I like a lot more family friendly stuff than some people, and while us nice guys don’t go onto boards of some places and flame the shows/movies/etc. to death or turn them into good, wholesome stuff, some people like to to comment on how bad good, wholesome entertainment is, or turn it into something just…ewwww, not meant for that type of show.
So, are these people masochists? Do they derive pleasure out of suffring through something they hate? Or, are they secretly longing for the type of true family love without all the lust of the world, but yet they can’t stop themselves from resisting the temptation to think thoughts from the gutter about clean characters and situations?
I supose another option is that they truly seek out such entertainment specifically to see how they can debase it, an act which is demonic in nature but which could happen. I sure hope not, though. I like to think that my fellow man/woman is just misguided, or preferably longs to capture the peace and joy and happiness that families like mine have despite the troubles in our lives, and they just don’t know how to get there.
Sorry if this belongs on another board, but it’s related to the arts and entertainment, so I thought it would go here; the thread culd wind up up wandering onto one of a couple others, though.
I think I’m one of the people that you’re talking about. I am not shy, for instance, about expressing my disgust for Everybody Loves Raymond. If I could avoid this junk, I would. Unfortunately, due to the fact that I live with other human beings, there are times when I must endure Raymond’s sickly stench.
As to why I tell people how bad it is? I have opinions, dammit, and it’s only fair that the whole world hears them as loudly, and as often as possible!
As far as movies go – I didn’t go to them because I thought I’d hate them; I expected (or hoped) to see a good film. And when it turns out to be crap, I don’t like the fact I wasted my time and money on it. And when people end up raving about this sort of crap (e.g., Alien), I feel a real need to tell them their . . . mistaken.
One exception – we go to drive-ins and sometimes the second feature is godawful, but the first is worth seeing. (e.g., The Matrix Reloaded)
Occasionally, also, I see a bad film to MST3K it. (e.g., Battlefield Earth)
TV is different: if something’s crap, I don’t watch it. But I may have watched an episode or two to check it out. In addition, there are some shows that I try to watch to see if I’m mistaken. Usually, they’re just as terrible as I remember them and I don’t last to the end (e.g., Seinfeld, Everyone Loves Raymond).
I’m hard pressed to understand exactly what you mean, Curious. Are you talking about people who enjoy “so bad it’s good”-style camp, as most of the responses seem to have read you, or do you mean, people who see movies or read books, etc., that are dark and/or depressing, as I assumed you meant? Are you asking why people seek out art that is not necessarily reassuring and uplifting?
Been visiting the Television without Pity 7th Heaven forum?
Internet discussions of entertainment seem to fall into two categories – the obsessed fans who love every single detail about a show/movie/artist and spend their time analyzing every detail of the performances, or sites like Television without Pity, where the object is to make fun of stuff. There is something in human nature that wants to criticize others and put them down; at least when the target is entertainment rather than your friends and neighbors, it’s mostly harmless.
I tend not to watch shows I dislike, because I’m easily bored, but I confess to sometimes enjoying what TwoP refers to as “the snark”. On this board and elsewhere, I’ve been reading the reviews of “The Cat in the Hat” which are funny because they are so incredibly vicious. It can be fun to go on the attack against a show which can’t fight back or be hurt by your ranting.
As for the “perversion” of entertainment, that’s more a function of widely differing standards. Many people enjoy watching wholesome family entertainment; many other people enjoy watching The Sopranos and Sex in the City. The second group has a hard time understanding what the first group sees in their shows, so they try to turn them into something more to their liking.
The bottom line is that it’s only entertainment. Me spending my time loving a T.V. show is just as much a purely frivolous activity as someone else spending time debasing it. It’s hardly demonic, more like silly, dirty fun.
As anyone knows I am not a John Wayne fan and so I get a big kick out of watching “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence”. (For the 3 people who may not have seen this movie there are spoilers ahead okay?)
I love to watch this becuse it is the exact opposite of real life. John Wayne plays the “real” hero of the movie - shooting Liberty Valence but never getting credit and he dies an unknwon impoverished nobody.
Whereas, Jimmy Stewart gets all the credit and goes on to fame, fortune, political office, etc.
The funny thing about watching this movie is that John Wayne was not a hero in real life. Jimmy Stewart retired as an Air Force General. Lee Marvin (the villain Liberty Valence) was a WW2 Marine Vet (Purple Heart). Strother Martin and Lee Van Cleef were Navy Vets. Woody Strode and the director John Ford were also veterans. There’s probably a bunch of other people I’ve forgotten but I think you get the idea.
A perfect example of a movie which shows art not imitating life.
