Originally Posted by joshaube
Okay, I need a medium to vent my rage a little. Since the topic actually warrants discussion, I thought I'd post it here... and see what you all think.
Taste in movies. There was a quote once, which compared taste to that of an asshole. I don't remember it word per word, so I won't bother typing it out. I might have heard it here, I'm not sure.
I'm becoming really fed up with people I know in real life. The people I am friends with... well, they don't share my love for film. They could care less about it. I have one friend who declares herself a movie buff, but her "all-time favourites" change week by week, depending on what's in theatres. She can call herself what she likes.
They all ridicule me for my taste in film.
They go out and see what's playing in theatres. Your typical comedies, your blockbusters, your PG-13 horrors. They don't venture into any other material. They stick with movies starring people they know. Movies backed by big studios.
And then they turn around and shit on the movies I like.
Apparently, they've gotten it into their head... that the reason I dislike a movie, is because it's not a horror movie. Somehow, the entire world thinks I am this big horror fan, and won't watch anything else. I like horror, yes, but it's not the be-all-and-end-all... that's for sure. Hell, my all-time favourites has less horror on it then any other genre (excluding Westerns... haven't really seen any. Honestly.)
Because my list includes Amelie, works by David Lynch and Pedro Almodovar, Pan's Labyrinth, films with titles in other languages... because of this, I guess they decided that my taste pretty much sucks.
When I tell them I just saw an excellent movie, they say "Oh ya?" and laugh. I tell them what it's about, and that they should see it, and they shit on it. They say it sounds terrible. The latest example. Gone Baby Gone.
"That sounds lame."
And then they turn around and talk to me for 30 minutes about how Epic Movie was the best comedy they saw last year.
They all say I have bad taste without even seeing any of the films I like. They just decide based on a one-sentence summary. They never even give them a chance. Don't they realize that they could digest an actual film in the same time it takes to sit through two shitfests?
I guess it just pisses me off double, not only for shitting on my taste in movies, but because they don't do what I tell them. Dumb, I know. I get kind of offended when I recommend something and they never take the chance with it.
What really gets me is when I recommend something, that person recommends it to others, and everyone congratulates them on having such great taste. I don't get mention... and I'm like... eh?
Does anyone else experience this? Do you get criticized a lot for your taste in movies? Or do you all manage to keep wonderful cinema-inclined friends?
I showed my friends Snakes on a Plane, Evil Dead, Planet Terror, Santa's Slay. Movies that are intentionally hilarious. They all said they were terrible. I told them the point of them were to be 'terrible.' They just don't fucking get it.
But then again, who's to say I'm right? Maybe Epic Movie was excellent. Maybe Pan's Labyrinth is complete shit because you have to read it. Maybe the Oscar this year should go to The Comebacks. Just maybe.
So I guess the question I'm asking is... do you experience anything similar? And how exactly does taste work? Who's to say one film is excellent while another is not?
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