‘The Wizard of Oz’ was apparently panned by critics when it was first released. They called it ‘stupid and unimaginative’. I learned this while watching a stand-up routine by Paula Poundstone, who was quick a popular comic at the time. Then there was some scandal involving her adopted child and alcohol, which kind of led to most people hating her.
Soy and wheat were both the new fiber at different times, and everyone was going on about how healthy they were. Now everyone wants soy and gluten-free stuff. Also, foofy, girlie drinks, while never really reviled, used to elicit a lot of eye-rolling when ordered. Now, every other bartender considers him/herself an artisan mixologist, and prides his or herself on the lengthy list of convoluted cocktails they can make.
Blade Runner was pretty much a flop when it came out. That summer, sci-fi fans were far more interested in E.T., Star Trek II, and John Carpenter’s The Thing.
Critics said it was slow and weird and hard to follow. Audiences were used to seeing Harrison Ford as Han Solo or Indiana Jones and didn’t know what to make of a surly character like Deckard.
The movie is considered a classic now. AFI puts it 97th in its list of greatest all-time movies and 6th in its list of best sci-fi films. The film’s dystopian version of the future, new for that era, has been influential in many films and TV since then.
Whether this has anything to do with the changes made by the Director’s Cut, I don’t know.
I wanted to say Dale Earnhardt, but was late to the thread. I still don’t like him.
I think Jeff Gordon is going through a transition right now. He’s not exactly loved by everyone, but he’s not hated like he used to be. He’s also only won once in about 3 years.
Absolutely NOTHING fits the category as described.
There has never been ANY song, ANY book, ANY movie, ANY piece of pop culture that “everybody” ever loved or hated.
What there HAVE been, many times, are movies or books or songs that bombed completely when first released, were mocked and derided by critics, were forgotten for years, and found a small, appreciative audience years later- often people who enjoyed the movie/song for its camp value.
A bad movie that nobody liked when it was first released may become an in-joke, and may find a cult audience that likes to show it at midnight. But even if, say, “Can’t Stop the Music” has found an appreciative gay audience in 2010 that likes to laugh at it, it doesn’t follow that “everybody loves it” now. You’ll never find a single critic who hated “Can’t Stop the Music” when it was released but who loves it now.
No. The New York Times review, for instance, praised it as being “a delightful piece of wonderworking” and “Not since Disney’s ‘Snow White’ has anything quite so fantastic succeeded half as well.” It was also nominated for Best Picture that year and it won two Oscars. However, it was only a modest box office success, and gained its beloved status once they started running it on TV.
Astorian – it’s odd that you make that comment after the many counterexamples currently being mentioned in this threat. Something like Ace in the Hole is a perfect example of what is being asked for – it was savaged by critics and ignored by the public, but it’s now it’s listed among the best films of all time. Moby Dick was hated when it was published; it’s now considered one of the top ten American novels.
If you’re trying to say that there was nothing that 100% of the people hated and now 100% of the people like – well, no films are liked or hated by 100% of the people. It’s just attacking a straw man if you’re complaining about that.
The point is that critical consensus changes, and occasionally a movie, book, play, etc., is out of tune with its own time, but is later recognized as great as attitudes change.
This is kind of funny. Back in the day when I lived at home one of the albums I liked to blast was by Black Sabbath, and of course back in the dark ages the parents would bleat in unison : “turn that noise DOWN”. Flash forward a few decades, and dear old Mom, who never watched a reality show she didn’t adore, fell madly in love with Ozzy Osbourne AND Gene Simmons. Never missed a single episode, thinks both of them are just fabulous.
[quote=“RealityChuck, post:46, topic:547720”]
I’ve never heard of Ace in the Hole. That COULD, certainly, mean that I’m completely out to lunch (you wouldn’t be the first person who’s said so). But it could also suggest there never was much of a consensus for OR against that film.
As for Moby, I HATED every Melville work I was ever assigned to read (***Billy Budd ***sucked beyond belief, and Bartleby the Scrivener was torture), so I’ve never given the whale a chance. I suspect I’d agree with the 19th century critics who loathed it.
