In this thread, **Tengu **, an otherwise smart and tasteful doper ;), says that he doesn’t like the film noir genre. At first I was astonished, but “Everybody Doesn’t Like Something” and I realized that I too have cetain genres that I don’t like and tend to avoid viewing/reading/listening to.
Romance: You know, the glossy, soap opera-y stuff like Bette Davis and Joan Crawford used to do. and that leads to–
“Women’s Pictures”: Women being bitches toward one another. I thought All About Eve overrated and I couldn’t finish The Women.
Punk Rock: Call me old fashioned, but I think musicanship counts for a whole lot and attitude for a whole lot less. (And I was a tenager when it came along!) I’d still rather listen to disco or prog rock, which punk was trying to replace.
**MGM Musicals: ** Sure, *Singin’ in the Rain * was good, but it could have lost at least three production numbers and been even better. At least it didn’t star the inexplicably popular Judy Garland
**Anime: ** Maybe if I’d started when I was young… The styles of the artwork, the animation, and the storyteling are just to different from what I grew up with.
So, what genres do other Dopers avoid like the plague?
Cop shows/movies
Almost all sitcoms
Reality TV
Fantasy lit with the exception of Jack Vance and Ursula LeGuin (and Tolkien back in the days)
Anything with certain actors: Julia Roberts is a definite deal killer
I can’t watch anything with Tom Cruise, I don’t care how good the movie is otherwise. He’s the only actor I feel this way about.
Reality TV. Game shows are fine but those elimination shows like survivor or the apprentice leave me cold. I can appreciate that the Amazing Race is a cut above, but I just get bored watching it.
In movies, I won’t watch horror, war, mafia, biographies, or tragedies.
In books, I won’t read true crime, books with incest (you’d be amazed how often this comes up), literary fiction, post-apolcalyptic, biography, theology, war, or books that wallow in tragedy.
In TV, I won’t watch interview shows, entertainment news, lawyer shows or doctor shows unless there’s a compelling reason, and “Humiliation TV” where they try to embarrass and defame everyone.
anime, fantasy, most sci-fi, and goofy british comedy. Dont even say the words Monty, Python, Princess, Bride, Lord, Rings, Red, Dwarf to me. I’m sorry but I never get along with people who are WAY into this stuff. I can’t handle these kinds of nerds. Actually I’m not sorry.
I have zero interest in sci-fi/fantasy, horror, anime, crappy teen films (which encompasses most teen films, except the good 80s ones and a few recent ones), brainless action movies, super glurgy movies, country music, christian music, bubblegum pop, most current rock bands that get a lot of radio play (stuff like Nickleback etc), and I also dislike most books written before 50 years ago*.
*Not that I don’t appreciate literary works of art or the classics, I just can’t relate to most and find them boring. They don’t suck, I just don’t like them.
I don’t like horror movies, or the sort of comedy that’s all about people being embarassed. (Although I do like the British The Office, but am uncomfortable about it.) I don’t really care for war films, although I watch them sometimes because a lot of them are very good films. But I don’t enjoy them.
Musically, I’m fairly broad minded and I listen to a wide variety. When it comes to movies, I couldn’t be more close minded. There’s little I’ll watch.
books: Fiction (yeah, that’s alot I know)
Music: Rap, Country, Heavy Metal, and Pop.
Television: Everything. Especially medical (csi, er), and cop dramas.
Movies: Romantic Comedies. Gouge my friggin eyes out.
You know, I saw this thread, and somehow I KNEW my comment over there was what prompted it.
FTR, I don’t avoid any genres. Some - like noir - I don’t have any interest in, but it’s possible a particular example could catch my attention. It’s just that I don’t have the interest to make the effort to sort through 100 that won’t for the one that might. If I happen to run across one that looks interesting by chance, or a noir pastiche is done in a genre I’m interested in - sci-fi, comedy, or superhero, especially - I might watch, or read it. But I’d rather put effort into finding something in genres I do enjoy.
Westerns are the same way. (Although I’ve been surprised by westerns more often than noir.)
And 50s rock music.
Actually…I do avoid some types of porn, but that’s about it.
I do wonder if my dis-preferences (yay, new word!) has the same mildly baffling feel to other people as this does to me. I can understand not liking animation in general, or all Japanese films, but just Japanese animation…it…doesn’t scan to me.
Any comedy movie starring an actor or actors who got their start on Saturday Night Live (exception for The Blues Brothers). Romantic Comedy. Pixar. I saw Shreck, I saw enough.
Sports. I don’t care. Sometimes I have a tolerance for baseball, though. I like having it on the radio while I’m busy drawing or physically working on something detailed, soldering electonics, for instance. It is good background noise and almost always on during summer months.
Musicals.
Message boards where every other post is “UR a fag”. I love you guys.
Mostly these don’t qualify as genres, but one must have standards.
Music:
Country (not going to happen)
R&B/Hip hop/rap (ditto)
Movies:
Serious drama (though I can be persuaded if it’s good enough - e.g. loved The Queen)
Horror (disinterested)
Stupid comedies a la Jim Carrey, Adam Sandler, the Farrelly brothers, most Ben Stiller, etc. (don’t enjoy how angry they seem to be)
Books:
Westerns (same as the music)
Horror (same as the movie)
Anime (feel no reason to read it)
I don’t think I ever liked any western unless it’s also got comedy in it. Something about all that dust and the saloons and all that just rubs me the wrong way.
Yep, I avoid that like the plague. Did you ever read any Oliver Saks books where he talks about people with weird brain injuries who can no longer recognize basic images, like a picture of hat? I’m like that with anime. I’ve tried to watch it (being polite in someone else’s home) and I can’t figure out what is happening on the screen. Is that a person? A dog? A vacuum cleaner? Is it crying? Singing? Making muffins?
Other genres:
Music: the kind of jazz that sounds like easy listening.
Movies: Horror films, westerns, war movies. I avoid the war movies because when people are in uniform, they all look like the same guy to me, and I can’t keep track of who is who. (I think this is unrelated to my anime problem, but you never know)
TV: not really a genre, but I’ve noticed recently I’ll avoid anything shot on video, it’s too hard on the eyes.