Why do so many people hate whats popular ?

Artful_Badger

People always seem to feel the need to scoff and ridicule things that are popular but they themselves dont like. They write these things off as low brow crap liked by ignorant dopes. Xfactor, Mrs Browns Boys, Boybands, Soaps etc etc.

I'm not in anyway a fan of anything listed above btw, but imo I dont like them, I dont watch them/listen to them and thats as far as my involvement goes. Why do people hate these things and those who like them ?

Is it just an excuse to be arseholes with people in general just naturally assholes, is it a child like strop because all entertainment isnt what they want or are people just so up their own holes that they think anyone who doesnt agree with them are stupid ignorant idiots that must not be able to think at all ?

How about a new years resolution. You do your thing, let others do theirs and keep your ignorant, pompous, arrogant, hate filled opinions to yourselves.

Happy New Year.

shane9689

its more to do with what they represent and what they encourage more than anything else...yeah some people jump on the hate bandwagon, but most have legitimate reasons to hate these things

xfactor is hated because of the damage it does to the music industry, i could go into it but id be here all day, just google it or something

Agricola

Not conforming to societal norms = Cool, intelligent and rebellious.

Exceptions to the rule do exist. Mrs Brown being one of them. Cos that really is shít.

The kind of people who are most vehemently scornful of the likes of X-Factor and soap operas often seem do so to project a cooler image. Why anyone else cares if someone is a 1 Direction fan or likes watching Coronation Street is beyond me. The world would be very boring if we all liked the same things.

I don't care what anyone else reads, listens to, watches, or wears. It's not compulsory to follow the herd, or more worthy to despise it.

Shenshen

Personally, I live perfectly happily ignoring all of the things mentioned above.

But - and that's where I'm starting to have a problem - I have work colleagues who will talk about nothing else at lunch time. Or when having a short social chat while waiting for the kettle to boil. Or in the lift. And that does grate on my nerves.

I don't hate any of the shows or things the OP mentions; I don't like them so I try and avoid them.
What I hate are people making that difficult for me.

OldRio

Or
Why do some people criticise people who hate what's popular.

shane9689

shane9689 wrote: »

its more to do with what they represent and what they encourage more than anything else...yeah some people jump on the hate bandwagon, but most have legitimate reasons to hate these things

Hate is a really strong word. I can't understand caring enough about stuff you don't like to actually summon up hate. Annoyance maybe, or dislike.

Shenshen wrote: »

I don't hate any of the shows or things the OP mentions; I don't like them so I try and avoid them.
What I hate are people making that difficult for me.

Same as, I don't engage enough with them to hate them. Luckily for me though, I don't have any one around me who talks about them all the time. That would drive me mental.

HerrScheisse

I think that generally people hate bad quality. And trash. And visual and aural excrement. Like a dry dog turd rubbed in your eye or stuffed into your ear.

The irony that the writers of the Sopranos had troubles getting their story sold, only HBO was willing to take a chance, and now they are one of the most successful studios in the world, the went against the flow of commercialism to produce quality, and in a bitter irony, became a very commercial studio, yet one that still produces quality.

I woukld say people hate trash, and time again it is proven by the success of quality music and quality film, yet studios go for the quick mass market trash and the guaranteed formulated calculated return.

Rod Serling

I don't like any of those things, but I don't talk about em. Out of sight out of mind.

To be honest I'd rather see people talk about X Factor on Facebook than see a lad bitch about people talking about X Factor. What's the point? What do you achieve? My favourite is the lads who post something like "ugh 15 posts about xfactor f*ck off spamming my news feed!" then they post 15 updates during the football the next night!

Shenshen

Candie wrote: »

Same as, I don't engage enough with them to hate them. Luckily for me though, I don't have any one around me who talks about them all the time. That would drive me mental.

