# Insult the film! Not the fans! The film, dammit! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 25, 2004, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insult-the-film-not-the-fans-the-film-dammit/236371 "2004-03-25T16:41:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![bifar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@bifar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bifar)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2004, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insult-the-film-not-the-fans-the-film-dammit/236371/1 "2004-03-25T16:41:29Z")
From: > **[Starsky & Hutch Sucks! \[Spoilers, like it matters\]](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=246837)** > > I couldn’t decide if this was a pit thread or not. But I’m going to keep it nice for the Cafe. I’ve been to see Starsky & Hutch, the film and the word on the street is it is bad. And I mean that in the traditional sense. Very bad. Just how... > [@](#): > > The reason why Hollywood does this to us is simple: They Hate Us and The Idiot Factor. Why invest into plot, characters, sets, acting when idiots will pay to see a bad parody of a TV show? **Smiling Bandit** already called **Shirley Ujest** up on this, so I don’t want to take her up on it again. And you know, it’s a good rant. So, Shirley, this isn’t personal or anything. Really, it isn’t. I’m sure you’re a lovely person really. But I’ve been hearing this so much recently, and it’s amazingly fucking rude. So you thought the film/programme/book whatever was the biggest piece of dreck you’ve ever seen? Go on then, insult it. Use your juiciest epithets, stamp your foot a little, even, by all means ask the director/author/stars to do unmentionable things to your testicles. But don’t insult someone who likes it. Why not? Because it’s **fucking rude**! For some reason us poor defenceless geeks seem to get it worst. Apparently every adult who reads Harry Potter books has the mental age of a child, has never read any grownup books and oh should try living in the real world for once. You know what? I don’t go around saying that Dickens fans should try living in the 21st century, though I may think _Bleak House_ is a pile of arse. Harry Potter is badly written, derivative and childish? Fine, but don’t insult me for liking it. I’ve lost count of the times I’ve read massive diatribes against the poor people who happen to have read Tolkien and not completely disliked it. Calling all these people geeks and fantasists is not only a massive generalisation, it’s also (you’ve guessed it) **fucking rude**. I’d really like to see an end to this. It’s fucking hurtful, stupid and narrow-minded. ---
**Author:** ![pasunejen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/58956e/32.png) [@pasunejen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pasunejen)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2004, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insult-the-film-not-the-fans-the-film-dammit/236371/2 "2004-03-25T18:44:30Z")
Amen. By the same token, though, a lot of people need to learn not to pitch a hissy whenever someone does just that (provide rational criticism of a well loved film/book/song/whatever, I mean). I can’t count the number of times I’ve heard “I didn’t like X because Y” met with frothing-at-the-mouth personal insults from fans who can’t see that there might be room to find something wrong with their little baby. Even “I like X, but Y kinda bothered me about it” is dangerous territory. To take one of your examples, I’ve been ripped a new one over Lord of the Rings several times in my life simply for saying that while I really and truly love the books, I don’t think the actual writing is all that spectacular. It’s nuts, either way. ---
**Author:** ![Ponder\_Stibbons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponder_stibbons/32/343_2.png) [@Ponder\_Stibbons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponder_Stibbons)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2004, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insult-the-film-not-the-fans-the-film-dammit/236371/3 "2004-03-25T18:53:15Z")
You’re both dead-on. Like the movie – or hate the movie. Applaud its merits – or call it a piece of crap. End the end, we haven’t done anything _to_ the movie; it’s still there, unchanged. And as long as we can discuss (and even cuss) the movie back and forth, that’s great. But when that discussion gets to the name-calling phase, you’re both absolutely correct: It’s just plain rude. “You’re a dumbass because you love/hate this movie” Gaaaaahhhh!!! ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2004, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insult-the-film-not-the-fans-the-film-dammit/236371/4 "2004-03-25T18:54:53Z")
I agree with both of you. There’s really no excuse for that sort of thing, especially in Cafe Society. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2004, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insult-the-film-not-the-fans-the-film-dammit/236371/5 "2004-03-25T19:27:00Z")
If there’s one attitude that really drives me up the wall, it’s the attitude of “If you disagree with me, you must be stupid”. I work with a person who takes that attitude about _everything_, from politics to the quality of movies. It’s impossible to carry on a conversation with her. ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2004, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insult-the-film-not-the-fans-the-film-dammit/236371/6 "2004-03-25T19:40:50Z")
> [@bifar](#): > > I’ve lost count of the times I’ve read massive diatribes against the poor people who happen to have read Tolkien and not completely disliked it. Calling all these people geeks and fantasists is not only a massive generalisation, it’s also (you’ve guessed it) **fucking rude**. > > I’d really like to see an end to this. It’s fucking hurtful, stupid and narrow-minded. Amen to that. I’m no fan of the LOTR books, but I know around here, I’m in the minority. They’re just not to my taste. No biggie, I just don’t read those threads. What I really hate are the threads where fans of a certain movie or TV show are having a perfectly civilized conversation and some moron just has to come in and shit all over it by posting something like, “Is that show still on? What a waste. That’s such a stupid show!” Gee, thanks for your input. :rolleyes: Or, even worse, “I"ve never watched one episode of _That Show_ (or I"ve never seen _That Movie_) It’s just so stupid. I hate it.” Yeah, thanks. If you’ve never watched even one episode, how do you know it’s stupid? How do you know you hate it? And in that same vein… I hate all the venom spewed towards the so-called “Oprah Books.” I’ve read most of them, and they’re really quite good. Yeah, they’re pretty much “chick books,” but they’re not all brainless fluff. They’re not all mindless romances; they’re good books that make you think. Don’t just dismiss them out-of-hand. How do you know they’re all mindless fluff if you’ve never read any of them? ---
**Author:** ![Doomtrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2004, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insult-the-film-not-the-fans-the-film-dammit/236371/7 "2004-03-25T22:38:55Z")
Ahh! Thread pissers! As a fan of _Family Guy_, _Beavis and Butt-head_, and rap music, I run into em all the time. I hafta confess, sometimes I’m tempted to run into Star Trek threads and yell, “NERDS!” in my best Homer Simpson voice. If I could somehow actually speak on here. ---
**Author:** ![DeadlyAccurate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac91a4/32.png) [@DeadlyAccurate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeadlyAccurate)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2004, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insult-the-film-not-the-fans-the-film-dammit/236371/8 "2004-03-25T23:08:00Z")
A-fucking-men!