For one of the many Country Music awards shows, or something like the MTV Movie Awards, it’s probably more for the performances than anything else. I like to joke that somebody is going to come up with an awards show that’s just performances, and then, at the end, the host comes out and says, “Um, it appears that we have run out of time to give out any awards, so check out the winners at our website” (or they scroll through the winners in the closing credits).
I love the pomp and circumstance. I tend to try to watch all the major Awards shows (Oscars, Emmy’s, Golden Globes, Tony’s) for that reason. I also tend to really enjoy movies, so a celebration of movies is right up my alley.
I like movies quite a bit. So it’s nice to see people reward for good work like 12 Years a Slave and Dallas Buyers Club. (But OTOH you have to put up with crap like Gravity winning awards. Sheesh.)
There is a lot of filler crap. A lot. This is why DVRs were invented. Skip the songs, skip the dud host stuff. (Ellen started out okay buy soon got into a rut.) Etc. Just skipping the commercials alone saves an hour. And you get to rewind and catch the goofs.
OTOH, not a fan of modern music so I skip the Grammys. Ditto the Tonys. The winners of most Emmys are the worst sort of shows so I skip those. I have no idea why the corrupt little group of the HFPA matters at all so the Golden Globes are out too.
I also don’t see the appeal. One time I was visiting some friends out of town, so I had no choice but to watch the Oscars with them. What a colossal bore. They even showed an interpretive dance of all the movies that were up for best picture that year. The choreographer must have been using some nice hallucinogenic substance to come up with that crap. Every once in a while, one particular singer whom I really like will perform at an awards show, but even then I just can’t suffer through all the other garbage in order to get the one pearl. It would be nice if they posted the schedule ahead of time so I’d know when to tune in. To keep ratings up, they obviously want to discourage viewers from doing this. Instead, I just go to this particular singer’s website the next day and watch the performance.
I still will never get your incredulity on this sort of thing. If I don’t like something, then I’m not going to notice what parts of it are appealing. If you hate cilantro, you’re not going to notice the “fresh” taste that it has. If you think running sucks, you’re never going to learn about the runner’s high. If you don’t watch something, you’re not going to know all the little things that are appealing about it. That’s the point of asking.
You guys are the ones who comes off as weird to me, not being able to fathom that people who don’t like something might not know all that much about it. Your incredulity is what’s weird, as surely there are things you don’t like that you don’t know much about.
And it’s not like we haven’t had whole threads explaining the concept, where we discussed how there are different types of “understanding,” and that we aren’t saying that we literally can’t fathom people liking something, just that we don’t get the appeal.
Ironically, it’s the ones that have to call us all lame who are being overly pedantic, taking things literally that were never intended to be taken that way. There is no one here who is so stupid that they can’t fathom the idea of people liking thing that they don’t like. If that were the case, there would be no reason to ask the question, as there would be no answer.
I don’t want to sound harsh, but, technically, what you are doing is threadshitting. I know it’s done in a jovial manner, but you are saying the topic of “not understanding why people like something” is beneath you, and you do pop in to insult us for being so lame that we are discussing that topic. Those are the two requirements for the term. I think no one reports it because we know no one means any harm.
But I am getting tired of seeing the same comment in every single thread like this, the one disparaging people for daring to even ask the question. Can we please let up on this?
LOL. BigT is lecturing people again on social weirdness with bonus junior modding. Thanks. It might surprise you, but I don’t like award shows either and for many of the same reasons listed in the OP. But I am not baffled as to why other people watch them, and I have more than just wild guesses like “I think this might have something to do with people liking celebrities or something, or are they hoping for a wreck? I don’t know why people watch these things pls explain pls.” Not personally getting the appeal and not understanding the appeal it has for others are two different things; I know why people watch award shows even if I find them boring as hell.
I would be interested in the Oscars in terms of who gets nominated and who actually wins, but no way would I sit and actually watch the full show. Especially not over here where I would have to stay up all night to do so.
The actual moment of success is interesting to most people I think, there are few people who would not stop to watch if two runners or sports car were about to cross the line, or if it were the last ten seconds of a football game. You might not particularly care who wins, but you will stop for a few seconds to check who actually does win.
The moment of announcing an Oscar win is like that, its the runner getting over the line in first place. People like seeing that moment and the expression of joy or relief that follows.
Perhaps the “surprise, people like different things” response to these type threads wouldn’t be so prevelent if they didn’t start with such a negative tone. This one in particular listed perceived negative things about awards shows and then asked why anyone would watch it.
But to answer the OP, I find that the opening segement from the host is hit or miss but has enough hits to make it worth watching. Beyond the opening, I usually have the show on as background while I’m doing something else.
I can definitely sympathize with “I don’t get x, what do you like about it?” threads.
Sometimes there are things I don’t particularly like that other people enjoy, and I think about it. Thinking leads to wondering. Sometimes I’ll wonder enough to ask someone else their view on it. I think even a few times I’ve been “converted”. I’m aware that my mind closes a little when I don’t like something. I hate Family Guy. It’s dumb and unfunny, badly animated and the jokes are nothing to do with the story, (if they even are jokes rather than references to the 80s). South Park hit the nail on the head. Hence I also hate American Dad, without really even having watched it. I have a friend who likes both, and it has been interesting hearing his perspective on it. It fights my ignorance slightly. The other way round, it can be nice to have a captive audience of someone who doesn’t like something you enjoy, so you can properly explain what’s so awesome about it without a) boring the shit out of them b) sounding like a defensive fanboy.
I would say that I’ve been told by a mod that telling people that you’ve been told by a mod that telling someone they are threadshitting is also threadshitting is also threadshitting, but that would be threadshitting, so I won’t.
I always look to see who’s won or been nominated at the Oscars, because I’m interested in film generally, but I don’t watch it because I’m not greatly interested in most of the people who make films, and those who I am interested in I’ll want to find out about in more depth than I’d see at an award show.
I love movies, too, but parts of the Academy Awards ceremony often strike me as, well, narcissistic. It’s like being turned off when an otherwise attractive woman gets a little too much enjoyment from her own photos, reflection, etc.
Posted by **Skammer **(post #4)
I’ll post the source in case someone missed it. Billy Crystal, at the 2012 awards ceremony: “So tonight, enjoy yourselves because nothing can take the sting out of the world’s economic problems like watching millionaires present each other with golden statues.”