We hate things because they're popular
- Thread starter VanityGirl
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Glad I'm not the only one. Sure I'd prefer a movie with a deep moving story, but as far as I'm concerned as long as I can leave the theater entertained, it was a good movie. Yeesh.VanityGirl said:
I think this habit of hating on things that are popular is a symptom of people's habit of jumping on bandwagons. Basically attack of the clones.
http://www.somethingpositive.net/sp08312004.shtml . It fits.VanityGirl said:
More on-topic, though: I think it has to do with the fact that most of us spend so much time outside of the mainstream that we've come to associate the mainstream with "what sucks". At best, it's because we're independently minded, and not willing to just fit in. More likely, it's because none of us were really "cool" in our young lives, and as a result backlashed against it. In order to make being an outcast survivable, we have to denigrate those things which are in the mainstream, and make ourselves "rejected because we're too good".
It's all about loci of control, yanno? We want to believe that we're choosing to be separate from the prototypical "popular" things, because if we're choosing it then it's something of our own volition (and thus not a rejection). If we're just being told we don't deserve to be popular, it's a bad feeling. The illusion that we could be popular/mainstream, and choose not to, is more comforting than the probable reality that we've always been forced to the periphery.
Ehh. It's possible, but that ignores that we deride things in the mainstream because they're mainstream. We love bands like Neural Milk Hotel primarily (I believe) because they're "independent", rather than because the music is actually better. If you're not liking a specific movie/show/album because it sucks, that's one thing. What we're talking about is deriding things simply because they're popular, that's different.(ZHU) Michael said:
Popular things can suck (Transformers). Indie things can suck (I hate, for instance, Animal Collective). We embrace indie, I believe, because of our individual histories of being rejected by the "popular" elements and reconstructing our own internal narratives to read less like "I was told I'm too ugly/annoying/poor to be one of the "cool" kids" and more like "I don't want to be one of the cool kids, 'cause I want to be independent and do things my own way"
To be honest, what chaps my ass more is when people think their popular culture is better then other people's popular culture.
For example, Stephen King openly criticized Stephanie Meyer, and more or less said she was a hack. While this is very true, it was coming from Stephen King, the guy who wrote a book about a fucking haunted car. Relatively speaking, his writing is more competent, but not by all that much.
To give another example, a couple I am friends with are mental over South Park. Fair I say, it is a decent enough show. But what gets me is their absolute vitriolic hatred of Family Guy, a show that I still occasionally enjoy (naturally, these opinions of theirs didn't surface until the infamous Cartoon Wars episodes). I've tried to convince them, time and time again, that neither one is all that special and that in a hundred years, all of it will be forgotten anyway.
I honestly don't get the almost crusader-like fervor with which people will defend their precious popular culture artifacts. It absolutely blows my mind.
For example, Stephen King openly criticized Stephanie Meyer, and more or less said she was a hack. While this is very true, it was coming from Stephen King, the guy who wrote a book about a fucking haunted car. Relatively speaking, his writing is more competent, but not by all that much.
To give another example, a couple I am friends with are mental over South Park. Fair I say, it is a decent enough show. But what gets me is their absolute vitriolic hatred of Family Guy, a show that I still occasionally enjoy (naturally, these opinions of theirs didn't surface until the infamous Cartoon Wars episodes). I've tried to convince them, time and time again, that neither one is all that special and that in a hundred years, all of it will be forgotten anyway.
I honestly don't get the almost crusader-like fervor with which people will defend their precious popular culture artifacts. It absolutely blows my mind.
I don't hate twilight, it's just meh. What I do hate is the unfairness that it takes up space that should be filled up with something I enjoy. Also, I tend to dislike people who love things as twilight, not because of the fact that they do, but because they tend to be stupid as rocks.
Usually I try not to judge things with their popularity in mind, though.
Usually I try not to judge things with their popularity in mind, though.
I try my best to not let the pessimism of others taint my opinions of things. I loved Avatar. I listen to and enjoy pop music. This does of course make me tend to like more popular things as opposed to less popular things, as the more popular will have more exposure and find its way to me more easily.
I've been trying popular stuff more often recently. I've found I like One Tree Hill (I was shocked), I like a few popular bands and I can say my honest opinion of the first Twilight film is that it was a decent romance with unfortunate ramifications for what mainstream society considers normal for a vampire. Neither horrid nor fantastic.
It makes speaking to people who don't follow all the upcoming game releases or like to spend hours arguing over topics such as the logistics of discovering you are a clone much easier, too.
It makes speaking to people who don't follow all the upcoming game releases or like to spend hours arguing over topics such as the logistics of discovering you are a clone much easier, too.
