The thing is...this guy is right!
- Thread starter AerithLives
- Start date
55-
Probably Evan Townshend
I do think that sometimes people hate something because of preconceived reasons they're bringing to the table, and in that case it may or may not be about the thing itself.
But if someone is feeling that way by no means would I force them to sit down and spend time with something they don't enjoy.
Starling
Pro Adventurer
Of course not. I'm fine with people disliking something I like as long as it feels like they gave it a fair chance. So when someone expresses dislike for something without acknowledging the good points or acting like there's no reason to like it, I can't help but consider that unfair. More on point, claiming to have given something a fair chance in my earlier example is flat-out lying, as there's no way that's enough to get an accurate idea of what it is you're disliking. I feel that disliking something you haven't watched/played isn't really dislike for the thing so much as for your impression of it, which shouldn't be treated as the same thing.
There's also how sometimes the dislike is due to the genre simply not being the kind of thing that interests that particular person, rather than anything relating to the quality of the work itself.
There's also how sometimes the dislike is due to the genre simply not being the kind of thing that interests that particular person, rather than anything relating to the quality of the work itself.
55-
Probably Evan Townshend
I feel conflicted about things. I want to agree with you, but I have a lot of sympathy for people feeling that way, because I think we all do it.
There certainly is a different feel to someone who dislikes a thing due to actual legitimate reasons, and someone who hates a thing due to preconceived notions, external influences, or projection. I actually think that "hatred" is a thing worth taking note of. Sometimes people's reactions to things seem far too strong considering the reasons they give for disliking something. If something fills you with rage you might want to spend some time evaluating what you're actually angry about.
I don't think this is malicious, though. I think it's something happening on a subconscious level that someone may or may not even be aware of.
It's actually a funny coincidence I'm having this conversation on an ffvii forum considering I've known a number of people who dropped the game 20 minutes to 2 hours in and felt the need to tell me this either angrily or apologetically or proudly, as if I was the representative of the ffvii hype machine in their life and I had to be informed of their opinion.
Most people have come to me with completely legitimate explanations for why they didn't stick with the game and I'm totally cool with it. I've actually probably been a level of cool with it that caught some people off guard, like they're used to people being thrown into a rage if they admit to not liking a thing. Giving me a reason like, I found the gameplay unfun, the story didn't hook me, I think those are completely legitimate complaints. I don't think FFVII is perfect either, I just like it. These were people who came into the game with an open mind and didn't like it. It happens.
But there was one sole person who drove me up a sort of wall.
Not long after E3, I happened to be peeking at an exboyfriend's twitter page because I have no self control, and I found him going the fuck off for a handful of tweets about "fuck FFVII." I know he dropped the game a few hours in years and years ago. He never offered up an explanation as to what about the game didn't work for him. I think that's fine as far as, some people aren't seasoned reviewers and I think it's okay to not have the words for why you didn't enjoy something. But I think if you can't point to any specific reason why you hate something, it might be worth evaluating if you're really mad at the thing itself or something else. Seeing dickhat on twitter publically announcing over and over that he didn't like thing just made me feel like, what are you actually angry at right now? Were those 2 hours tops of gameplay really so offensive to you that you're still angry about this 10+ years later?
I think probably, he doesn't know what he's really angry about either, or else he'd recognize how absurd he's acting. It's that lack of self-awareness that bothers me more than the closed-minded hatred of a thing I enjoy.
As mentioned, I've done it too. We've all done it. There's a handful of shows I won't even watch, things I won't touch, because I know the aforementioned dickhat liked them. Even though I'm aware of that association influencing my experience with a thing, I can't divorce myself from the association long enough to figure out if I actually dislike the thing itself for legitimate reasons, or if I'm just feeling a lot of anger and sadness from the get go and inventing reasons to justify that feeling. So I tend to steer away from things making me feel that, even if it's entirely internal. Sometimes it's just not possible to be open-minded because we all have messy brains clouded with baggage.
But am I at least aware enough of what's going on in my head that I'm not going to consider "this thing is bad because at least one dickhat liked it" a legitimate complaint against something, and I'm sure as hell not going to make a bunch of tweets proudly stating my dislike of the thing.
Edit: wait I can tl;dr this, i'm sorry. "I think that disliking something due to external reasons is an okay and valid response also, but not worth claiming as an objective review because it's based in something highly subjective." I guess that's all I was trying to say. I don't even think this is arguing with starling it's just an expanded idea with a more sympathetic attitude. I have a lot of words in my head. I'm sorry. This quiche is delicious.
There certainly is a different feel to someone who dislikes a thing due to actual legitimate reasons, and someone who hates a thing due to preconceived notions, external influences, or projection. I actually think that "hatred" is a thing worth taking note of. Sometimes people's reactions to things seem far too strong considering the reasons they give for disliking something. If something fills you with rage you might want to spend some time evaluating what you're actually angry about.
I don't think this is malicious, though. I think it's something happening on a subconscious level that someone may or may not even be aware of.
It's actually a funny coincidence I'm having this conversation on an ffvii forum considering I've known a number of people who dropped the game 20 minutes to 2 hours in and felt the need to tell me this either angrily or apologetically or proudly, as if I was the representative of the ffvii hype machine in their life and I had to be informed of their opinion.
