# Immensely popular things that really are good **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 16, 2013, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immensely-popular-things-that-really-are-good/655885 "2013-04-16T22:31:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2013, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immensely-popular-things-that-really-are-good/655885/21 "2013-04-17T03:58:10Z")
Honda cars and motorcycles. ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2013, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immensely-popular-things-that-really-are-good/655885/22 "2013-04-17T04:00:05Z")
Terry Pratchett ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2013, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immensely-popular-things-that-really-are-good/655885/23 "2013-04-17T04:12:21Z")
Star Wars, at least the original movie, was both immensely popular and a damn good movie. It was also the first time “pulp” or “space opera” sci fi had appeared on the big screen, as opposed to stuff with a serious bent and connection to Earth like 2001. It was an amazing example of world building and intentional lack of context, innovative for film. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2013, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immensely-popular-things-that-really-are-good/655885/24 "2013-04-17T05:06:53Z")
Yellowstone National Park. It is just _amazing._ _The Shawshank Redemption._ _Wall-E._ ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2013, 10:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immensely-popular-things-that-really-are-good/655885/25 "2013-04-17T10:08:19Z")
The iPad. Concept and implementation. ---
**Author:** ![JLRogers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ce73a5/32.png) [@JLRogers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JLRogers)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2013, 10:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immensely-popular-things-that-really-are-good/655885/26 "2013-04-17T10:26:32Z")
> [@Infovore](#): > > So here’s a fun idea: why don’t you tell us what _you_ think is good instead of crapping on something that others like? Because the thread topic is “ **Immensely popular things that really are good**.” If the Harry Potter books aren’t good, then they don’t fit the thread. That they appear in the OP complicates this. Are the Happy Potter books means to be used as a metric for “good?” If so the bar is set pretty low. I enjoyed them when they came out as a bit of low-effort recreational reading, but claiming that they are “good” beyond that level is a stretch unless one’s bookshelf is full of nothing else but “airport fiction.” To contribute: Caffeine. ---
**Author:** ![Stephe96](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2013, 10:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immensely-popular-things-that-really-are-good/655885/27 "2013-04-17T10:30:39Z")
The Beatles ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2013, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immensely-popular-things-that-really-are-good/655885/28 "2013-04-17T10:52:34Z")
Coca Cola Heinz Ketchup Sex U2 (:)) District 9 One Direction ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2013, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immensely-popular-things-that-really-are-good/655885/29 "2013-04-17T12:11:55Z")
A handful of very vocal detractors would have you believe that it’s the most hated movie of modern times, but its popularity was richly deserved, and it holds up as a great film to this day. **Titanic** ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2013, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immensely-popular-things-that-really-are-good/655885/30 "2013-04-17T13:16:05Z")
The ones that come to mind are the “Game of Thrones” tv show and books. Both really are as good as people say. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2013, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immensely-popular-things-that-really-are-good/655885/31 "2013-04-17T13:28:52Z")
I read a book and can’t remember the author - I want to say P.J. O’Rourke or David Foster Wallace - wherein he left his ivory tower and immersed himself in the pleasures pursued by the lower classes. He listened to popular music and took a trip to Branson, Missouri and went to every show he could fit in. Purpose of the book was to prove how ‘bad’ popular culture is, but he found out that it wasn’t really ‘bad’, just…mediocre. Not good, not bad, but somewhere in between. ---
**Author:** ![JKilez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e5b9ba/32.png) [@JKilez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKilez)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2013, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immensely-popular-things-that-really-are-good/655885/32 "2013-04-17T14:54:27Z")
> [@Beastly\_Rotter](#): > > > [@Quimby](#): > > > > The Harry Potter books are good. They are surprisingly well written. Rowling definitely grows in confidence as an author as the books go on, the weakest is probably The Chamber of Secrets–it lacks the novelty of the first one and the dense plotting of the ones after, but they are all good reads. > > They are shoddy at worst and workmanlike at best. I think the assessment of the Harry Potter books by **Beastly Rotter** and **JLRogers** is quite good. The first few read like Hardy Boys mysteries. What is good: _To Kill a Mockingbird Lord of the Flies The Outsiders_ and the Harry Potter movies. All of them are decent, but the third, _Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban_, stands out. ---
**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 17, 2013, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immensely-popular-things-that-really-are-good/655885/33 "2013-04-17T14:55:09Z")
> [@JLRogers](#): > > Because the thread topic is “ **Immensely popular things that really are good**.” If the Harry Potter books aren’t good, then they don’t fit the thread. That they appear in the OP complicates this. Are the Happy Potter books means to be used as a metric for “good?” If so the bar is set pretty low. I enjoyed them when they came out as a bit of low-effort recreational reading, but claiming that they are “good” beyond that level is a stretch unless one’s bookshelf is full of nothing else but “airport fiction.” Once you get above a certain level of competence, “really good” is subjective. Some people hate Harry Potter, some people have rearranged their lives around the Potterverse. Ditto Titanic, Lord of the Rings, Doctor Who, Star Trek, Star Wars, Game of Thrones, Seinfeld, and thousands of other things I can name. Everything I claim is “really good,” there’ll be somebody else out there to point out that it’s crap. So what? That’s not what the thread is about. It’s _opinion_. Oh, and I second the iPad. ---
**Author:** ![Airk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de053/32.png) [@Airk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airk)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2013, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immensely-popular-things-that-really-are-good/655885/34 "2013-04-17T14:58:49Z")
It depresses me just how many of the suggestions in this thread I not only disagree with, but disagree with STRONGLY. I will second chocolate to keep things positive. ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2013, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immensely-popular-things-that-really-are-good/655885/35 "2013-04-17T15:05:35Z")
The Simpsons during its peak years in the '90s. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2013, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immensely-popular-things-that-really-are-good/655885/36 "2013-04-17T15:24:25Z")
Breathing. If you doubt how good breathing feels, try not breathing for a while! 🙂 Saying, “God bless you always! 🙂 🙂 :)” Come on you know you miss it. Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens. ---
**Author:** ![Svejk\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@Svejk\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Svejk_1)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2013, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immensely-popular-things-that-really-are-good/655885/37 "2013-04-17T15:26:23Z")
Another vote for The Beatles. Also, the Sopranos and The Godfather movies. ---
**Author:** ![orcenio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/orcenio/32/1036_2.png) [@orcenio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/orcenio)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2013, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immensely-popular-things-that-really-are-good/655885/38 "2013-04-17T15:28:03Z")
Videos/pictures of cute, baby mammals. **AHHH…[Why can’t I look away!!](https://www.google.ca/search?q=baby+mammals&rlz=1C1ASUT_enCA465CA465&aq=f&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hl=en&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=zL9uUejLBtal4APV7IEY&biw=1366&bih=653&sei=zr9uUb_OFZKl4AOv4YDwAw)** ---
**Author:** ![FlyingDragonFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c89c15/32.png) [@FlyingDragonFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlyingDragonFan)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2013, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immensely-popular-things-that-really-are-good/655885/39 "2013-04-17T15:47:26Z")
The iPhone is worth all the attention it gets: Well designed, easy to use, and good ergonomics. ---
**Author:** ![Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellis_Aponte_Jr)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2013, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immensely-popular-things-that-really-are-good/655885/40 "2013-04-17T16:02:08Z")
Adidas sneakers, art deco, Barcelona, margaritas, the _Saturday Night Fever_ soundtrack, southern BBQ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immensely-popular-things-that-really-are-good/655885.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immensely-popular-things-that-really-are-good/655885.md?page=3)