# Most shameful guilty pleasure you've ever had **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 6, 2009, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-shameful-guilty-pleasure-youve-ever-had/512850 "2009-10-06T20:39:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Small\_Hen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ad7895/32.png) [@Small\_Hen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Hen)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2009, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-shameful-guilty-pleasure-youve-ever-had/512850/61 "2009-10-07T13:35:10Z")
I never really got tired of “Who Let the Dogs Out.” If it comes on the radio in the car, I don’t change the station. I’ve drawn Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends fanart. I was, I think, 22 at the time. I have an inexplicable crush on Dr. McCoy from Star Trek TOS. Inexplicable in that it’s rare for me to simultaniously think, ‘wow, he’s really slouched and ugly’ and ‘damn, I want to be having sex with him’, but there it is. I once spent something like 250 dollars on a replica of the BtVS Scythe. I can only excuse this with an, “I was drunk at the time.” It’s sitting in my closet, and has not yet turned me into a vampire slayer. Alas. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2009, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-shameful-guilty-pleasure-youve-ever-had/512850/62 "2009-10-07T13:42:46Z")
> [@Small\_Hen](#): > > I’ve drawn Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends fanart. I was, I think, 22 at the time. I have a Wilt figure over my desk at work, but I’m not even the tiniest bit ashamed of it. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2009, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-shameful-guilty-pleasure-youve-ever-had/512850/63 "2009-10-07T13:46:10Z")
> [@Glory](#): > > I loved Xanadu. I love Grease II. And the Beastmaster. > > I have a special weakness for a special genre of movie - there has to be some sort of contest/big game/big show, and the main characters have to practice REALLY hard (music montage is a bonus) and the final show/game is the big payoff. > > See: Cutting Edge, Girls Just Want to Have Fun, Drumline, You Got Served, Mystery Alaska, Footloose (learning how to dance for The.Big.Dance!), Bring it On, Bend it Like Beckham, Sister Act, Center Stage, Roll Bounce, Stick It, Dirty Dancing etc etc. > > Love ALL of them. Love love love. Yeah! I see nothing a) shameful or b) guilty pleasure-ish about loving these movies. What’s wrong with 'em? 😕 I really would like to know why they’re ‘bad’? My personal favorite: Roll, Bounce - they show it on VH1 all the time. It’s part widowed-Dad and son sitcom, part afterschool special, and of course the awesome, the fabulous, the baaaaadddd disco roller skate dance off! (Seriously, the first time I watched this (sort of, out of the corner of my eye), by the time the big contest started, I AM ashamed to admit that my palms were actually sweating :p) ---
**Author:** ![Haunted](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/898d66/32.png) [@Haunted](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Haunted)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2009, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-shameful-guilty-pleasure-youve-ever-had/512850/64 "2009-10-07T14:22:12Z")
[![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A81fwLNklSM) ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2009, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-shameful-guilty-pleasure-youve-ever-had/512850/65 "2009-10-07T14:26:18Z")
I’ve got one. I still own a copy of Flowers in the Attic and still break it out to read now and then, even though I pretty much know the book by heart. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2009, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-shameful-guilty-pleasure-youve-ever-had/512850/66 "2009-10-07T15:22:51Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > That was one of them. The other involved a woman and a glass jar. (I have no idea if it really happened but I doubt it. Koscinski (sp) has been accused of making it all up.) I skimmed [the Wiki article](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Painted_Bird) because I wasn’t familiar with it, and it says these days it’s treated as solely fictional, perhaps even taking some incidents from Polish literature/stories (with charges of plagiarism entwined with that), and that the author was kept in hiding by a sympathetic family during the war. Apparently it had also been marketed as fictional and that people had assumed it was semi-autobiographical for a while. Oh yeah, mine are that I love love **love** the romance parts of Bioware’s RPG games like Neverwinter Nights, Knights of the Old Republic, and Mass Effect. I am a freaking sucker for them. Yet I hate romance novels. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2009, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-shameful-guilty-pleasure-youve-ever-had/512850/67 "2009-10-07T15:31:19Z")