I try and avoid them, but the kitchen at work is a small place indeed.
Thankfully they're off on holidays at the moment

jack presley

I hate lots of things, both popular and unpopular. But for the most part, only the popular ones come up in conversation so while it may come across that I only hate popular things like Mrs. Brown's Boys and the X factor, I hate a load of other stuff too

jam_mac_jam

I hate X factor and will sneer at it because I have to go into pubs and see it on the television, I have to listen to people talk about it and it ruins music. If that makes me ignorant, pompous, arrogant, hate filled that really doesn't bother me.

Soaps and Mrs Browns boys don't do any harm and is just a matter of different taste. X factor is pathetic.

Cabaal

X-Factor = mass produced, mindless commercialism
Nothing more, its all about pushing what they want pushed. Its not about skill or talent.

Artful_Badger

OldRio wrote: »

Or
Why do some people criticise people who hate what's popular.

Because along with the hate of whats popular is hate of those who like whats popular. It never stops at "I hate that show" its always "I hate that show, its low brow crap for idiots". If you're that invested in something to actually hate it then you're gonna have a very lowly opinion of anyone who likes it.

And I have no time for anyone who think others are beneath them simply because they watch or listen to something different. If a group of idiots laughed at anyone here for watching some science show (I know people on here are sciency folks) we'd all to a man/woman be disgusted as such an ignorant display. Yet change it to something most here dont like and its all good, lets scoff at the losers watching stuff we wouldnt dream of watching.

Thrill

Agricola wrote: »

Exceptions to the rule do exist. Mrs Brown being one of them. Cos that really is shít.

Nice wagon you've got here. Mind if I climb aboard?

Burky126

I'm eternally gratefully that we now live in world were freedom of what media we choose to consume is right at our fingertips!

I shudder to think years ago having to sit through christmas tv of the past...imagine if this was all we had 20 years ago.

Dreadful thought.

SherlockWatson

Hipsters.

Femme_Fatale

I don't go on and on about stuff like that being sh1t, as it has been said before numerous times. I certainly wouldn't dislike someone whom I otherwise like, just because they are into X Factor and the like.
But on the occasion that I do express my irritation at X Factor etc (because it is bewilderingly sh1t, and its audiences are dropping too) it has nothing to do with it being popular, it is not due to feeling superior, or "an excuse to be an arsehole with people in general, a child-like strop because all entertainment isn't what I want, or being just so up my hole that I think anyone who doesn't agree with me is a stupid ignorant idiot that must not be able to think at all" or "ignorant, pompous, arrogant, hate filled" of me (where the bejesus is all of this coming from? ) it is simply one thing: personal preference, really nothing more to it and it's getting annoying at the way otherwise rational people need that spelled out for them.

What is it with the reverse snobbery trend of being dismissive towards people who like "alt" stuff and express a distaste for stuff that happens to be mainstream (the latter may not actually be the reason for it; just that they think it's sh1t) - the throwing around of "hipster" at anyone at all (including from people who aren't into mainstream stuff either) and stuff like sneering at any atheist at all (including from people who are atheists saying they aren't atheists and hate atheists) not just the arsehole ones? And I'm not a grammar nazi whatsoever as I realise not everyone has a good grasp of writing, but there's this tendency of late to pretend any writing at all is grand, even if it's virtually illegible - because it's socking it to the grammar nazis.
All the above is far more of a bandwagon.

Fukuyama

I hate XFACTOR because is produced to satisfy the lowest common denominator of entertainment consumers.

It's tripe, produced to fulfill a ROI formula.

shane9689

"And I have no time for anyone who think others are beneath them simply because they watch or listen to something different."

i think nazi's are pathetic (not gonig to say beneath me though) ...i think people who listen to racist music are too, does that make me a bad person?

i think people who believe in "more money more bitches" are kind of sad aswell, dont you? i mean even in the slightest, not think thats abit sad? to be racist or to be so materialistic?

its not about an individual thing arthur....its all to do with culture, society and how these things shape they way people think....its not just a case of "i dont like that melody, so i hate this song and youre beneath me", it goes much deeper than that, its to do with manipulation and encouraging por social behavior etc....alot more than a case of i dont like this so im angry

i dont think we should just accept the norm, that can turn out very badly in some cases....to look at an extreme example, look at nazi germany or facist rome...to take a modern example, look at the influence the movie project x had......teenie boppers started going mental for a month after that movie...personally i like the movie, but its just a clear example

Agricola

Thrill wrote: »

Nice wagon you've got here. Mind if I climb aboard?

