# Elitism that you (ashamedly) participate in. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 24, 2010, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elitism-that-you-ashamedly-participate-in/537232 "2010-04-24T18:42:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elitism-that-you-ashamedly-participate-in/537232/61 "2010-04-27T08:09:53Z")
> [@kushiel](#): > > Anime. But not dub vs. sub, but what series you are into. If your list of favorites consists of mostly televised in America anime or series made after 2000, I turn my nose down on you. Also, if you’ve never watched a horrible bajillionth generation fansub tape, you fail. Kids these days are spoiled. They just download hundreds of gigs of anime that they’ll probably never get around to watching. I remember when it was _hard_ to get your hands on series. Before there were scanlations, people did text translations that you’d print out and read alongside the imported manga. > > So basically, I look down on the kids who have always had an easy time of getting their hands on anime and complain about $30 a DVD for 6 episodes. > > I’m especially interested in what happens in yaoi fandom once the new Ai no Kusabi OVA comes out. There’s going to be the people like me who remember waiting impatiently for their fansubs of the original to come in the mail and were thankful to have that, and the new kids that’ll bitch if each episode isn’t fansubbed and downloadable within 24 hours. I’m picturing a willow-thin, blonde girly girl with impossibly huge sparkly eyes and impossibly long, gravity-defying braids, dressed in a barely decent knockoff of a French maid’s outfit, trudging determinedly uphill through the snow to her cosplay convention . . . ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elitism-that-you-ashamedly-participate-in/537232/62 "2010-04-27T12:06:21Z")
> [@HISSNLISSN](#): > > I’ve DJ’d alongside enough people using laptops to know that equipment has very little to do with it. Even at home through standard “dad’s basement” hi-fi speakers there’s a huge difference in sound between what comes out of my soundcard vs. vinyls through a mixer. > > The oft-repeated contention that you need the “right” (i.e. expensive) gear to hear a difference between high quality MP3 and wax is a myth. Sure; I’m _not_ an audiophile, so when I mean the right equipment, I really just mean decent _enough_ gear, nothing special. And I’m no expert, either, but it seems like there’s just more of a natural presence or something with wax. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elitism-that-you-ashamedly-participate-in/537232/63 "2010-04-27T12:33:13Z")
> [@winterhawk11](#): > > I’m more than a bit of a WoW elitist. I’ve been playing for 4 years now, I’m in a progression raid guild, and nothing bugs me more than people who simply won’t learn how to play properly and try to raid. Dammit, if you can’t figure out how not to stand in fire or follow simple instructions, please just don’t even sign up for the raid. You’re annoying the rest of us who are trying to get things done. I cut my teeth in MMORPGs with Everquest back in the old days. Unless you’ve had to use a phone tree to call your guild members at 3:45am and have them scramble out of bed to fight a rarely spawning and heavily contested raid mob so one of your guild’s clerics might get the chance to get their epic weapon while two other guilds are in the zone doing the exact same thing… everything else since has been like playing Minesweeper. Also, I used to play a bard in EQ. /Melody was for chumps. If you can’t keep up four songs by hitting 1…1…2…2…3… while running around then you should go play a rogue and mash your backstab button like a trained monkey. ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elitism-that-you-ashamedly-participate-in/537232/64 "2010-04-27T12:38:12Z")
Reading books. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elitism-that-you-ashamedly-participate-in/537232/65 "2010-04-27T13:04:46Z")
> [@kushiel](#): > > Anime. But not dub vs. sub, but what series you are into. If your list of favorites consists of mostly televised in America anime or series made after 2000, I turn my nose down on you. Also, if you’ve never watched a horrible bajillionth generation fansub tape, you fail. Kids these days are spoiled. They just download hundreds of gigs of anime that they’ll probably never get around to watching. I remember when it was _hard_ to get your hands on series. Before there were scanlations, people did text translations that you’d print out and read alongside the imported manga. > > So basically, I look down on the kids who have always had an easy time of getting their hands on anime and complain about $30 a DVD for 6 episodes. > > I’m especially interested in what happens in yaoi fandom once the new Ai no Kusabi OVA comes out. There’s going to be the people like me who remember waiting impatiently for their fansubs of the original to come in the mail and were thankful to have that, and the new kids that’ll bitch if each episode isn’t fansubbed and downloadable within 24 hours. What’s really embarrassing is that I’m such an elitist I don’t even watch anymore. I guess a lot of the fun for me was the thrill of the hunt, the excitement of opening up a Priority Mail box to find stuff I just ordered because the name sounded interesting - god, our Hana Yori Dongo tapes actually had time codes and commercials in them. It just isn’t fun at all anymore, and I haven’t watched anything for years. ---
