# Are there books/movies/shows you will not read/watch because of their titles? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 11, 2010, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-books-movies-shows-you-will-not-read-watch-because-of-their-titles/549995 "2010-08-11T23:21:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2010, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-books-movies-shows-you-will-not-read-watch-because-of-their-titles/549995/21 "2010-08-12T21:47:54Z")
I can’t think of anything that I’ve avoided specifically because of the title. I just wanted to say that this > [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](#): > > Then I was stuck in a South African hospital with an infected lion bite… is the absolute best excuse for _anything_ that I ever recall reading. ---
**Author:** ![gwendee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/35a633/32.png) [@gwendee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gwendee)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2010, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-books-movies-shows-you-will-not-read-watch-because-of-their-titles/549995/22 "2010-08-12T21:58:23Z")
My dad announced when it was in heavy rotation on HBO that based solely on the title he would not watch “White Men Can’t Jump” until someone was allowed to make a move called “Black Men Can’t Do Science” ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2010, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-books-movies-shows-you-will-not-read-watch-because-of-their-titles/549995/23 "2010-08-12T22:20:05Z")
Just about any title employing this formula: “The [_proper name_] [_vague latinate word that wants to sound important_]” E.g: The Rembrandt Affair The Pelican Brief The Screwfly Solution The Trudeau Vector The Johnson Presumption, etc. And of course, the vast majority of what Ludlum cranks out. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2010, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-books-movies-shows-you-will-not-read-watch-because-of-their-titles/549995/24 "2010-08-12T22:40:56Z")
> [@guizot](#): > > Just about any title employing this formula: > > “The [_proper name_] [_vague latinate word that wants to sound important_]” > > E.g: > > The Rembrandt Affair > The Pelican Brief > The Screwfly Solution > The Trudeau Vector > The Johnson Presumption, > etc. > > And of course, the vast majority of what Ludlum cranks out. The Guizot Refusal. ---
**Author:** ![Alka\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c89c15/32.png) [@Alka\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alka_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2010, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-books-movies-shows-you-will-not-read-watch-because-of-their-titles/549995/25 "2010-08-12T22:56:00Z")
> [@Lute Skywatcher](#): > > My parents won’t watch _Beetlejuice_ because the title reminds them of squashed bugs. Do they also avoid looking at the constellation Orion? ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2010, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-books-movies-shows-you-will-not-read-watch-because-of-their-titles/549995/26 "2010-08-12T23:07:25Z")
Even now, at this late date, I would hesitate to buy, or check out of the library: Complete Idiot’s Guide To Amazing Sex. Sex Tips For Straight Women From A Gay Man. Everybody Poops! Oral Sex He’ll Never Forget. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2010, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-books-movies-shows-you-will-not-read-watch-because-of-their-titles/549995/27 "2010-08-12T23:12:47Z")
_How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days_ is, if only to me, one of the stupidest names for a movie ever and one reason I’ve never seen it. The other reason is the trailer. (And how can it take 10 days? Just say “Dude, I don’t want to see you anymore” and that should be it unless he’s a deranged stalker in which case 10 days isn’t going to do it any better than that sentence.) _The Cook The Thief His Wife and Her Lover_ was a movie I thoroughly disliked- all of the arthouse cliches- and so I have a prejudice against any title that sounds similar (_Eat Drink Man Woman_ comes to mind- have never seen it). ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2010, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-books-movies-shows-you-will-not-read-watch-because-of-their-titles/549995/28 "2010-08-12T23:53:30Z")
_Cry, the Beloved Country_. I’ve read the quote the title comes from, and still can’t parse the syntax. ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2010, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-books-movies-shows-you-will-not-read-watch-because-of-their-titles/549995/29 "2010-08-13T02:19:01Z")
> [@Balance](#): > > I can’t think of anything that I’ve avoided specifically because of the title. I just wanted to say that this > > > [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](#): > > > > Then I was stuck in a South African hospital with an infected lion bite… > > is the absolute best excuse for _anything_ that I ever recall reading. My teachers were pretty nonplussed, too, when I told them why I had missed the first month of the semester. ---
**Author:** ![GoodOmens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@GoodOmens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GoodOmens)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2010, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-books-movies-shows-you-will-not-read-watch-because-of-their-titles/549995/30 "2010-08-13T02:57:50Z")
Most of the political pundits’ books turn me off just based on the titles. I’m thinking of books like: “If Democrats Had Any Brains, They’d Be Republicans” “Deliver Us From Evil: Defeating Terrorism, Despotism and Liberalism” “Liberalism is a Mental Disorder” They present an image that is automatically ugly, confrontational and closed-minded. I like to confront ideas that I disagree with, but not being shouted at by the cover of a book. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2010, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-books-movies-shows-you-will-not-read-watch-because-of-their-titles/549995/31 "2010-08-13T06:05:25Z")
