Getting "Green-egg-'n'-hammed"

I’m sure there have been threads similar to this but maybe not with this new bit of jargon. Have you ever been “green-egg-‘n’-hammed” regarding a book or movie or other artistic work?

I remember when the movie Billy Elliot came out. I was sure I knew what it was about and that I would not enjoy it. I saw the previews and saw the jokes made about the subject matter and decided I would not try to see it. “Oh it’s a good movie, you’ll like it,” I was told, but I responded “No, thanks.” A couple of years passed and I found myself on vacation. The weather was unpleasant and I decided to stay inside and watch a movie. I went to a local store and saw Billy Elliot on the shelf for a reduced price. There were only a few other movies for sale and they were real dogs so I shrugged my shoulders and bought the sappy movie about the “dancing boy” (ugh.)

My interest was piqued from the opening sequence and eventually there is a scene which had me hooked from then on. Billy and his little girlfriend are walking down the street carrying on a conversation and the girl is absent-mindedly trailing a stick along the sides of the brick houses as they pass. Something occurs which is so clever that I knew in that instant that this was my kind of movie. When all was said and done I had found one of my favorite movies of all time.

Have you ever been “green-egg-‘n’-hammed” in such a fashion? Have you ever resisted something out of stubborn prejudice and found that you were avoiding a genuine pleasure?

I love the use of “green-eggs-n-hammed” as a verb. Nice allusion, nice coinage.

I was not the least bit interested in seeing the first Harry Potter movie when it came out. I was dragged to the theater by some friends of mine, all of whom were far more enthusiastic than I was. As it turned out, I was completely blown away by it and have since been admitted into the ranks of the devout Potterheads.

Definitely the Harry Potter books. Fell in love with 'em from chapter one.

The Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater series. I didn’t think I’d like any sports game.

Got the GE&H treatment twice with the Grand Theft Auto series: At first, and then when the series went to a 3-D perspective.

Everyone was talking about Eternal Darkness when it first came out, but I had no interest in it. I don’t like scary movies, and survival horror games? Forget it. But my cousin got it as a gift, and while I was over at his house I thought I’d give it a try. Somehow, I ended up really liking it. Still scared me more than I would’ve liked, though. Stupid bathtub…

My mother gave me a copy of Stranger in a Strange Land when I was 12. I was of the opinion that ANYTHING recommended by my mother would neccesarily by stupid, as she read mostly Harlequin romance crap. I avoided the book for about 3 months, then started it out of desperation: I wanted my mom to quit bugging me about it. I read the first 20 - 30 pages, then realized that I was enjoying it, but had started with the wrong attitude, so I started over. It has been my favorite book of all time ever since.

I HATE it when my mother’s right.

There was this Saturday night as a teenager when I didn’t have a date (how odd). My mother and my uncle were going to the movies and forced me to go along. Well, I’m not much of a movie person, and I couldn’t think of anything more awful than being seen out with my relatives on a Saturday night, so I bitched up a storm. The movie turned out to be Rain Man, still one of my all time favorites.

Rosanne
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
The Harry Potter books

and, worst of all, Babylon 5. I can’t believe I waited so long to start watching that show. Now the Seasons 2-5 DVDs are on my “must have” wish list at Amazon, and the movie specials will join those as they’re released. I have the Season 1 and the The Gathering/In the Beginning DVDs.

Mind you, I STILL don’t have a DVD player other than in my computer.

Fight Club.

I took the ads at face value and was dismayed that Edward Norton had stooped to some brainless buddy Sly Stallone reject. Then my sister, whose opinion I respect implicitly, enthusiastically urged me to see it without, bless her heart, giving any inkling why. I was blown away.

I have an acquaintance who is still shocked that I like that film. Despite my urgings (which have now turned to utter disdain for him), he still hasn’t seen it.

Me too, IMHO, it was one of the worst advertised movies in history. When I saw the previews, I thought it was going to be a illegal boxing/macho man type movie with brad pitt. It was only when a friend dragged me over to see the DVD that I was hooked.

All the ads for Twelve Monkeys made it look like some incoherent pseudointellectual claptrap, so I never made any effort to see it. But then one day I was over at a friend’s house for dinner, and they watched a movie afterwards. Twelve Monkeys. For the sake of politeness, I stayed and watched, and it turns out to be the best damn time travel movie I’ve ever seen or heard of. And I’m obsessed with the nature of time, so that’s saying a lot.

Adventures in Babysitting

When this particular flick came out, I saw the ads and thought it looked like a horrifing piece of dreck. Had no interest whatsoever in seeing it. But a friend of mine green-egg-n-hammed me on it. He was right! It was a fun, funny movie. Now I green-egg-n-ham other people with it when I get the chance.

I mean, come on. How can you resist a move that has Albert Collins step up to the mic and say, in his peculiarly bug-eyed serious way,

Buffy the Vampire Slayer–the TV series, not the movie. The movie I saw when it came out and utterly detested it. My sister loved it. Which is why, when the TV series came out, I vowed I wouldn’t watch it regardless of her ravings.

But one night I had to stay over at her place out of necessity (I think it was when I had a huge paper due and had pulled an almost allnighter and didn’t want to go all the way home to shower, change clothes, sleep for ten minutes, and go back to work/school). She made me watch an episode. It was okay. Of course, I had spent hours working on my web page for a class, and was more than a little brain fried. Then on February 13th, I slept over at her apartment again, for similar reasons (different class this time) and she made me watch a few more episodes. The next morning I woke up a few hours before she did, and was embarrassed when she walked out of her bedroom and caught me watching Buffy.

I now own Season One. I’m not allowed to curse her anymore for getting me hooked on the show, since she gave me a “free dvd” card from Movie Exchange that got me Season One for less than $5.

I can’t wait until this semester is over. I’m going to take a few days off work, tell my husband I’m going out of town, and then go over to my sister’s and have a Buffy marathon. :smiley:

I could list lots of television shows under this thread. First, though, I’ll list the main reasons why I tend to miss out on shows right away…

Promos for new shows tend not to impress me. (The same goes for movies.)
I tend not to put much weight into reviews, no matter the source.
I don’t go out of my way to mark my calendar or find out when a show is on.

When I do happen to discover a show that I like, it’s usually after it’s already gone into syndication. (How many episodes/seasons does that usually take?) Some examples are Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Voyager, Newsradio, and The Drew Carey Show. And I only discovered Seven Days after it had been cancelled.

As for movies, I go to everything these days, no matter the genre or the reviews. However, I don’t rent movies, so if I miss something in the theatre, I usually only see it when I go a friend’s place, or when it hits television (usually not the best way to see a film).

One movie that I missed in theatres was Resident Evil. I don’t know exactly why I missed it, but I may have had other plans and/or just didn’t care too much to bother.

Well, I ended up seeing it on DVD while dog-sitting for some friends, and really liked it. Since then, I’ve been much more open to seeing almost anything in the theatre, and I’m really looking forward to seeing the RE sequel. (Not too much though, since I never want to go in with high expectations.)

Anyhoo, I’m rambling tonight. Or, rather, this morning. Time to get to bed…

[Have you ever been “green-egg-‘n’-hammed” in such a fashion? Have you ever resisted something out of stubborn prejudice and found that you were avoiding a genuine pleasure?
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Pirates of the Carribean. it stars Johnny Depp, teen heartthrob and was made to promote a ride at Disneyland. sounds like a recipe for disaster to me. Strawberry Shortcake with one of the Olsen twins. Imagine my surprise to actually like it, I have seen it three times.