**Author:** ![corvidae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/898d66/32.png) [@corvidae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/corvidae)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elitism-that-you-ashamedly-participate-in/537232/66 "2010-04-27T13:21:48Z")
> [@overlyverbose](#): > > I like that I make most of our stuff from scratch and look down on people who regularly give their kids convenience foods like frozen chicken nuggets, canned foods (like ravioli and other Chef Boyardi products) and lunchables. It doesn’t affect me at all, so I should just tamp down those thoughts. Plus, even though my kid has never had McDonald’s or food from another traditional fast-food chain, it’s not like he hasn’t had food that’s probably just as bad for him (possibly worse) at a regular restaurant. > > I hate the coffee at work. I think it’s swill and will only drink it if I’m desperate for caffeine. Same for desserts - I prefer to eat only those sweets I’ve made myself. Part of it is a diet thing - it makes it that much harder for me to get dessert if I’ve got to make it myself. But part of it is that I think the stuff I make tastes better. I’m snooty about a lot of food. > > I also like that we have a small TV that doesn’t dominate an entire wall of our family room and look down on one of our friends who has this ridiculously large television that takes up most of their family room and then some. Of course, this is subject to change since my husband got a significant raise. I’m with you on pretty much all of this, except the coffee. I’ll drink any old crap, as long as I get my caffeine. I lost the tv battle, though I figure my husband works quite hard and rarely spends any money on himself, so he deserves a few toys. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elitism-that-you-ashamedly-participate-in/537232/67 "2010-04-27T13:31:25Z")
Scotch. I can’t stand the blended, bland swill that is Johnny Walker Red. I like Highlands and Speysides anytime, and after a good meal, a nice Islay, smoky and peaty. I collect different malts, and have hosted tasting parties. Scotch snob, me. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elitism-that-you-ashamedly-participate-in/537232/68 "2010-04-27T14:56:37Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > I cut my teeth in MMORPGs with Everquest back in the old days. Unless you’ve had to use a phone tree to call your guild members at 3:45am and have them scramble out of bed to fight a rarely spawning and heavily contested raid mob so one of your guild’s clerics might get the chance to get their epic weapon while two other guilds are in the zone doing the exact same thing… everything else since has been like playing Minesweeper. Okay, you win there. 'Cause…there’s no way I would have done that. 🙂 I’ve heard horror stories about EQ, and all I have to say is that I’m glad I didn’t catch the MMORPG bug until after WoW came out. I’ll settle for /facepalming at scrubs who can’t comprehend “if it’s green and glowy, you probably shouldn’t be standing in it!” 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Drain\_Bead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elitism-that-you-ashamedly-participate-in/537232/69 "2010-04-27T16:01:53Z")
> [@melodyharmonius](#): > > Real sci fi geeks like me don’t go to \* Twilight \*movies. Vampires don’t sparkle in the sun. > > Sci fi geeks don’t go mainstream. We are with the dungeons and the dragons - not with you fluffy types that think Harry Potter is cool but haven’t read any of the books or seen Draco Malfoy or Neville Longbottom in person at Dragon\*Con. And we know that Tom Baker is the best Dr. Who and what “all your bases are belong to us” is all about. And we understand the joke about how there are only 10 types of people in the world: those who understand binary code, and those who don’t. And we know that it’s really “all your base are belong to us.” ---
**Author:** ![kapri](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4491bb/32.png) [@kapri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kapri)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elitism-that-you-ashamedly-participate-in/537232/70 "2010-04-27T16:07:28Z")
> [@Anne\_Neville](#): > > I don’t shop at Wal-Mart unless there really is no other way to get something I need or really, really want. > > With very few exceptions, I do not watch reality shows. > > I avoid large chain restaurants, unless I’m taking my parents out to eat, or I’m in a strange town and can’t find anything else. > > I won’t drink flavored wines, a la Arbor Mist. No wine coolers for me, either. We are the same! I am a grammar elitist. One of the reasons I like coming to the SD is that nearly everyone here writes well! I’m also a music elitist, but maybe that’s more of an age/generation thing than elitism. I’m turning into my parents, except that while for them Sinatra-type music was real music and rock ‘n’ roll was not, for me rock is genuine music (as is Sinatra and his ilk), and hip-hop and so forth is not. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elitism-that-you-ashamedly-participate-in/537232/71 "2010-04-27T16:15:28Z")
Speaking of which, I like the classic “pop” impresarios – _except_ Sinatra – too popular 🙂 (Actually, it’s more of a smarminess that I dislike, but the ubiquity doesn’t help either.) ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elitism-that-you-ashamedly-participate-in/537232/72 "2010-04-27T16:24:42Z")
> [@melodyharmonius](#): > > Real sci fi geeks like me don’t go to \* Twilight \*movies. Vampires don’t sparkle in the sun. I won’t see any of the movies or read any of the books. I think the idea of vampires that sparkle in the sun is ridiculous. Back in the mid-90’s, when _Interview with the Vampire_ was hot, I didn’t read it. I read _Dracula_ instead. ---
