Every day people talk about pop culture, whether its movies, comics or more mundane stuff, like celebrities and music. Yet something I’ve noticed is how often people in general, regardless of how we classify them, tend to say “X thing sucks!” without ever having experienced it in full.
Sometimes my friends stumble into material in my search
histories, physical and digital libraries that makes them question my taste. They
rarely believe it’s for research purposes. Then again, I don’t tend to explain
my research either, so it doesn’t help. Yet as a believer in the “I’ll respect
your opinion on this if you tell me exactly why you hate it” philosophy, I feel
it’s my duty to find out why something is popular or hated.
Let’s take a look at something popular. The erotic trilogy, Fifty Shades of Gray by E.L. James is a
huge best seller. The film already has a release date and teaser trailer. People
are divided between those who hate the book and those who worship it. Not
knowing which side to take and against the advice of the more literature minded
friends of mine, I read the entire trilogy and decided to formulate my own opinion
about it.
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| Not only did I read all three, I put a picture of it here too. |
Honestly, I found it trite, badly written and hardly erotic
but I can see why people liked it. It was accessible and simply written. It was
pure fiction fodder, something mainstream that didn’t require a lot of brain
cells to follow. It wasn’t written for a literary scholar, but for that person
who just wants something simple and trashy to read. Though I
stand firmly on the “I don’t like it” side, I have legitimate reasons to not
like it. Given enough time, a highlighter and a perishable copy, I can probably
quote exact sentences that show why I disliked the books. Among them being the inconsistent
characters and the bland sex scenes. But then again, I can’t entirely hate the
books. It was shooting for a specific audience, mainly the casual or reluctant
readers, and hit it with the same sniper precision seen from Hawkeye in The Avengers.
Another interesting scenario was when I started watching the
Supernatural anime. Surprisingly,
fans of the show and its expanded universe told me not to watch it because it
sucked. While they were indeed correct (no Jensen Ackles voicing Dean except in
two episodes?!), none have watched it. No one can legitimately answer what
episode made them officially say “Dear [insert deity I worship], no more!”
Whereas I can pinpoint the exact episode I decided that it wasn’t for me. Twilight often gets similar hate. Having
only seen the first two films, I can’t bash them. Yet having read all four
books, I declared it a miss the minute the main vampire compared his lady love
to heroin and she became an insufferable clingy girlfriend once they got
together. That’s without counting the sheer absurdity of the last book which made
it humorous to me.Yet most of its strongest haters are people who can't even identify the different books. Whether you love or hate it, as with Fifty
Shades of Gray, it was aiming for a specific audience and you have to
admit it also hit that target audience with staggering accuracy. Hawkeye
strikes again, I suppose.
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| Though I dislike Twilight, this shouldn't be a thing. |
Which brings the following questions to light. Is it right
to hate on something without having experienced it? How much of it should you
experience before you classify it as crap and unleash the hate? Personally, I
do my best to not bash on something I haven’t finished but I’m just as guilty
as anyone else. Truth is, at some point all geeks do it. What bothers me is the
oft missing “why”. I’d rather just tell you with facts why I think something
bites and advice you why it may not strike your fancy, but even then I still
encourage you to see it and decide for yourself.
While it is strictly a matter of opinion, I believe that regarding pop culture entertainment mediums they should be well informed and
intelligent. Every factor should be considered, including whether or not you
are the intended audience. Hating something for the sake of the haters should
never be a thing, whereas recommendations and fully formed opinions with legitimate
reasons should.
Disrespect towards other fandoms should also never be a thing.
Instead of saying “I think this sucks!” you should merely say. “I saw it and it
didn’t appeal to me for X reason” and move on. Courtesy should always be
observed. Providing a uninformed opinion to a fandom will not make you cool.
Instead, you’ll end up sounding dumber than those sparkly vampires trying to be
sexy without Jensen Ackles’ voice. If there is one uninformed decision that
all geek culture can agree on, it’s that no one likes that one hater nerd.
Currently Listening To: La Ley- Unplugged
Book on My Nightstand: Batman: A Death in the Family
On my TV: Equilibrium
Currently Retro gaming: Lunar: Eternal Blue
Random Pop Culture Thought of the Day: "I need to finish the SPN recap STAT. If only to let the masses know how spirits can pop out of your eyes."
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