> [@GoodOmens](#): > > Most of the political pundits’ books turn me off just based on the titles. I’m thinking of books like: > “If Democrats Had Any Brains, They’d Be Republicans” > “Deliver Us From Evil: Defeating Terrorism, Despotism and Liberalism” > “Liberalism is a Mental Disorder” > > They present an image that is automatically ugly, confrontational and closed-minded. I like to confront ideas that I disagree with, but not being shouted at by the cover of a book. Well, at least they give a clear idea of what to expect, however inane. Contrast those to the titles in vogue now with wannabe and past presidents, so desperately trying to paint a picture of auspiciousness and responsibility that they instead would seem to be about nothing at all, (and are mostly ghost-written anyway): “A Charge Kept” (Bush, G.W.) “Promises to Keep” (Biden) “Living History” (Clinton, H.) “A World Transformed” (Bush, G.H.W.) Would that the presidents could still follow the very straight-forward example set by Washington: “Rules of Civility and Decent Behaviour” ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2010, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-books-movies-shows-you-will-not-read-watch-because-of-their-titles/549995/32 "2010-08-13T07:58:56Z")
_Sin tetas no hay Paraíso_, there’s no Heaven without tits. Even before learning that it was some sort of woe-is-everybody romantic drama where the male lead is a drugs dealer, I reckoned the title was absolutely barfy. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2010, 10:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-books-movies-shows-you-will-not-read-watch-because-of-their-titles/549995/33 "2010-08-13T10:15:47Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > _How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days_ is, if only to me, one of the stupidest names for a movie ever and one reason I’ve never seen it. The other reason is the trailer. (And how can it take 10 days? Just say “Dude, I don’t want to see you anymore” and that should be it unless he’s a deranged stalker in which case 10 days isn’t going to do it any better than that sentence.) The premise is not how to break up with the guy, but what stupid things women do that make men break up with them. A woman is writing an article about this, but doesn’t realize she’s trying to do it with a guy who has a bet saying he can get any girl to fall in love with him. A better reason not to want to see it is that the setup is all so we can watch a guy have to put up with the foolishness of women without being sexist. As for the OP, all I can think of is the Satanic Bible. I know it’s not really evil, but I hate the idea of reading something that was titled to give Christians the heebie-jeebies. Why would anyone think a legitimate religious text would just happen to have that title? ---
**Author:** ![Promethea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Promethea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Promethea)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2010, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-books-movies-shows-you-will-not-read-watch-because-of-their-titles/549995/34 "2010-08-13T11:20:48Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > 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 Right there with you. I keep hearing it’s actually not a bad show too but that title is so awful that I don’t feel inclined to give it a go. > [@Mahaloth](#): > > I never watched: > > Vampire Diaries - It sounds lame. Well, I can’t argue about it sounding lame as hell. In fact, I started watching solely because I figured I’d be enjoying it ironically and for the first few eps this was the case. It got waaay better as the season progressed and I ended up really looking forward to each new episode. ---
**Author:** ![Khaki\_Campbell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9de053/32.png) [@Khaki\_Campbell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khaki_Campbell)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2010, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-books-movies-shows-you-will-not-read-watch-because-of-their-titles/549995/35 "2010-08-13T11:43:24Z")
“Stupid White Men” by Michael [del]Moor[/del] Moore. ---
**Author:** ![Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleanor_of_Aquitaine)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2010, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-books-movies-shows-you-will-not-read-watch-because-of-their-titles/549995/36 "2010-08-13T13:45:58Z")
> [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](#): > > 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. You’re getting a lot of mileage out of that incident, aren’t you? 🙂 I have a copy of \*Lies \*that I’m meaning to read soon - glad to hear you liked it. > [@Sampiro](#): > > _The Cook The Thief His Wife and Her Lover_ was a movie I thoroughly disliked- all of the arthouse cliches- and so I have a prejudice against any title that sounds similar (_Eat Drink Man Woman_ comes to mind- have never seen it). _Eat Drink Man Woman_ is really good, **Sampiro**. Although don’t watch it when you’re hungry. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2010, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-books-movies-shows-you-will-not-read-watch-because-of-their-titles/549995/37 "2010-08-13T14:33:42Z")
> [@guizot](#): > > Just about any title employing this formula: > > “The [_proper name_] [_vague latinate word that wants to sound important_]” > > E.g: > > The Rembrandt Affair > The Pelican Brief > The Screwfly Solution > The Trudeau Vector > The Johnson Presumption, > etc. > > And of course, the vast majority of what Ludlum cranks out. Man, you must hate **The Big Bang Theory** , since the show and every episode in it are titled in that fashion. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2010, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-books-movies-shows-you-will-not-read-watch-because-of-their-titles/549995/38 "2010-08-13T14:34:33Z")
> [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](#): > > You’re getting a lot of mileage out of that incident, aren’t you? 🙂 Hell, all I got was _peed on_ by a lion, and I’m still telling the story 25 years later. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2010, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-books-movies-shows-you-will-not-read-watch-because-of-their-titles/549995/39 "2010-08-13T14:48:03Z")
I _saw_ someone get peed on by a lion… ---
**Author:** ![PoorYorick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecccb3/32.png) [@PoorYorick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PoorYorick)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2010, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-books-movies-shows-you-will-not-read-watch-because-of-their-titles/549995/40 "2010-08-13T14:49:08Z")
I didn’t watch _The Hudsucker Proxy_ for years because of the stupid enigmatic title. Good movie, though. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-books-movies-shows-you-will-not-read-watch-because-of-their-titles/549995.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-books-movies-shows-you-will-not-read-watch-because-of-their-titles/549995.md?page=3)