Sorry, my wagon is only for cool, intelligent rebellious people. Keep up.

Links234

All of the things you've mentioned are legitimately awful though

keith16

I hate MS Excel.

Just kidding. I love it.

SUMIF and VLOOKUP are two of my favourite formulae.

MadYaker

The only thing I hate more than x factor is people who go on and on about how much they hate x factor and how its destroying the music industry (which it isn't).

Femme_Fatale

Agricola wrote: »

Sorry, my wagon is only for cool, intelligent rebellious people. Keep up.

As if it's really bandwagon-jumping and hipsterish to genuinely dislike Mrs Brown's Boys. People who pretend not to see what others dislike in it are the ones who are trying to be all different.

Artful_Badger

HerrScheisse wrote: »

I think that generally people hate bad quality. And trash. And visual and aural excrement. Like a dry dog turd rubbed in your eye or stuffed into your ear.

The irony that the writers of the Sopranos had troubles getting their story sold, only HBO was willing to take a chance, and now they are one of the most successful studios in the world, the went against the flow of commercialism to produce quality, and in a bitter irony, became a very commercial studio, yet one that still produces quality.

I woukld say people hate trash, and time again it is proven by the success of quality music and quality film, yet studios go for the quick mass market trash and the guaranteed formulated calculated return.

Whats bad quality trash to you is hours and hours of enjoyment and entertainment of millions of people. Its all supposed to be just entertainment whether you're watching Tony Soprano put the squeeze on someone or someone singing a song on xfactor, its all just entertainment. To call one thing trash because its not good enough for you despite it being good enough for plenty of others is just simply arrogance.

Those formulas work because its what people in general enjoy watching and the reason they are made is to make a profit. HBO themselves would quickly change their tune if viewers wernt good enough as they exist to make money not to produce masterpieces. They just happened to have hit on a good thing of giving more creative control to the creators.

George Huxley 1983

Familiarity breathes contempt

Agricola

Femme_Fatale wrote: »

As if it's really bandwagon-jumping and hipsterish to genuinely dislike Mrs Brown's Boys. People who pretend not to see what others dislike in it are the ones who are trying to be all different.

Exactly. That, or some kind of miss placed patriotism because its a case of a Dub done well. I have no truck with Brendan O Carroll making a tonne of money and collecting awards for his show. Fair play to him. But Im not going to pretend it's any good when it clearly isnt.

Artful_Badger

Femme_Fatale wrote: »

I don't go on and on about stuff like that being sh1t, as it has been said before numerous times. I certainly wouldn't dislike someone whom I otherwise like, just because they are into X Factor and the like.
But on the occasion that I do express my irritation at X Factor etc (because it is bewilderingly sh1t, and its audiences are dropping too) it has nothing to do with it being popular, it is not due to feeling superior, or "an excuse to be an arsehole with people in general, a child-like strop because all entertainment isn't what I want, or being just so up my hole that I think anyone who doesn't agree with me is a stupid ignorant idiot that must not be able to think at all" or "ignorant, pompous, arrogant, hate filled" of me (where the bejesus is all of this coming from? ) it is simply one thing: personal preference, really nothing more to it and it's getting annoying at the way otherwise rational people need that spelled out for them.