Yanno, if you actually simplify everything down to a one-sentence description (and are at all honest about it) there isn't much that doesn't suck. And, not for nothing, but your description of Avatar is the exact same description one could use for Star Wars. I would argue that the writing of the Sword of Truth series is as bad (if not worse, given how insane Terry Goodkind went) as Twilight, and that he's more of a hack for being a raging douchebag in addition to everything else.xDarc said:
See how it works? When you don't like something, it's easy to pass off your disdain as "legitimate". But at least admit that you have nothing but subjective belief about it.
Never read Twilight, but by *god* am I tired of the bashing. There are bands I really don't like, but I don't take every opportunity to mention it. For people who claim to despise a book, you spend an awful lot of your life thinking about it.
It's proven, because I hate it when this topic keeps coming up. Shut up. Please.
But yes, bad publicity is better than none.
But yes, bad publicity is better than none.
While it's undoubtedly true that some people hate popular things, I think it's unfair (and to be honest, ignorant) to assume that if people dislike something that's popular, they hate it because it's popular. That's like assuming anything that's popular must be good, which is just plain stupid.
Popular things just get a lot more attention, which includes negative attention. If Avatar was an obscure arthouse movie it would've gotten both positive and negative attention as well, but both in much smaller quantities. In fact, most of the people who'd go see it would be people who'd like that kinda stuff in the first place (otherwise they would either not know it or not care about it), so there would be significantly less negative attention.
The way it is now, Avatar is practically shoved into every moviegoer's face (and non-moviegoers as well through boards like this one), so a lot of people who would normally ignore an unoriginal Hollywood sci-fi-spectacle movie with a heavy-handed morality lesson stamped all over it are either persuaded to give it a try anyway to see what all the hype is about, or are getting annoyed by the constant references to something they wouldn't like in the first place, so it gets more negative attention than it perhaps deserves.
So while popularity is indirectly the reason for at least a part of the criticism, it's not like that's the main reason people don't like it. Different people just have different tastes (I know for a fact that there are plenty of people who enjoyed Transformers 2, after all), and if something gets a lot of attention it's just more likely to also get the attention of the people who don't like it.
Popular things just get a lot more attention, which includes negative attention. If Avatar was an obscure arthouse movie it would've gotten both positive and negative attention as well, but both in much smaller quantities. In fact, most of the people who'd go see it would be people who'd like that kinda stuff in the first place (otherwise they would either not know it or not care about it), so there would be significantly less negative attention.
The way it is now, Avatar is practically shoved into every moviegoer's face (and non-moviegoers as well through boards like this one), so a lot of people who would normally ignore an unoriginal Hollywood sci-fi-spectacle movie with a heavy-handed morality lesson stamped all over it are either persuaded to give it a try anyway to see what all the hype is about, or are getting annoyed by the constant references to something they wouldn't like in the first place, so it gets more negative attention than it perhaps deserves.
So while popularity is indirectly the reason for at least a part of the criticism, it's not like that's the main reason people don't like it. Different people just have different tastes (I know for a fact that there are plenty of people who enjoyed Transformers 2, after all), and if something gets a lot of attention it's just more likely to also get the attention of the people who don't like it.
Ever notice how whenever someone has a different opinion than yours, you all gush out more crap in response?
Nothing in this world is perfect, and therefore NOTHING is exempt from criticism. That includes me, you, and your precious little over-hyped pieces of garbage, too.
But I suppose it's easier to just generalize us all as "hating it because it's popular" rather than addressing our points or arguments.
Nothing in this world is perfect, and therefore NOTHING is exempt from criticism. That includes me, you, and your precious little over-hyped pieces of garbage, too.
But I suppose it's easier to just generalize us all as "hating it because it's popular" rather than addressing our points or arguments.
The problem with things that are too popular is that its quality tends to be blown out of proporsion. Because of that, new people might approach it with some level of expectations, which are, most likely, not met. If something is not that good and is popular, the puzzlement of why was is so popular to begin with will add to the dissapointment...
That, and many people actually enjoys being a part of a niche, it gives them identity... I can bet many people that menctioned Psychonauts now would come back claiming it wasn't so great if the game happends to became a massive success. It is the same argument many PS3 fanboys used when MGS4 was rumored to go multiplatform, even after the game was released on the PS3, because god forbids more people could enjoy it. That is because geeks love conformity [http://stuffgeekslove.wordpress.com/2008/11/25/conformity/]
That, and many people actually enjoys being a part of a niche, it gives them identity... I can bet many people that menctioned Psychonauts now would come back claiming it wasn't so great if the game happends to became a massive success. It is the same argument many PS3 fanboys used when MGS4 was rumored to go multiplatform, even after the game was released on the PS3, because god forbids more people could enjoy it. That is because geeks love conformity [http://stuffgeekslove.wordpress.com/2008/11/25/conformity/]