I feel my biggest gripe has to do with what I think is a kind of willful ignorance, mostly as it pertains to what you're "allowed" to enjoy. To some degree I think this also applies to the idea of gender roles and the idea of hypermasculinity.
My problem is probably overly generalized, and with probably very crude ideas of gender, but in my experience there is a certain frame of mind when it comes to the idea of masulinity, which seems more and more like it's becoming "If you're a real man, this is what you should like and how you should like it." I feel that some of the things I enjoy are looked down upon, and therefore I'm looked down upon, due to some of the ideas that our culture has about media and gender.
When it comes to consumption of entertainment, I go two ways. Sometimes, I just want to be entertained. I love a gloriously awful movie as much as I love a genuinely thought-provoking one, and often times the mindset I'm in is quite arbitrary. Choosing to try and understand a film from a socio-cultural standpoint, or to try and think about what a film is attempting to imply in comparison to what it actually conveys, or dissecting it some other way in order to engage it on some level is to me an important exercise in understanding the culture(s) in which I find myself partaking, willfully or otherwise.
And this, somehow, is often frowned upon. I have no desire to see "Avatar" or "Revenge of the Fallen" again. Ever. Two of the biggest movies of all time. While Avatar was certainly a visual achievement, and something I truly appreciated watching in that aspect, I felt that it was very hollow in terms of character and story. Everything seemed basic and archetypal to an excessive degree. I'm not the stingiest film critic, I understand that story and character generally need to be constructed a certain way in order construct a movie, but I felt Avatar was flat and pretty contrived in almost all aspects that weren't visual. (I'll reserve analysis of RotF, otherwise I'll never finish.)
Now, when I try to explain to people that I disliked a movie like Avatar, I often times end up feeling like the local leper. All I'm greeted with are the basic "dude, how can you not like that movie?" retorts, and I am reminded of the fact that it looks really pretty and has made a metric fuckton of dollars (it's a real measurement, no need to look it up). I try to explain why I disliked it, but my explanations are somehow devalued due to the perception that not liking a huge blockbuster film with lots of action and great visuals on that basis alone is somehow un-manly.
Someone at work the other day asked me "why do you go to movies?" Because I see lots of different movies for lots of different reasons, my response was "because I like movies." He then condensed that into 'so you go to movies to be entertained, because movies are supposed to be entertaining.' Not wanting to get into a long argument (unlike what I'm doing here, apparently), I tried to explain that I feel like some movies are meant mostly to just be entertaining, but I feel that many others are an artistic expression or exploration of a concept or idea that can be truly fascinating. The conversation quickly ended when he responded "well, I think movies are supposed to be entertaining."
The same thing goes for television. Half the shows I've ever loved (e.g. Arrested Development, Firefly, Freaks & Geeks, etc...) have been cancelled because they "couldn't find an audience" or some such reason, and then the shows that not only take their place, but get renewed, are sometimes absolutely soul-crushing. I feel there aren't very many good shows (at least on basic networks) any more, and the fact that *every* 22 -42 minutes of broadcast time needs to be filled with vapid "girls are different from guys" jokes, or some shallow and characterless procedural just kills me sometimes. (Save Our Bluths!)
And, I love reading more than anything. I was an English/Philosophy major in school, so I adore reading even when I sometimes burn myself out on it. I try not to begrudge anyone's preferences or tastes, but when bringing up reading in a discussion and then getting scoffed at with a why-don't-you-just-watch-the-movie type retort, I get a little miffed. I don't mind that someone doesn't like to read, but when that is flipped back on me, and perception of my quality is somehow lessened due to my enjoyment of reading, it is very frustrating.
Even worse is applying these things to genre entertainment, like Sci-Fi or Fantasy. If someone says "I like the Lord of the Rings movies, they kicked ass," I don't bust out a Tolkein appendix and point out why it didn't kick ass (they did, in my opinion). But when someone says "Why didn't it just end after they destroyed the ring?" I start to worry. I feel that the resolution was very necessary, but the perception seems to be "what's the point when all the action is over." Because this is getting horribly long, I don't think I need to get into too much detail about how things go with perception of deeper genre media, like the recaps and reviews of stuff we get here. In fact, this whole thing is probably preaching to the choir, but I haven't written anything in a while, so maybe I just need to get it out of my system.
Personally, I don't like that this kind of willful ignorance seems to be a defining characteristic of personal quality or type. The idea of liking something because "that's what men like," or choosing to have your mind turned off so you can consume on auto-pilot has always bugged me. I like trying to understand the information and media I consume because that's how I learn and how I come to understand and actively engage the culture I am a part of. Being looked down upon because of what I enjoy, and how I choose to enjoy it, is what gets to me.
Everyone deserves to shut off their mind every once in a while, in my mind there's no question about that. But I personally don't understand how living that way has somehow become the dominant, and that because I engage a different part of the culture in a different way, I'm "different."
This got out of control long, I'm sorry. I apologize if anything I said seemed hypocritical. Basically, I don't begrudge anyone their tastes and whatnot, but I don't like that I'm begrudged mine (if that's the proper phrasing.)
For all this though, I really fucking enjoy "Paul Blart: Mall Cop."
/rant nobody will read