What is it with the reverse snobbery trend of being dismissive towards people who like "alt" stuff and express a distaste for stuff that happens to be mainstream (the latter may not actually be the reason for it; just that they think it's sh1t) - the throwing around of "hipster" at anyone at all (including from people who aren't into mainstream stuff either) and stuff like sneering at any atheist at all (including from people who are atheists saying they aren't atheists and hate atheists) not just the arsehole ones? And I'm not a grammar nazi whatsoever as I realise not everyone has a good grasp of writing, but there's this tendency of late to pretend any writing at all is grand, even if it's virtually illegible - because it's socking it to the grammar nazis.
All the above is far more of a bandwagon.

Because thats what I see, every time a thread pops up with a show being bashed the perceived bad quality of the show is always put forth as proof the viewers are idiots. My problem is that its not just personal preference, its hatred directed at others for liking different things.

I have no problem with people liking other stuff or disliking anything. As I said my problem is the "I hate X show, its low grade crap for morons". I agree with the athiest thing (I think), and again its based on looking down on people and opinions rather than disagreeing with them which is my point with this thread. Why the hate simply because of a difference of opinion ?

Plazaman

I watched Mrs Browns Boys on Christmas Day. Got a giggle or two out of it and cringed at the jokes that were about 10 years old but O Carroll recycles them succesfully as he's dressed as an auld wan.

Not calling it my favourite TV show but then again when someone says to me it's the best show ever, I'm not going to go off in a rant. 9 million plus people can't all be wrong. It seems to happen with Irish or Irish related TV shows/artists, Love/Hate, Fr Ted, etc. Chris De Burgh gets mad stick off some Irish people but the guy still sells half a million plus records each year worldwide and if he said to me "Plaza, will you shag my daughter?", you know, I would.

Thrill

Femme_Fatale wrote: »

As if it's really bandwagon-jumping and hipsterish to genuinely dislike Mrs Brown's Boys.

I genuinely dislike it. My sister thinks its one of the most hilarious things on T.V. and said I should watch it. I tried a few episodes but never managed to watch a full one.

To each their own.

Francisco Durden

I have dance music and rap music constantly played in my ears, I don't have a choice over this generally. I have more than enough reasoning to hate it.

Muise...

Artful_Badger wrote: »

Whats bad quality trash to you is hours and hours of enjoyment and entertainment of millions of people. Its all supposed to be just entertainment whether you're watching Tony Soprano put the squeeze on someone or someone singing a song on xfactor, its all just entertainment. To call one thing trash because its not good enough for you despite it being good enough for plenty of others is just simply arrogance.

Those formulas work because its what people in general enjoy watching and the reason they are made is to make a profit. HBO themselves would quickly change their tune if viewers wernt good enough as they exist to make money not to produce masterpieces. They just happened to have hit on a good thing of giving more creative control to the creators.

You're taking this fierce personally, Badger. I'll call something trash if I don't think it's good enough for me according to my own tastes and values, but that is nowhere near saying that people who do like it are trash too. I like the stalks of broccoli better than the crown. If you disagree I will not be offended - in fact it means we'd both get the best if we dined together.

Artful_Badger

shane9689 wrote: »

"And I have no time for anyone who think others are beneath them simply because they watch or listen to something different."

i think nazi's are pathetic (not gonig to say beneath me though) ...i think people who listen to racist music are too, does that make me a bad person?

i think people who believe in "more money more bitches" are kind of sad aswell, dont you? i mean even in the slightest, not think thats abit sad? to be racist or to be so materialistic?

its not about an individual thing arthur....its all to do with culture, society and how these things shape they way people think....its not just a case of "i dont like that melody, so i hate this song and youre beneath me", it goes much deeper than that, its to do with manipulation and encouraging por social behavior etc....alot more than a case of i dont like this so im angry

i dont think we should just accept the norm, that can turn out very badly in some cases....to look at an extreme example, look at nazi germany or facist rome...to take a modern example, look at the influence the movie project x had......teenie boppers started going mental for a month after that movie...personally i like the movie, but its just a clear example

Thats not just because they are listening to something different though, thats because they are looking down on others because they are different or like different things. You're actually making my point for me.

