A recent discussion at my workplace somehow turned to the topic of sushi, and I professed that I enjoyed it quite a bit. None of my co-workers (who, it must be noted, are almost exclusively native Midwesterners) could believe me, as their impression of sushi was entirely “raw fish EWWW!” I was a little surprised to find MYSELF sounding just like the ladies at work in a later discussion with Stephen (which can be heard on our latest Dueling Review podcast, if you’re rabidly curious) that involved the TV show ‘Lost,’ something that I have quietly decided never to watch. It’s not that I hate it, or that it gets bad reviews, but somewhere along the way, the endless discussions of its symbolism and the character’s fates and discoveries and blah blah blah fishcakes convinced me that I know all I need to know about The Crying Game Maggie and Sawyer and their world. While part of me feels somehow small-minded, I realize that I make these sort of decisions all day, every day, and the (conscious or unconscious) choice to ignore certain things is not only unavoidable, it’s probably healthier in the long run. It even builds my theory of Personal Continuity™, which states that the stories that you don’t care for simply don’t have to have happened for you…
The MS-QOTD (pronounced, as always, “misquoted”) has found that asking what we hate gets more feedback than asking what we like, and is a little sad about it, but still wonders: What pop culture have you not only never tried, but have NO INTENTION of ever trying?
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Sushi without sashimi I am okay with. Friends, Lost, American Idol, pet rocks, pop rocks, lady meat dress, bieber, I will happily live without.
Sashimi is good, if it is thinly sliced and not thick. you can dip in soy so the soy does help.
Ponys. Everything relating to ponys and ponydom which has FOR SOME REASON become a massive thing in recent years. Its just… disturbing
For the longest time I refused to watch Dr. Who because that’s all my obnoxious friends would talk about. Then I got Net Flix and that ended. But here are a few other things I am unmotivated in trying: Breaking Bad, Game of Thrones, Battlestar Galactica, The Walking Dead (except the adventure game), Angry Birds, Quentin Tarantino films, etc.
You know, every time I tell myself “Never, Never Ever!” I end up falling in love with that thing.
For instance, knowing absolutely nothing about Doctor Who, and having it recommended to me by people whom I didn’t normally agree with, I told myself I would never watch it. And then I did, and now I’m a hardcore whovian.
The Same thing happened, more or less, with Buffy. I was so convinced I didn’t like it before I even tried it, just because my freinds wouldn’t shut up about it.
I’m sure many of my freinds felt the same before I forced them into watching and reading X-Men comics. And we all became, and still are, rather huge fans of it and comics in general.
There are some things that I’m just not that interested in, so I probably will tend to stay away from them, but saying “Never-Ever” just isn’t an option for me anymore. I don’t wanna miss anything else just because my freinds won’t stop having conversations that I can’t understand regarding it.
Oh my god! Well, that was a ‘wall of text’ answer to a straightforward question, now wasn’t it?
World of Warcraft and other MMORPGs.
I know I have an addictive personality and I have no desire to lose my money, job and wife to that hobby.
Reality TV in general is something that I avoid, like the plague. I feel that most reality shows in general set out to appeal to the baser instincts of humanity in general, (i.e. Jersey Shore, The Biggest Loser, Here Comes Honey BooBoo).
Shows like these do not have anything contribute, nor do they have any real entertainment value, in my opinion. What you do get is a bunch of snotty people from New Jersey getting drunk and acting like idiots, or a bunch of mean spirited people trying making money off the hopes of overweight people, or finally redneckpaloosa.
None of these shows should be as popular as they are. While I was growing up, television was for entertainment. Modern television has become a tool that we use to seek out those more screwed up than we are ourselves and that’s not entertainment in my book.
Cosplay (too time consuming/expensive to do well), WoW (time), and the vast majority of modern television — especially sitcoms.
Cosplay can be done cheap, though. I’m disabled and don’t really have the funds for non-essentials, but I still manage to put together some decent costumes with what I am able to scrounge up through clearance aisles, garage sales, etc. Granted, it will require patience to collect what you need, but it can be done. I do agree it is time consuming even without taking the cheap route.
I’m not disagreeing with you, though, just saying that it doesn’t have to be expensive to still be good.
Well, I think that is why he said time consuming / expensive. It is either expensive to buy the bits, or time consuming to track down deals and cobble something together.
As for me, I have no interest in trading / collectible card games like Magic. Lots of my friends play, and I always have to shut them up about it while I am GMing our weekly D&D game.
Matthew is going to hate this, but Power Rangers and Super Sentai. It was uncool when/where I was growing up, and I avoided it. I watched cartoons instead. Johnny Quest was sufficient.
I don’t hate that. People like what they like, it’s just that (in this case) I feel like you’re missing something cool.
Agreed. And comparing Power Rangers to Super Sentai is a lot like comparing Bill & Ted to Doctor Who. They are pretty different despite the similarities. If you don’t want to give it a try, that is fine, I’m just pointing out that one is very different from the other.
By the way, Matthew do you have a list of “essentials Power Rangers” episodes or something?
There is a lot of anime and manga that I simply have no interest in despite being repeatedly told that since I like one thing, I would probably also like it. Too many to list.
The vast majority of “reality” TV holds no interest to me. American Idol, Survivor, Total Blackout, etc. just don’t hold my attention even through a commercial, so I’ll never watch the shows themselves. There are always exceptions (Face Off, for example), but most of it just isn’t for me.
I flat out refuse to watch the live-action series of Adult Swim.
I didn’t like My Little Pony as a little girl, so I’ve got no interest in the new version even if it is completely different and has the involvement of several actors and voice actors I like (such as John de Lancie and Tara Strong). I have nothing against it, I’m just not interested.
Any show with the word “Redneck” in the title. I’m from rural NC…I don’t need to be reminded by reality TV. I saw a commercial with “Honey Boo Boo” and her family on it one time. I almost puked on the floor. I think they live down the road from me.
Lost is up there on my list. Also on my list are Titanic and My Little Pony.
Mine is….. Sushi.
I tried it many times but never “got it”. Once I moved to Tokyo I decided to try the “real” thing and love it.
Fatty Salmon for life!
Record of the Lodoss War? Mostly any anime ever.
For me, any reality TV show with the words “Wives,” “Race” or “Shore” in them. Frankly I see enough people behaving badly in real life. I don’t need to watch more of them on TV. Oddly enough I do like ones with the words “Auction,” “House” or “Chef” in them.
And really, is there anything better than Sawara or Uni, washed down by a couple of Sapporos?
Spiderman 3, that He-Man animated series where they are in space or in the future or something, and the tv show Homeland. I’ve watched bits and pieces of all of those and I decided they were not worth my time.
I believe everyone wants to avoid that He-Man “sequel”. It had some neat concepts, but the execution was completely botched.
Lost, breaking bad, world of Warcraft, and munchkin quest. (I love munchkin though.)
ALL reality TV. It’s not worth the time I could spend doing other things, like finding out if a q-tip will actually poke my brain (it won’t).