, but it certainly is a strong indicator.
If something has reached the level of generic-ness and mass appeal required to become the top seller in a medium, that often means it doesn't speak strongly enough to someone for it to be the best or most meaningful experience for a specific group or person.
For instance, imagine having to order a single pizza to share with 8 people. Some people like anchovies, some people like peppers, etc. But for a pizza to appeal to everyone it might have to be just cheese, because every person has their own specific tastes that come into conflict with each other. But just because they are all willing to eat that cheese pizza doesn't make it the 'best' pizza, just the one that has the common denominator between all of the people.
In fact I love food analogies when it comes to popularity and the quality of the product. You may find people who will argue until the end of time that Justin Bieber is the height of artistic meaning and achievement in music, but few will say that McDonalds sells the most hamburgers because they are made of top quality ingredients.
Having standards is the loneliest thing a person can do, and it's practically never out of choice. I would love to think that the media which surrounds me is truly meaningful and entertaining. I wish I could go back to only listening to songs on the radio, only watching big dumb blockbuster flicks, and only playing the games everyone else around me plays, but once I saw that there was more to life than what was placed directly in front of my nose it became impossible to go back.
I wish more people were critical, and more willing to admit the faults even in things they enjoy. But instead we have a strange kind of world where it seems like you either love something to the point of ignorance and blindness of any even somewhat critical views of it, or you're a hater who just disses the things people likes to be 'cool'. When really it's far more likely that neither of these things are true, and people just have a really hard time truly expressing their feelings and views on things in general.
I could ramble forever, and I tend to have my point missed completely no matter how much I type... so I'll just stop now.
If something has reached the level of generic-ness and mass appeal required to become the top seller in a medium, that often means it doesn't speak strongly enough to someone for it to be the best or most meaningful experience for a specific group or person.
For instance, imagine having to order a single pizza to share with 8 people. Some people like anchovies, some people like peppers, etc. But for a pizza to appeal to everyone it might have to be just cheese, because every person has their own specific tastes that come into conflict with each other. But just because they are all willing to eat that cheese pizza doesn't make it the 'best' pizza, just the one that has the common denominator between all of the people.
In fact I love food analogies when it comes to popularity and the quality of the product. You may find people who will argue until the end of time that Justin Bieber is the height of artistic meaning and achievement in music, but few will say that McDonalds sells the most hamburgers because they are made of top quality ingredients.
I hate when people put on that whole 'people hate what's popular because it's cool' nonsense. It's not cool to be critical of what's popular. What's cool is to like the same thing everyone else likes, to be in with the popular crowd.GundamSentinel said:People will always be hating on what's popular, because that's what the 'cool kids' do
Having standards is the loneliest thing a person can do, and it's practically never out of choice. I would love to think that the media which surrounds me is truly meaningful and entertaining. I wish I could go back to only listening to songs on the radio, only watching big dumb blockbuster flicks, and only playing the games everyone else around me plays, but once I saw that there was more to life than what was placed directly in front of my nose it became impossible to go back.
I wish more people were critical, and more willing to admit the faults even in things they enjoy. But instead we have a strange kind of world where it seems like you either love something to the point of ignorance and blindness of any even somewhat critical views of it, or you're a hater who just disses the things people likes to be 'cool'. When really it's far more likely that neither of these things are true, and people just have a really hard time truly expressing their feelings and views on things in general.
I could ramble forever, and I tend to have my point missed completely no matter how much I type... so I'll just stop now.