I just finished a book called How to Avoid Falling in Love with a Jerk. I found it at the library and picked it up because the title was so funny.
But I almost hesitated to put it in my “currently reading” list on Goodreads because it looked so… insulting to the guy I am in love with (not a jerk, by the way. The book says so!)
Are there books you won’t read, movies or TV shows you won’t watch, or anything artistic you won’t consume based solely on the title?
The Pursuit of Happyness.
I understand why it’s spelled that way, but it makes my eyeballs bleed to see it spelled that way, and I hate how morons across the country are now confused over the real word’s spelling. Even if I wanted to see the film, I’d be mildly irritated over the title the entire time I was watching it.
I avoided Gilmore Girls for quite a while, assuming it was about a bunch of sisters or private school girls. I guess I was half right. But I’m happy I caught it before it started royally sucking.
I don’t know if I have posted this before, but when I first saw the initial promos for Desperate Housewives, I really believed (seriously, I thought a show with a title such as that would be as big as a flop as Kelsey Grammar’s “Hank”) that no one in the entire world would ever possibly watch a show called Desperate Housewives…
Shows how clueless I am.
It was ages before I read The Lies of Locke Lamorra. The title gave me the impression of a really bad unicorns-and-enchanted-forests fantasy. Then I was stuck in a South African hospital with an infected lion bite, and I didn’t have much to do, and my mom was kind enough to give the fantasy section at a local bookstore a look-over.
It’s a great book. But I still think it’s a stupid title.
Cougar Town.
I understand it’s not so much related to the title any more - and that it’s even a pretty good show - but I just cannot.
mmm
I never watched:
Beverly Hills 90210 - It just sounds like it’s about rich people.
Vampire Diaries - It sounds lame.
Ditto on Cougar Town and Vampire Diaries. Also Gossip Girl – it sounds teenager-ish.
I didn’t watch The Wire for a couple years because of the title. Thought it was something for techies.
I’m gonna have to say ‘No’, though an off-putting title will likely make me not look any further into it. I will have to say that I sure wish some of the titles of what I did read were…better.
Great writers, great books, great stories…and titles that all sound like fantasy bodice-rippers or pre-teen drama skits =/
My parents won’t watch Beetlejuice because the title reminds them of squashed bugs.
Harry Potter and the Sorceror’s Stone - did not speak to me at all culturally, whereas I would have been somewhat intrigued if they had kept it as Philosopher’s stone (i.e. WTF is a “Sorceror’s Stone”?)
About a Boy - Apparently from the synopsis it’s about a man and a child who bond and grow partily over the Nirv…Wait, WHAT? If it hadn’t been called that, again, it would have spoken to me a bit and informed me a bit about the premise.
Legend of the Fall.
Win win! In my book, you were right.
I’ll bet I could come up with more of these for a new thread:
"Are there books/movies/shows that you have luckily not watched because of their titles?"
Naked Lunch
As Nelson Muntz said after leaving a movie theater he and some kids snuck into to see this as an R rated movie: “I can think of at least two things wrong with that title!”
I avoided watching Buffy The Vampire Slayer during its entire run…because…it’s called BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER! It also didn’t help that I saw the trailer for the film that started the series and it looked beyond awful. Actually, I still haven’t really taken the plunge, but according to that “I’m finally watching Buffy” thread, I should have held out just a couple more episodes (I watched about halfway into season 2, and it seemed almost as lame as the title).
That goes double for Angel. Come on, I’m NOT watching a show called Angel.
And while we’re on the subject of Whedon, I didn’t give Firefly a chance when it was on the air, because what kind of wuss trekkie names his ship “Firefly”? (before somebody hurls a brick at me, I know much better now).
I also have a hard time giving any interest in a show/movie named after the main character. Veronica Mars, David Gale, Hank? I don’t know who these people are, but their names don’t make me want to watch you.
I avoided Buffy for a long time because of the title and the goofy premise, and because I didn’t think I’d be interested in a show about high school kids. Now in the last several years I’ve watched not only Buffy, but Veronica Mars, Freaks and Geeks, and Glee.
I keep seeing good reviews for The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, but the title is unbearably cutesy so I haven’t picked it up. Ditto for The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie.
The book the movie is based on actually does have a large Nirvana-based subplot that didn’t make it into the movie.
Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants. My instincts were spot-on from what I hear.
That and Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood.
This thread reminds me of a story, though. Early on in my marriage, my new father-in-law gave me a book as a Christmas gift: The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Beer. For the record, I thought it was a cool book and a nice gift. I later learned that my mother-in-law had not wanted FIL to give it to me, lest I think he considered me a Complete Idiot and become insulted.
I’m glad he didn’t listen to her.