I think things you liked as a tween don’t count. Tween tastes are totally different from adult tastes, and that’s just ducky. I mean, I thought Phil Collins was an amazingly profound lyricist when I was twelve. That song, “Can’t Hurry Love” that he wrote? Spoke directly to my heart, it did. (yes, I know). As an adult, the guilty pleasure that I have is Dungeons and Dragons. When I’m talking to fellow geeks, it’s no problem–but when my parents-in-law ask me about whether I’m attending that Dungeons and Dragons convention this year, it’s really embarrassing; and I’ve only come out of the closet to a few people at my school, mostly in the context of explaining why I have all these awesome dice that I use in math lessons. None of them know that every Sunday I pretend to be a Ghostbuster from the bayou. ---
**Author:** ![Shadowfyre](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shadowfyre/32/9972_2.png) [@Shadowfyre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shadowfyre)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2009, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-shameful-guilty-pleasure-youve-ever-had/512850/68 "2009-10-07T15:47:38Z")
When I was a boy, I used to put my mom’s Barry Manilow records on and dance around the living room. Thanks to the anonymity of the internet, I can admit that I have Barry Manilow songs on my computer and will dance to them when I am alone. And not just to Copa, but other ones like I Can’t Smile Without You, I’m Ready To Take A Chance Again, I Write The Songs, etc… I am a 35 year old straight guy. My wife’s name is Mandy. Not Amanda… Mandy. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2009, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-shameful-guilty-pleasure-youve-ever-had/512850/69 "2009-10-07T15:55:41Z")
> [@pepperlandgirl](#): > > I watched all three seasons of Bret Michael’s Rock Of Love on VH1. And I really liked them. If there’s a fourth season, I’ll watch it too. I’ll see your Rock of Love and raise you one Daisy of Love and several seasons of Tool Academy and The Pickup Artist. What can I say? My girlfriend and I have a penchant for the art of douchebaggery. ---
**Author:** ![BurnMeUp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@BurnMeUp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BurnMeUp)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2009, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-shameful-guilty-pleasure-youve-ever-had/512850/70 "2009-10-07T15:58:50Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > I mean, I thought Phil Collins was an amazingly profound lyricist when I was twelve. That song, “Can’t Hurry Love” that he wrote? Spoke directly to my heart, it did. Slight correction, that was written by The Supremes back in the 60’s he just covered it. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2009, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-shameful-guilty-pleasure-youve-ever-had/512850/71 "2009-10-07T16:19:38Z")
> [@BurnMeUp](#): > > Slight correction, that was written by The Supremes back in the 60’s he just covered it. I think that’s what he meant by “Yeah, I know.” (He knew it wasn’t written by Phil.) Slight correction to your correction–the Supremes didn’t write their own music. This was written by Holland-Dozier-Holland. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2009, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-shameful-guilty-pleasure-youve-ever-had/512850/72 "2009-10-07T16:22:25Z")
> [@Shadowfyre](#): > > I am a 35 year old straight guy. My wife… Darn! Let’s see, love Xanadu, memorized Flowers in the Attic, what else? Oh yeah, remember that cartoon show called Jem, about the girl who was secretly a rock star and she had magical earrings that made her change back and forth between rock star and ordinary girl? Loved it. Used to watch it at 6:30 in the morning with one finger on the TV remote and one ear listening out for my boyfriend’s car in the driveway. I was 20. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2009, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-shameful-guilty-pleasure-youve-ever-had/512850/73 "2009-10-07T16:22:55Z")
> [@BurnMeUp](#): > > Slight correction, that was written by The Supremes back in the 60’s he just covered it. (yeah, I know) ---
**Author:** ![pbbth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f9ae1b/32.png) [@pbbth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pbbth)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2009, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-shameful-guilty-pleasure-youve-ever-had/512850/74 "2009-10-07T16:43:47Z")
Okay, mine might actually be worse than all of yours combined. I have never, ever told anyone this before and I am probably going to regret mentioning it later, but my favorite book of all time is [Alas, Babylon](http://www.amazon.com/Alas-Babylon-Pat-Frank/dp/B000VAUIU6/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1254933656&sr=8-2). I reread it once a year and after I finish reading it I get out a pen and some paper and plan exactly how I would go about surviving after a nuclear holocaust. (Well, since I moved to NYC my plan is to fry quickly and quietly and leave behind a crispy corpse. When I lived in TX I had really in depth plans written out.) ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2009, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-shameful-guilty-pleasure-youve-ever-had/512850/75 "2009-10-07T16:46:59Z")