Vincent Vega

I think my distaste for a lot of 'reality' TV is that it tends to appeal to the mass mentality within people.

Whilst it has been going on for decades, it is now more common than ever to simply root out a popular narrative within society that resonates with a vast majority of people, ( ie: the struggle of the poor down and out girl, abandoned by all her family who beat adversity to become a superstar) then sell it back to us as something easily consumable, not too challenging to follow, and with the emotional tone set with the inspirational music underneath.

It strengthens the idea of what is supposedly 'good' and what is 'bad', even though taste in music should be entirely subjective. It influences many people to be less deductive in deciding whether or not they actually enjoy these things, or whether they are just caught up in that happy 'one of the group' feeling that goes along with popular opinion.

I can see the whole 'people just hate whats popular to be cool/rebellious/more intelligent' argument, as I'm sure some people do just that, but why should anyone be led into accepting something as worthwhile just because it has achieved popularity?

SimonQuinlank

I hate them because they seem to brainwash most impresionable youngsters into thinking its okay to solely view the world according to the vacuous instructions of Simon Cowell or those Kardashian eejits.

I have an otherwise intelligent 15 yo sister,but it's depressing to see how much stock her and her friends place in being famous for having no discernible talent.A message that these sort of X-Factor/reality TV type garbage promotes.

Agricola

Flip side of this is Love Hate. This is hugely popular but theres not this mass of people constantly deriding it and its fans. Why? Because its universally recognized as being of a very high standard, up there with the best US dramas. So popularity doesnt come into it. Good is good, end of. Mrs Brown and the X- Factor on the other hand...............

The_Honeybadger

Don't mind most popular stuff and ignore things I don't like, I have daughters that are absolutely obsessed with one direction though, my house looks like a 1d shrine and their music and vids are constantly playing. It is no exaggeration to say I hate them with a passion, but it is because of saturation and not because they are popular to be fair. I also have a strong interest in music and believe they are doing great damage by dominating the charts and blocking genuinely talented musicians from getting record deals and establishing themselves.

Pherekydes

Artful_Badger wrote: »

People always seem to feel the need to scoff and ridicule things that are popular but they themselves dont like. They write these things off as low brow crap liked by ignorant dopes. Xfactor, Mrs Browns Boys, Boybands, Soaps etc etc.

I'm not in anyway a fan of anything listed above btw, but imo I dont like them, I dont watch them/listen to them and thats as far as my involvement goes. Why do people hate these things and those who like them ?

All of the above is lowbrow drivel. That's not to say that those who like them are ignorant dopes. Nor do I hate them. How do you infer these things?

Everybody has stuff they genuinely dislike, but there's always someone who have to go on in great detail about how the absolutely hate things that are popular. If I don't like it I don't watch/listen/whatever. It works well. I don't have to engage with it long enough to develop genuine hatred.

If you don't like something that's fine, but if other people like it thats fine too, unless you're being forced to absorb it somehow.

thepieman12345

I generally get quite sad when "alt" things get popular, not because I dont want things I like to have a wide audience, its because once something becomes popular it develops a target over its head to get exploited by the mass media and it will end up being done to death and become one of those "fads" that can have a quick few million € made off it, then just like every other fad, its cast aside and forgotten about

Artful_Badger

Muise... wrote: »

You're taking this fierce personally, Badger. I'll call something trash if I don't think it's good enough for me according to my own tastes and values, but that is nowhere near saying that people who do like it are trash too. I like the stalks of broccoli better than the crown. If you disagree I will not be offended - in fact it means we'd both get the best if we dined together.

I'm not taking it personally at all. I just think it arrogant to tell other people that what they like watching isnt good enough to be on TV because I personally dont like it despite it doing everything its supposed to do, ie entertaining people, getting the ratings, being profitable for the broadcaster.

I notice you said you liked the stalks of broccoli and not the crown rather than saying you hated the crown of broccoli and it was trash.