Most people have come to me with completely legitimate explanations for why they didn't stick with the game and I'm totally cool with it. I've actually probably been a level of cool with it that caught some people off guard, like they're used to people being thrown into a rage if they admit to not liking a thing. Giving me a reason like, I found the gameplay unfun, the story didn't hook me, I think those are completely legitimate complaints. I don't think FFVII is perfect either, I just like it. These were people who came into the game with an open mind and didn't like it. It happens.
But there was one sole person who drove me up a sort of wall.
Not long after E3, I happened to be peeking at an exboyfriend's twitter page because I have no self control, and I found him going the fuck off for a handful of tweets about "fuck FFVII." I know he dropped the game a few hours in years and years ago. He never offered up an explanation as to what about the game didn't work for him. I think that's fine as far as, some people aren't seasoned reviewers and I think it's okay to not have the words for why you didn't enjoy something. But I think if you can't point to any specific reason why you hate something, it might be worth evaluating if you're really mad at the thing itself or something else. Seeing dickhat on twitter publically announcing over and over that he didn't like thing just made me feel like, what are you actually angry at right now? Were those 2 hours tops of gameplay really so offensive to you that you're still angry about this 10+ years later?
I think probably, he doesn't know what he's really angry about either, or else he'd recognize how absurd he's acting. It's that lack of self-awareness that bothers me more than the closed-minded hatred of a thing I enjoy.
As mentioned, I've done it too. We've all done it. There's a handful of shows I won't even watch, things I won't touch, because I know the aforementioned dickhat liked them. Even though I'm aware of that association influencing my experience with a thing, I can't divorce myself from the association long enough to figure out if I actually dislike the thing itself for legitimate reasons, or if I'm just feeling a lot of anger and sadness from the get go and inventing reasons to justify that feeling. So I tend to steer away from things making me feel that, even if it's entirely internal. Sometimes it's just not possible to be open-minded because we all have messy brains clouded with baggage.
But am I at least aware enough of what's going on in my head that I'm not going to consider "this thing is bad because at least one dickhat liked it" a legitimate complaint against something, and I'm sure as hell not going to make a bunch of tweets proudly stating my dislike of the thing.
Edit: wait I can tl;dr this, i'm sorry. "I think that disliking something due to external reasons is an okay and valid response also, but not worth claiming as an objective review because it's based in something highly subjective." I guess that's all I was trying to say. I don't even think this is arguing with starling it's just an expanded idea with a more sympathetic attitude. I have a lot of words in my head. I'm sorry. This quiche is delicious.
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- AKA
- Ruby Rose, Lucy
Even after I watched the full video, I still got this vibe and it definitely doesn't jive with me. Why do people have do belittle something that others are so excited about? Who is it hurting?
(And, yeah, this is a bit hypocritical given how I feel about a certain franchise *cough50fuckedupshadessneeze* but that actually hurts people and sets a bad example... VII is innocent.)
Well, I guess my time isn't found better elsewhere because I finished the whole thing in one go.
This pretty much.
I really did enjoy the rest of the compilation... the VA in AC/C wasn't bad. Coulda been worse, sure. Sure, some retconning in BC/CC/DoC was a bit jarring but if they kept strictly to what's known to the public, those games would have been skeletal. And they were good!
His descriptions of the cast were funny though, lol.
Starling
Pro Adventurer
When I find myself angry about something, I do actually take the time to think about why. If given the chance to, I also try to understand the other person's point of view on something. When someone dislikes something that I like, I'm more likely to be sad that we don't have it as a common interest, as it's easier to have a balanced conversation on the topic if both people enjoy it, since people who don't probably aren't interested in talking about it at all.
I find it helps to put some distance between yourself and the thing that bothers you for a bit, then come back and see if you feel the same way. It generally makes it easier to think about why it made you feel that way to begin with.
The most applicable example I can think of for myself would be fanfiction and the sonic franchise. In the case of fanfiction, the things present in fanfiction that I dislike are due to a variety of reasons that are at time difficult to untangle from eachother. I had legitimate reasons from the beginning but it took me a while to find a way to express my dislike for some of them in a way I found satisfying. I've still managed to find fics that make wading through all the stuff I dislike worthwhile, though I don't find them as often a I'd like.
As for the sonic franchise, it's one of those things that I want to like but can't because there're too many issues that bother me about it. I look at it and all I see is lost potential, especially with how badly flanderized the characters are now and how the aspects I liked about their characterization seem practically forgotten for the most part. Still, I don't just hate everything about it and then call it a day.
On a similar note, when I dislike what a character is doing, I try to separate how I feel about the character from how I feel about the way they're written, as I see a difference between what's there and how it's used.
I find it helps to put some distance between yourself and the thing that bothers you for a bit, then come back and see if you feel the same way. It generally makes it easier to think about why it made you feel that way to begin with.
The most applicable example I can think of for myself would be fanfiction and the sonic franchise. In the case of fanfiction, the things present in fanfiction that I dislike are due to a variety of reasons that are at time difficult to untangle from eachother. I had legitimate reasons from the beginning but it took me a while to find a way to express my dislike for some of them in a way I found satisfying. I've still managed to find fics that make wading through all the stuff I dislike worthwhile, though I don't find them as often a I'd like.
As for the sonic franchise, it's one of those things that I want to like but can't because there're too many issues that bother me about it. I look at it and all I see is lost potential, especially with how badly flanderized the characters are now and how the aspects I liked about their characterization seem practically forgotten for the most part. Still, I don't just hate everything about it and then call it a day.
On a similar note, when I dislike what a character is doing, I try to separate how I feel about the character from how I feel about the way they're written, as I see a difference between what's there and how it's used.