# Dumbest reasons to dislike a movie **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 11, 2009, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbest-reasons-to-dislike-a-movie/496041 "2009-05-11T15:59:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbest-reasons-to-dislike-a-movie/496041/141 "2009-05-12T23:37:53Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > Some stories I feel just benefit from the extra length and complexity that serial television allows. For example the upcoming HBO series based on George R.R. Martin’s **Song of Fire and Ice**. It may well end up flopping badly, but it probably couldn’t even be seriously attempted for the big screen and still stay even halfway faithful to the books. The Lord of the Rings films probably represent the upper limit of such attempts and that took three movies, that even in theatrical release probably rivaled in length a single season of one cable series. And they still **cut Tom Bombadil!** :mad: ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbest-reasons-to-dislike-a-movie/496041/142 "2009-05-13T00:00:34Z")
I find it stupid for people to hate one genre (say, musicals) because “people don’t do that in real life” but go all googly-eyed for another genre (say, superhero movies) which have the exact same “flaw”. Personally, the dumbest reason I personally heard for somebody to hate a movie was some guy in a sci-fi discussion group who refused to see the film _Event Horizon_ because they didn’t like how black holes were handled in David Brin’s novel _Earth_. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbest-reasons-to-dislike-a-movie/496041/143 "2009-05-13T00:23:15Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > I find it stupid for people to hate one genre (say, musicals) because “people don’t do that in real life” but go all googly-eyed for another genre (say, superhero movies) which have the exact same “flaw”. I’ve been increasingly seeing people say they don’t like Batman because they think the character is unrealistic (a successful, unarmed vigilante.) Welcome to not liking almost any movie or book ever, and forget all about music, poetry, and religion. Enjoy, uh, crunching numbers in your spare time. ---
**Author:** ![runcible\_spoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9fc29f/32.png) [@runcible\_spoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/runcible_spoon)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbest-reasons-to-dislike-a-movie/496041/144 "2009-05-13T00:29:34Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > I dunno. I agree that argument would have been a hell of a lot more persuasive to me several years ago. But while most TV is still crap, so are most movies, really. I think enough quality TV exists, particularly on DVD, that if you pick and choose you can fill your allotted TV time ( for a semi-normal, semi-socialized person ) with quality stuff. > > Certainly the _medium_ is not inherently inferior, even if historically it has been in fact. As above movies and TVs have different ( potential, perhaps ) strengths. I think it depends a lot on how you judge these things. I tend to notice a lot of the technical stuff, so I’d certainly say movies are, on the whole, superior to TV - they have a bigger budget, and that gets production values up. Now, whether a serial format is superior… for myself, I’d say that there are very few TV shows that are as consistently good as a lot of movies. Especially coming from the US, where longer seasons mean more filler - it’s _hard_ to do 23 hours of awesome per year. On the other hand, there’s a much better opportunity to build up some great characters and get your audience involved, so there are few movies that can reach the peaks of really good TV (especially since by then you’ve forgotten the dull bits). ---
**Author:** ![Rubystreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Rubystreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rubystreak)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbest-reasons-to-dislike-a-movie/496041/145 "2009-05-13T01:48:20Z")
> [@runcible\_spoon](#): > > it’s _hard_ to do 23 hours of awesome per year. The average season of a show on HBO is about 13 episodes. The same is true of the better cable shows, like Breaking Bad, Mad Men, and The Shield. This may be a contributing factor in why these shows are so damn good. If I heard a favorite book or series of mine was being adapated, I’d rather it was done by HBO than trying to squeeze the whole thing into 2 hours. ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbest-reasons-to-dislike-a-movie/496041/146 "2009-05-13T02:11:16Z")
The one exception I’ll make to the genre thing is horror movies. Either they fulfil their designed intent and frighten you, or they don’t and bore you. Either way, a Bad Thing. I just fail to see how anyone gets any entertainment value out of either outcome. I know someone who refused to see the first Batman movie because it was popular. I actually know a few people like this, whose self-image is that they are different from the herd, every favourite thing they have (food, movies, philosophies, etc) has to be obscure and determinedly unpopular as a point of pride for them. ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbest-reasons-to-dislike-a-movie/496041/147 "2009-05-13T02:47:30Z")
