Why do so many people hate whats popular ?

Francisco Durden · 27-12-2013 05:50PM

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... · 27-12-2013 05:50PM

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 · 27-12-2013 05:51PM

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 · 27-12-2013 05:51PM

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 · 27-12-2013 05:51PM

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 · 27-12-2013 05:51PM

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 · 27-12-2013 05:54PM

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 · 27-12-2013 05:54PM

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?

27-12-2013 05:56PM

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 · 27-12-2013 05:57PM

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 · 27-12-2013 05:59PM

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 · 27-12-2013 06:02PM

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 · 27-12-2013 06:03PM

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 · 27-12-2013 06:05PM

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 · 27-12-2013 06:09PM

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 · 27-12-2013 06:09PM

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... · 27-12-2013 06:10PM

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 · 27-12-2013 06:11PM

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 · 27-12-2013 06:13PM

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 · 27-12-2013 06:13PM

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

Rented Mule · 27-12-2013 06:14PM

Popularity does not mean quality. This is the biggest problem that I see with the **** that is sold in mass quantities. My biggest issues are generally with the music industry. They are destroying creativity and artistry looking for the fast buck (X-Factor, American Idol, The Voice etc...).

the_syco · 27-12-2013 06:14PM

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.

You'll find those that like the above will scoff at stuff that is not the above.

I prefer Black Books to Mrs Browns Boys, and have no interest in the xfactor or boybands or soaps.

Billy86 · 27-12-2013 06:14PM

Candie wrote: »

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.

Not necessarily with X-Factor, that show isn't only detrimental to the music industry but it's just a pretty evil show in general. The earlier rounds of the show are laughing at terrible contestants fair enough, but a lot of them are clearly not at all there upstairs. Some of them they even vote through so they can make a bigger laughing stock of themselves and belittle them in a later round, when their lack of talent is even more evident. That you've got such nasty little ****s as Ant and Dec and that scrote Stephen Mulhern on Britain's Got Talent goading on the more unstable of the guests and mocking them trying to appear as 'such nice guys', which sits really badly with me.

Look at this - they had to vote this woman through pre-auditions to get her in front of a stage of thousands and on national television. Does she strike you as someone who it's fair to have the whole of the UK and beyond laughing at? Let alone to give over 7 and a half minutes airtime towards doing?

What I really don't get about the popularity of X-Factor is the sheer repetitiveness of it all. I'll usually leave Britain's Got Talent on for a few minutes if there's nothing else on because there's a variety of acts, and when someone comes on you genuinely don't know what they'll be doing. But the X-Factor is the same stuff over and over and over and over and over, with several songs constantly being repeated by different contestants.

The Diabolical Monocle · 27-12-2013 06:19PM

A lot of it is genuine dislike.

I and many others do not appreciate the barrage of shyte expelled by the general media day in day out.

For example on our newspapers taking up space that could be used for my/our preferred subject matter.

While in other circumstances you might say - well buy a magazine tailored to your taste then, this doesn't work for general media, in our newspapers, on our radio, on our tv.

A good analogy might be the starwars film with jarjar binks.

Not that Im into starwars but the truth of that film is that many many people were super eager to see it cause it was going to follow on some great classics that they loved. Freaks and general fans included.

What they got was a very large portion of the film spoiled by a stupid annoying character targeted towards tweens and ankle biters.

X-factor, Ronan Keating, Katie Prices meltdown, Sharon Osborne and the likeses is jarjar binkses.

Its THEM that need to be removed from general media and placed in the specialized media isle/frequency/channel.

Teenage girls who fail to see the irrelevance... and grown up women who still think like teenage girls (and camp gay males) are to blame.

Princess Consuela Bananahammock · 27-12-2013 06:20PM

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 ?

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.

It's because "popular" is ususally at odds with "quality".

XFactor, for example, is not neesecarily the show with the best music talent. Go to a bar or club that has a live band on and most of the time you'll see somethign better. Or at least, more original.

Mrs. Brown's Boys I'm okay with - but it's hardly the best comedy in this parts currently.

Soaps - there are better dramas out there.