Beyond that, MOST of the examples I’ve seen are highly suspect. Is Showgirls or Xanadu REALLY loved now, or have a FEW people embraced it as a goof? I mean, thanks to MST3K, a lot of people have probably bought ***Manos, the ***Hands of Fate, but I wouldn’t say anybody has changed his mind about its awfulness.
[quote=“RealityChuck, post:46, topic:547720”]
No. The New York Times review, for instance, praised it as being “a delightful piece of wonderworking” and “Not since Disney’s ‘Snow White’ has anything quite so fantastic succeeded half as well.” It was also nominated for Best Picture that year and it won two Oscars. However, it was only a modest box office success, and gained its beloved status once they started running it on TV.
Oh. Paula Poundstone lied to me! :oOr maybe she meant the books were panned? I dunno; too lazy to look it up.
I think Plan 9 From Outer Space counts, if just because it’s a “so bad it’s good” thing. I hear there are Rocky Horror-like showings of it where you shout various things at the screen (like “NIGHT TIME!” and “DAYTIME!” whenever it cuts from a night shot to a day shot). The movie Ed Wood might have started this.
1970’s Creature Feature showings I think first got a cult following for Ed Wood. Of course, it was right after he died. A fellow named (I think) Wade Williams saw the potential & started snapping up what rights he could on Ed Wood movies. Then Michael Medved & his brother named it “Worst Movie Ever” in their Golden Turkey book, and the ball got rolling after that. Tim Burton’s movie just gave it added velocity.
I’m rather shocked that Freddie Got Fingered is being mentioned in the same breath as Andy Kaufman or Sacha Cohen as examples of absurdist humor. I guess if you are truly not funny but are trying to be funny, that automatically makes it absurdist.
A lot of early cable channels seem to fit this bill. When Comedy Central first aired, they played clips from funny movies or tv shows, and nobody expected it to take off the way it did after it started producing original programming. MTV was also predicted to fail. When Fox became the 4th network, people didn’t think it would become successful too (and, conversely, I remember being surprised that the WB channel failed when it seemed to be following the Fox formula precisely.)
Shawshank Redemption is usually given as an example of a film that made more money on DVD than in the theaters.
Bach was VERY famous in his day, but as a MUSICIAN, and not a composer. He had no trouble making a living as an organist and harpsichordist, and supported his very large family comfortably. He just wasn’t successful at selling his own compositions.
And, of course, “selling” compositions in Bach’s day meant something different from what it means today. Back then, you were trying to sell yourself to one of a small number of noblemen. It’s NOT as if Bach’s music was heard all over Europe, and everybody agreed “This stinks.” Rather, it’s that he tried to submit his work to various noblemen and none of them bought it (whether they hated it, were indifferent to it, or never even saw it is unknown).
Justin Timberlake.
It’s not that everyone hated him, but it wasn’t cool to like the Backstreet Boys unless you were a tween girl.
Then he went solo and I lost track of what he was doing, so I couldn’t tell you what the reaction was to that.
Then he went on SNL and was hilarious and suddenly everyone loved him. Not necessarily his music (though I think that got a big boost in coolness, too) but he’s certainly been regarded as one of the best guests on SNL in recent years.
Timberlake was in N’Sync. Wrong boy band. As to his coolness, he seemed to gain credibility almost immediately after leaving his band mates.
Hmm.
I guess you can number me among those who still loathe Justin Timberlake.
The guy just ain’t funny (nor is Andy Samberg, for that matter). And any credit given to his music of late (and I don’t give it much) must be laid at the feet of Timbaland, not Timberlake.
I’m not a fan, either, but he gained almost instant credibility after leaving N’Sync so far as I remember.
A Christmas Story. Bad reviews. Bad box office. Now on 24 hours at Christmas and the day feels incomplete without at least one viewing.
Yeah, I remember my mom saying" You’ll put your eye out with that thing!" Now, she loves it.
While it didn’t fail, I think this is a good example of things people used to like, but now hate, unless of course you’re a fan of reality shows.