**Author:** ![melodyharmonius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/melodyharmonius/32/21310_2.png) [@melodyharmonius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/melodyharmonius)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elitism-that-you-ashamedly-participate-in/537232/73 "2010-04-27T16:48:05Z")
> [@Drain\_Bead](#): > > And we know that it’s really “all your base are belong to us.” :smack: See - I got so heated - I couldn’t even type straight! 😉 **Anne Neville** - I was too busy reading \*Exit to Eden \*in my bunk. Who needs vamps when there’s a sex island? ---
**Author:** ![lost4life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c4cdca/32.png) [@lost4life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lost4life)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elitism-that-you-ashamedly-participate-in/537232/74 "2010-04-27T17:06:54Z")
Pizza. It has to be made by a locally owned place that actually has some control over the ingredients. I scoff at the peasants who eat Domino’s or Little Caesar’s! The only chain we buy from occassionally is **Jet’s**. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Angel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d26b3c/32.png) [@Johnny\_Angel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Angel)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elitism-that-you-ashamedly-participate-in/537232/75 "2010-04-27T18:52:16Z")
Scansion. There is only so much appreciation you can have for poetry without being able to scan. Yes, well-wrought lines have their effect over the transom of analysis, but the simple (and it is pretty simple) method of marking where the stresses fall can tell you a lot about how the poem is having its effect. You can go pretty far down the rabbit hole in the study of versification itself, and that may not be for everybody, but if you can’t even scan a poem you are not to be taken seriously in anything to do with poetry. > [@melodyharmonius](#): > > We are with the dungeons and the dragons - not with you fluffy types that think Harry Potter is cool but haven’t read any of the books or seen Draco Malfoy or Neville Longbottom in person at Dragon\*Con. Harry Potter is for simps who can’t handle Diana Wynn Jones. ---
**Author:** ![KennerTheGreat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a8b319/32.png) [@KennerTheGreat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KennerTheGreat)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elitism-that-you-ashamedly-participate-in/537232/76 "2010-04-27T19:18:31Z")
If I meet a person who can’t speak a sentence without every other word being an F-bomb or equivalent, my brain tells me I’m not listening to somebody that I should be taking seriously. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elitism-that-you-ashamedly-participate-in/537232/77 "2010-04-27T19:25:33Z")
> [@KennerTheGreat](#): > > If I meet a person who can’t speak a sentence without \*\*every other word \*\*being an F-bomb or equivalent, my brain tells me I’m not listening to somebody that I should be taking seriously. Fuck yeah. Does “cocksucker” Swearingon from Deadwood at least get a pass? Cause his speeches were like Shakespear and shit. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elitism-that-you-ashamedly-participate-in/537232/78 "2010-04-27T19:43:58Z")
> [@kapri](#): > > I’m also a music elitist, but maybe that’s more of an age/generation thing than elitism. I’m turning into my parents, except that while for them Sinatra-type music was real music and rock ‘n’ roll was not, for me rock is genuine music (as is Sinatra and his ilk), and hip-hop and so forth is not. Yeah, my elitism is sometimes hard to tell apart from my "started becoming a crotchety old lady at the age of 13"ism, or my general cynicism. I’m not turning into my parents yet, fortunately. My mother dislikes garlic, [for reasons that I suspect have to do with its lower-class image in the US in the early twentieth century](http://www.nytimes.com/1999/04/18/magazine/best-herb-this-bulb-s-life.html?scp=2&sq=garlic+class+italian+immigrant&st=nyt). ---
**Author:** ![phreesh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc29f/32.png) [@phreesh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phreesh)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elitism-that-you-ashamedly-participate-in/537232/79 "2010-04-27T19:57:50Z")
In praise of a battle that the elites won - widescreen movies. Man, I hate, hate, hate fullscreen movies. I guess I’ll also join the band of beer snobs. For me, it’s got to be small breweries. And none of that light stuff for me. If I order beer, I want to taste beer, not water. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elitism-that-you-ashamedly-participate-in/537232/80 "2010-04-27T20:18:42Z")
1.) Music 2.) Books 3.) World of Warcraft 4.) Beer 5.) Etiquette And while I’m fairly high up the elitist scale of all of these things, I have friends who are at least more knowledgeable (if not more elitist) in most of these fields to keep me (theoretically) humble. I’m ashamed of none of my elitism, and I’m scoffing at the posts made by some of the “elitist” people in this very thread. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elitism-that-you-ashamedly-participate-in/537232.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elitism-that-you-ashamedly-participate-in/537232.md?page=5)