> [@Ranchoth](#): > > I liked 2005’s _Stealth_, and own the DVD (though I did wait until I could get a copy for $5). > > For an aviation buff, it’s somewhere on the level of a skinemax flick. 😃 Cool futuristic jets and Jessica Biel in a bikini… what’s not to love? ---
**Author:** ![DianaG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ab992/32.png) [@DianaG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DianaG)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2009, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-shameful-guilty-pleasure-youve-ever-had/512850/76 "2009-10-07T16:58:09Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > **Instant Star** was one of my favorite shows during it’s run. It was a Canadian show meant for teenagers about a girl who wins an American Idol type contest, and how her life is turned upside down by it. Did I mention that this four seasons long show only ended a year ago? And I’m 32? I had series recordings set up on my DVR for both Instant Star and DeGrassi, and I’m 38. I said they were for my daughter, but… no. ---
**Author:** ![overlyverbose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9dc877/32.png) [@overlyverbose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/overlyverbose)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2009, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-shameful-guilty-pleasure-youve-ever-had/512850/77 "2009-10-07T17:08:55Z")
> [@HazelNutCoffee](#): > > I still re-watch Practical Magic and The Craft. And still enjoy it. Are you kidding? I loved Practical Magic so much I bought the book. The thing is in tatters, too, from reading it so frequently. Another shameful secret - now that I’m pregnant, I _cry_ sometimes when I read romance novels. It’s hideous. My husband has yet to walk in on me when I’m doing it, but he has seen me start sobbing at a commercial for Hilton Hotels (those were the ones with the song _We Belong_ playing in the background, right?). ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2009, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-shameful-guilty-pleasure-youve-ever-had/512850/78 "2009-10-07T17:28:36Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > Is…this a whoosh? Why would it be a whoosh? I saw _Cats_ as a 12th birthday present. I love cats in general, so why shouldn’t I like a musical about them? Now, I could understand if people looked at me askance because I like Christopher Paolini’s Eragon books (and slightly more askance when I mention that at age thirteen I thought he was one of the best writers ever), but why don’t people like _Cats_? I am really literally un-ironically confused. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2009, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-shameful-guilty-pleasure-youve-ever-had/512850/79 "2009-10-07T17:33:19Z")
> [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](#): > > Why would it be a whoosh? > > I saw _Cats_ as a 12th birthday present. I love cats in general, so why shouldn’t I like a musical about them? > > Now, I could understand if people looked at me askance because I like Christopher Paolini’s Eragon books (and slightly more askance when I mention that at age thirteen I thought he was one of the best writers ever), but why don’t people like _Cats_? I am really literally un-ironically confused. Well…lots of people like children but I sure as hell wouldn’t automatically recommend them “Kids.” I just thought Cats was the ultimate in schmaltzy, music for the masses, touristy crap. Andrew Lloyd Webber is widely regarded as a hack and Cats is the ultimate that His Horribleness created. Anytime you want a shorthand for showing that a character is stupid or has terrible taste, you can mention that they like Cats. I mean…[come on](http://www.freewebs.com/rttmunkustef/tugger1.jpg)! If nothing else, it probably gave us a lot more furries than we need. ---
**Author:** ![Emily\_Litella](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emily_litella/32/3370_2.png) [@Emily\_Litella](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emily_Litella)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2009, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-shameful-guilty-pleasure-youve-ever-had/512850/80 "2009-10-07T17:35:51Z")
Sigh. I had a crush on Donny Osmund in 1971. I bought a fan magazine that had a cover picture of him that I put up on my bedroom wall. I couldn’t wait for “Puppy Love” to come on the radio. OK, beat that! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-shameful-guilty-pleasure-youve-ever-had/512850.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-shameful-guilty-pleasure-youve-ever-had/512850.md?page=5)