I have a friend who refuses to see **Shaun of the Dead** because she doesn’t like “horror comedy.” I can’t even figure out what other “horror comedy” movies she could have seen, and why she found them so repulsive. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbest-reasons-to-dislike-a-movie/496041/148 "2009-05-13T02:52:26Z")
Caculon: [rapidly flips through movie script] No, I don’t like the font. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbest-reasons-to-dislike-a-movie/496041/149 "2009-05-13T04:13:45Z")
> [@pepperlandgirl](#): > > I have a friend who refuses to see **Shaun of the Dead** because she doesn’t like “horror comedy.” Do you not have the heart to tell her that Shaun of the Dead isn’t funny? ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbest-reasons-to-dislike-a-movie/496041/150 "2009-05-13T04:48:02Z")
If it’s “popular”. I absolutely HATE it when people act like this. With music or television or books too. They then sneer at everyone else and say THEY only like such and such obscure films. While there’s nothing wrong with that, to hate movies ONLY because they’re popular is exactly like hating movies because they’re obscure. Way to be a snob! ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbest-reasons-to-dislike-a-movie/496041/151 "2009-05-13T05:52:52Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > How about refusing to watch a movie just because it’s in black and white? I think we’ve had some Dopers cop to that one. That’s what I came here to say. Almost all of my favorite movies are in black & white. And there’s also the criticism that people 60 years ago didn’t speak in today’s vernacular. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbest-reasons-to-dislike-a-movie/496041/152 "2009-05-13T14:59:13Z")
_Now_ you’re on the trolley! ---
**Author:** ![Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speaker_for_the_Dead)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbest-reasons-to-dislike-a-movie/496041/153 "2009-05-13T16:43:42Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > If it’s “popular”. I absolutely HATE it when people act like this. With music or television or books too. They then sneer at everyone else and say THEY only like such and such obscure films. While there’s nothing wrong with that, to hate movies ONLY because they’re popular is exactly like hating movies because they’re obscure. > > Way to be a snob! I actually remember the day in high school when I realised that if I was determined to do stuff against the grain of popularity, then I was just as affected by society’s likes and dislikes as if I went along with them. ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbest-reasons-to-dislike-a-movie/496041/154 "2009-05-13T17:31:18Z")
I won’t go into Brokeback Mountain here, but suffice it to say I disagree with the analysis presented. Of course, I also felt the movie was unrealistic on other grounds. > [@pepperlandgirl](#): > > I have a friend who refuses to see **Shaun of the Dead** because she doesn’t like “horror comedy.” I can’t even figure out what other “horror comedy” movies she could have seen, and why she found them so repulsive. What are you talking about? Horror-comedy, while not a commonplace genre, has been around for decades. They often are a bit repulsive, but some people like the combination of black comedy and horror. And… some don’t. I don’t quite understand your objection. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbest-reasons-to-dislike-a-movie/496041/155 "2009-05-13T18:35:47Z")
> [@Askance](#): > > The one exception I’ll make to the genre thing is horror movies. Either they fulfil their designed intent and frighten you, or they don’t and bore you. Either way, a Bad Thing. I just fail to see how anyone gets any entertainment value out of either outcome. It’s like a roller coaster: the illusion of danger, viewed from a position of safety. A harmless adrenaline rush, if you will. Some folks (like me) enjoy that. And there’s a certain hardcore faction these days that consider the harshest horror movies a sort of endurance test: “How much can you stomach?”, or something like that. Me, I fit in both categories. heh. I don’t know if this counts, but: my dad refuses to watch anything to do with Muhammad Ali (including the Will Smith movie) because he considers Ali a draft dodger. Seems a little over the top to me, but I suppose it’s a more sensible reason than some of the others given earlier. ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbest-reasons-to-dislike-a-movie/496041/156 "2009-05-13T18:43:17Z")
