Subtitles aren’t necessarily being a snob, as others have pointed out. Sometimes there are subtle visual clues, that you tend to miss, and what about those who are dyslexic?
I find myself easily distracted by news-crawls when watching CNN.
I don’t know if this is stupid but, I can’t watch anything with snakes. 
**Anaamika ** said:
They’re wrong. When it first came out, I wasn’t going to watch the show, but 6 mo’s in someone was telling me how good it was, so I watched and immediately got sucked in.
YMMV.
You’re okay to see a movie that a Scientologist only acts in. In that case, they’ve been paid and that was the end of it; your ticket purchase does not directly benefit them. (Unless they got points as well, but since I don’t think there’s any place to look that up, you’ll just have to take your chances.) If they have a producer credit as well, that’s when you want to avoid it, because they do get a cut of the profits. Your policy on music is still sound, though.
I used to avoid movies for which the studio unleashed their merchandise too far in advance. The above-mentioned 1989 Batman was the source of this. Batman junk everywhere I looked. It went far beyond promotion and into simply cramming the movie down everyone’s throat. When I saw a guy riding his motorcycle wearing a cape and cowl, two weeks before the movie was even out, I figured there was just no way the film could live up to all this hype.
I didn’t see it, and I avoided all hyped movies for the next few years. But this prevented me from seeing Jurassic Park in the theater. And when I finally saw it on video, I realized I should have been more objective, so I’ve relaxed my policy a bit. (Anyway, home theater has improved to the point where I’ve almost (not quite but almost) been able to recreate the cinema experience.)
You hit this nail right on the head. I am pleased to be living in a time when people could seriously wonder why a woman would choose to write under a man’s name. Things are sure different than when I was a lad.
From wiki:
Ali never dodged the draft. He opposed the draft, never fled, hid behind his fame, or leveraged his influence to his advantage. He considered himself a conscientious objector and was tried, found guilty, and sentenced to prison for standing up for his beliefs. You may not like him, but calling him a draft-dodger is inaccurate.
I have a friend who refuses to watch the new Galactica purely because of the gender switch of Starbuck from a boy to a girl. None of the other reboot or rewrite items bother him, just this. He watches any other reboot/remake sagas (Batman, Lost in Space, Spiderman, Star Wars prequels, etc) without issues, but he can’t get past this hang-up.
I can think of exactly one person for whom that might be a valid reason.
I knew a guy who absolutely despised Blazing Saddles because of the campfire scene.
That’s not the impression I’ve gotten of him. What I’ve seen is that Ali was a smart guy who knew how to get attention from the press but didn’t take himself very seriously. If you want a tragic outcome, try Jack Johnson, who prefigured Ali in some ways.
I’ve always been impressed by how Malcolm X opened his mind to new ideas at a relatively late point in his life. Most people won’t do that kind of thing, much less do it when they’re pushing 40.
My friend disliked Pulp Fiction because Uma Thurman had dark hair.
He also dislikes all movies in which Bruce Willis has hair.
This, somewhat amusingly, leads to the conclusion that your friend likes, say, Tears of the Sun better than Die Hard.
Your friend, plainly, is insane.
WORD! Phantoms like a motherfucker!
Highfive.
I saw your post and just called him… he says he can “make exceptions on a case by case basis” and that because Die Hard is waaaaayyyyy better than Tears of the Sun he can make an exception. But it still bothers him to see Brucie with hair.
Serenata67- I haven’t avoided a movie YET because of Bruce Willis having hair, but I have to agree with your friend: it’s super weird to see Bruce with hair. Patrick Stewart, too.
Well, that does indicate a certain amount of mental stability, I guess. 
A wikipedia definition of a colloquial term is not authortitative, and besides that it doesn’t say anything that excludes my usage. I’m really personally conflicted about whether or not dodging that particular draft was a bad thing, but he dodged it.
I’m afraid I’m guilty of a few stupid reasons myself. I generally refuse to watch sports movies. I know there are a few good ones out there, but they tend to be formulaic and cheesy.
I tend to avoid “feel-good” movies as well. There’s something annoying about movies where I know everything will come up roses. I know it’s probably more to do with me being a grumpy old cynic, than any fault of the film.
I never watch horror movies by choice (except zombie movies), though my wife loves them, so I’m forced into suffering them more often than I would like. I simply don’t find anything entertaining about watching people die horrible deaths. It always strikes me as sadistic. My tolerance for the more fantastical horror movies is much higher than the slasher/torture porn that seems to be all the rave these days.
I avoided the meathead actioners of the 80’s, because they almost always failed to amuse me, but todays action movies are getting better. I still steer clear of movies in that vein like vehicles for The Rock or John Cena.
And lastly, I try to stay away from jingoistic “America kicks ass” movies. Not that I don’t sometimes feel like america kicks ass…it’s just that these types of films always induce copious amounts of eye rolling.
Come to think of it, I’m a bit of a snob, if you go by my movie tastes. That being said, I don’t begrudge others their tastes, or even their dislikes. With one exception, I can’t stand someone who refuses to see a movie simply because it’s popular, but that’s been covered already.
[Curly]Vernaculah? That’s a doiby! [/Curly]
I have a SIL who pretty much says that. I really, really don’t get it. I hope that what she means is the pacing of older movies, but if someone tells you that Bringing Up Baby is a classic, wouldn’t you see it anyway?
I was interested in the remake of The Women but after seeing a trailer with Meg Ryan’s stupid hairdo, I decided to skip it. I knew I’d be too distracted by those curls. I guess that’s similar to the poster upthread with a relative who won’t watch a movie with ugly or old women in it.