Boybands - I'm sure I don;t need to go into this one: but when was the last time you saw one offer up some creativity? Or even original? Maybe there's nothing wrong with that, but there are a lot of people out there who want to see different things rather than the same **** over and over again.

This is not an accusation against people who like these kinds of entertainment: people prefer popularity and there;s nothing wrong with that. But are you arrogant for wanting something with a bit more creativity or orginality? To see something different or challenging? hardly a far accusation if you ask me...

Professey Chin · 27-12-2013 06:21PM

People can like whatever they want but popular doesn't automatically mean good. The crazy frog was popular ffs

27-12-2013 06:22PM

Billy86 wrote: »

Not necessarily with X-Factor, that show isn't only detrimental to the music industry but it's just a pretty evil show in general. The earlier rounds of the show are laughing at terrible contestants fair enough, but a lot of them are clearly not at all there upstairs. Some of them they even vote through so they can make a bigger laughing stock of themselves and belittle them in a later round, when their lack of talent is even more evident. That you've got such nasty little ****s as Ant and Dec and that scrote Stephen Mulhern on Britain's Got Talent goading on the more unstable of the guests and mocking them trying to appear as 'such nice guys', which sits really badly with me.

Look at this - they had to vote this woman through pre-auditions to get her in front of a stage of thousands and on national television. Does she strike you as someone who it's fair to have the whole of the UK and beyond laughing at? Let alone to give over 7 and a half minutes airtime towards doing?

What I really don't get about the popularity of X-Factor is the sheer repetitiveness of it all. I'll usually leave Britain's Got Talent on for a few minutes if there's nothing else on because there's a variety of acts, and when someone comes on you genuinely don't know what they'll be doing. But the X-Factor is the same stuff over and over and over and over and over, with several songs constantly being repeated by different contestants.

Actually, you're right. The X-Factor is in a realm of its own as far as humiliating the contestants goes, and it doesn't have much in the way of redeeming features. Some people do enjoy the competition side of it and getting behind their favourite, but it doesn't cancel out the undercurrent of cruelty it can have. It also rewards mediocrity, something I'm not keen on.

But the fact remains that lots of people find it really entertaining, watch it religiously, and get some enjoyment from it. It's not for me, for all the reasons above, but I don't have to watch it.

Lots of people dislike the X-factor for the reasons you detail. I know of more than a few who'll talk about how they hate it though, and then tell you they've never watched it. There's definitely a stance being taken sometimes, and that what irks me.

wretcheddomain · 27-12-2013 06:25PM

I think a lot of people do it to stand out from the crowd. By making yourself different from a norm, you're basically saying you're above the norm, so what better way to show this by ranting against these trending norms. After all, isn't normal boring? It's basically people's way of saying they've seen the light whereas everyone else is labouring under delusion. It's a bragfest after that as to who can rant the best...

Cantona's Collars · 27-12-2013 06:25PM

I despair at how the manufactured reality tv crap takes over peoples lives.An example:Was in the pub with my mates a couple of weeks ago & they were prattling like excited teenagers over I'm a Celebrity,I called them all a shower of soft eejits & the response was "sure it's good".Thank fook somebody mentioned the football to end that conversation.
People become emotionally involved in these characters on these shows and treat them as if they were best friends,yes I deride & sneer at fans of reality tv but I feel it's justified.
My missus watches I'm a Celeb & that bloody dancing show on BBC & I thank god that we have more than one tv in the house.(at least she has seen through the sham that is x-factor)

Billy86 · 27-12-2013 06:25PM

HerrScheisse wrote: »

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.

The Wire also made big losses through it's run apparently (despite being reasonably low budget) and was within a whisker of being cancelled on a number of occasions, but it's been making a killing off the DVD sales for years now. Game of Thrones was also really touch and go since it's got a massive budget, but it's explosion of popularity over season three thankfully means that worry is probably a thing of the past.

It's not really one I watch much, but apparently Mad Men got rejected left, right and centre as well which is why AMC were able to pick it up and make it one of their flagship shows, same for Breaking Bad to an extent. That channel is pretty big in the US now and more or less built itself on those two shows.

Why do so many people hate whats popular ?

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