> [@smiling\_bandit](#): > > I won’t go into Brokeback Mountain here, but suffice it to say I disagree with the analysis presented. Of course, I also felt the movie was unrealistic on other grounds. > > What are you talking about? Horror-comedy, while not a commonplace genre, has been around for decades. They often are a bit repulsive, but some people like the combination of black comedy and horror. And… some don’t. I don’t quite understand your objection. Because as far as I know–and I know her quite well–she’s never watched _any_ horror-comedy. When I asked her for examples, thinking maybe something like **Army of Darkness** had turned her off, she couldn’t offer any. Because she never saw any. She just knew she didn’t like horror-comedy. When I pointed out that she liked Hot Fuzz, and SotD was the same sore of genre-bending flick with lots of elements from lots of movies, she just insisted she didn’t like horror-comedy. She also refused to watch **Firefly** because doesn’t like “space westerns.” To make this whole situation even more bizarre, for seven years, this woman was utterly consumed by **Buffy the Vampire Slayer**. Her life revolved around it. Which makes me think she would be amendable to both horror-comedy (BtVS is pretty funny and gruesome in parts) and Firefly (since she adores Whedon). ---
**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:** [May 13, 2009, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbest-reasons-to-dislike-a-movie/496041/157 "2009-05-13T18:52:18Z")
> [@pepperlandgirl](#): > > She also refused to watch **Firefly** because doesn’t like “space westerns.” Maybe she just doesn’t like things that are “two things.” Better keep her away from [this guy](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06TBhGrzyN4). ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbest-reasons-to-dislike-a-movie/496041/158 "2009-05-13T19:19:34Z")
> [@pepperlandgirl](#): > > To make this whole situation even more bizarre, for seven years, this woman was utterly consumed by **Buffy the Vampire Slayer**. Her life revolved around it. Which makes me think she would be amendable to both horror-comedy (BtVS is pretty funny and gruesome in parts) and Firefly (since she adores Whedon). Wow. Well, you’re right. That is pretty freaky. I didn’t understand what you meant before. > [@Max Torque](#): > > I don’t know if this counts, but: my dad refuses to watch anything to do with Muhammad Ali (including the Will Smith movie) because he considers Ali a draft dodger. Seems a little over the top to me, but I suppose it’s a more sensible reason than some of the others given earlier. Ah. I hate most Horror Movies because they rely on the cheap scare: a huge blast of sound of suddent on-screen movement by something horrible to make the audience jump. I do not like this. I’m not sure if that counts. Ironically, I’m pretty much with your dad, though for other reasons. I don’t watch anything about Muhammed Ali because in pretty much all of it, including things favorable to him, he comes across like a huge, egotistical jerk to me, and a man who was not really that bright getting played for a sucker by the manipulative peope around him. I guess it’s mostly that I view his life partly as a tragedy more than a triumph. Ditto for several related figures, liike Malcom X: interesting but really depressing if you think about how they spent (and arguably wasted) huge parts of their lives. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbest-reasons-to-dislike-a-movie/496041/159 "2009-05-13T19:48:16Z")
> [@smiling\_bandit](#): > > Ironically, I’m pretty much with your dad, though for other reasons. I don’t watch anything about Muhammed Ali because in pretty much all of it, including things favorable to him, he comes across like a huge, egotistical jerk to me Pretty much all of the above, as far as I’m concerned. He’s a draft-dodger\*, huge, egotistical jerk, and a racist. The adoration he gets confounds me over almost any other adored modern American I can think of. That said, I tried to watch Ali and couldn’t finish it not because of any personal beliefs, but just because it was a crappy movie IMO. \*I don’t know for sure how I really feel about this. I wasn’t alive during the Vietnam war so I can’t tell you with 100% certainty that I wouldn’t have dodged that particular draft myself, especially had I been a black American in the '60s. ---
**Author:** ![shy\_guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a6a055/32.png) [@shy\_guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shy_guy)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbest-reasons-to-dislike-a-movie/496041/160 "2009-05-13T20:59:21Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > And there’s also the criticism that people 60 years ago didn’t speak in today’s vernacular. I don’t think that’s a particularly dumb reason. It can genuinely be difficult to get into a movie if you have to wade through a bunch of archaic slang. At least, it can make characters and situations difficult to relate to. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbest-reasons-to-dislike-a-movie/496041.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbest-reasons-to-dislike-a-movie/496041.md?page=9)