Again we all like and dislike certain things. But to claim one thing is trash or bad quality is not just a statement of personal taste its a definitive statement of fact and that removes the argument of taste. How can you say what I and other people like to watch is trash and bad quality without implying I and everyone else havent got a clue whats good or not in terms of what I want to watch in my own time ?

Artful_Badger

Pherekydes wrote: »

All of the above is lowbrow drivel. That's not to say that those who like them are ignorant dopes. Nor do I hate them. How do you infer these things?

I dont have to anything because people outright say those things. Check the RTE/Mrs Brown thread or any other one you find. You'll see plenty of people equating what they think of the show to the viewers that watch it.

Goodshape

Because in many cases it's commercially focused manipulative base entertainment mascaraing as art.

The annoyance and hatred comes from the feeling that X-Factor, boy/girl-groups, or Mrs. Brown's Boys fills a space that might otherwise be occupied by something more worthy, something which hasn't simply been handed a massive marketing budget and a make-over.

Femme_Fatale

Thrill wrote: »

I genuinely dislike it.

Yet you wouldn't say you're on a bandwagon, so why say to Agricola that he is?

Agricola

Goodshape wrote: »

Because in many cases it's commercially focused manipulative base entertainment mascaraing as art.

The annoyance and hatred comes from the feeling that X-Factor, boy/girl-groups, or Mrs. Brown's Boys fills a space that might otherwise be occupied by something more worthy, something which hasn't simply been handed a massive marketing budget and a make-over.

Exactly. Thank god we no longer live in 3 channel land. If we did, I'd have thrown out my TV years ago. Last night, while RTE were showing Mrs F'ing Brown for the umpteenth night on the trot, I was watching 2 fellas attempt to cross a desert in Saudi Arabia with camels and 100 year old technology. It's sad that stuff like this is always shoved onto BBC4 or somewhere else with a stuffy reputation, while the mainstream channels are wall to wall cack and reality TV.

Daqster

I think what the OP means is that viewing figures for these shows are sky high but yet people seem not to like them when they are discussed, in disproportionate numbers.

For instance, if threads where started on the top ten TV shows in the ratings, the vast majority of people would be saying they were crap, which is obviously not reflective of what the ratings tell us.

Some people have to be lying. It's the only explanation.

Muise...

Artful_Badger wrote: »

I'm not taking it personally at all. I just think it arrogant to tell other people that what they like watching isnt good enough to be on TV because I personally dont like it despite it doing everything its supposed to do, ie entertaining people, getting the ratings, being profitable for the broadcaster.

I notice you said you liked the stalks of broccoli and not the crown rather than saying you hated the crown of broccoli and it was trash.

Again we all like and dislike certain things. But to claim one thing is trash or bad quality is not just a statement of personal taste its a definitive statement of fact and that removes the argument of taste. How can you say what I and other people like to watch is trash and bad quality without implying I and everyone else havent got a clue whats good or not in terms of what I want to watch in my own time ?

By saying that I think it's trash, not that is is definitively trash. It is entirely subjective and if we can't both see that before we talk, there'll be trouble. And yeah, I did phrase my broccoli thing positively because middle-child Christmas peacekeeping.

Femme_Fatale

Daqster wrote: »

I think what the OP means is that viewing figures for these shows are sky high but yet people seem not to like them when they are discussed, in disproportionate numbers.

For instance, if threads where started on the top ten TV shows in the ratings, the vast majority of people would be saying they were crap, which is obviously not reflective of what the ratings tell us.

Some people have to be lying. Can be the only explanation.

Different age groups using Boards to those watching the show.

Thrill

Femme_Fatale wrote: »

Yet you wouldn't say you're on a bandwagon, so why say to Agricola that he is?

I wasn't trying to imply he was on a bandwagon. I was just inferring I was of the same opinion that he was. That the show is crap.

P_1

A good few people tend to dislike things that are forced on them from above I'd wager.