As a rule, I try really hard not to be negative, especially about the things that other people love, but recently the internet has developed a fixation that drives me up the wall, expressed in one word: Doge. I don’t know whether it’s the intentionally brain-damaged grammar, the infuriating Comic Sans font, or the oh-so-precious face on the Shiba Inu in question, but something about it triggers instant rage in the deepest parts of my lizard-brain, filling me with a hatred I have seldom felt before (at least without the presence of certain college acquaintances or my former boss in small-market TV.) It’s a dislike that runs so deep that it can even make me think less of Wil Wheaton, my patron saint of how to not be an assclown on the internet, and I’m still a fan of Wesley Crusher. I can’t explain the violence of my emotional reaction, but at the very least, I can channel it into something positive such as today’s query…
The MS-QOTD (pronounced, as always, “misquoted”) could never wrap my head around the popularity of Rob Schneider, either, asking: What one element of pop culture do you find yourself disliking the most?
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Don’t get me wrong, I like Star Wars, but the way some people revere it really annoys me.
One word: Beliebers.
This….over-emotional attachment to particular things that drive you to certain actions. Such as, people weeping incessantly when they see their favorite band or singer; the pure anger and vitriol that people feel towards movie makers that tarnish our perceived “classics.”
Nerd snarkiness (or fan snarkiness of any kind really)…it’s just embarrassing and sets a tone for the very concept of fandom that often taints it for me.
Bronies, Whovians, and certain tabletop gaming factions can all be a bit too enthusiastic in sharing their love of their particular focus. Also people who insist I have to watch Game of Thrones/Dexter/whatever other show people “MUST WATCH”. Also, I feel cranky today, so…grain o’ salt, if you will.
I can agree with you on the “must watch” thing. That’s the reason I will never willingly see Buffy, Firefly, Game of Thrones, True Blood, or Breaking Bad.
Though, I would like to say I’m a whovian, but I’m sure to keep my geekery among other whovians. I do recommend the show to other friends, but I try not to push the issue.
Anime! Not all anime, mind you, but a vast, vast majority of it. I simply cannot stand it! From the animation, to the character design, to the horribly inane and cliche plots. There are of course exceptions, namely Cowboy Beebop and anything done my Studio Gibli. I know there are some people who all they watch are anime, but it just is NOT for me.
Oh, also, the concept of a “waifu” is extremely disturbing to me. They are fictional characters, people, you should not be falling in love with them. Nor should you be upset when they meet somebody in the series that they fall in love with. Your waifu cannot be stolen! They were never real to begin with! Flash Sentry is a perfectly viable character, Twilight Sparkle can like whoever she wants! Also, stop using the word waifu! It’s getting really annoying!
*Ahem* I’m fine.
Best part about Doge? Dogecoin. The users of the cryptocurrency sponsored the Jamaican Bobsled Team so they could go to Sochi.
Fans who think being a fan is some kind of contest, or those that think if you like one thing (a series, a comic company, etc.) then you CANNOT like the other (like saying if you like Star Trek, you can’t like Star Wars, or if you like Marvel, you can’t like DC). I’m not saying everyone has to like everything, just respect that others might like something you don’t.
Or fans who think if you like one version of something, you are an idiot for liking another. My older brother is a perfect example of this being an “Old Doctor Who Only” fan that will verbally (and sometimes physically) assault people who so much as mention liking the new series.
Yes, this is just a ridiculous attitude to have, different people will enjoy different aspects of different properties and telling them they are wrong to do so strikes me as just very silly.
One of my good friends, Steven, always has some sort of fact to bring to a pop culture conversation. Most of the time his trivia is about a show/movie/comic he’s never even read. So, what I’m getting at here is when people know a lot labour something they’ve never seen thanks to Wikipedia. That, and blatant disregard of other people’s opinions.
My friend’s sister does that, even when we’re not talking to her. It was bad enough when we were all young, but now she does it even more as an adult. Sometimes just to mess with her we change topic mid conversation just to see if she has something to say about whatever random topic we pick.
Yeah, the worst thing about my friend is that he justs busts into my conversation. I do know a lot of usesless facts though…
My hatred is for the “monster of the month” – It was werewolves for a while, then it was vampires and now it is zombies. Every fricking comic, novel, and movie had to feature the monster of the month, whatever it was, and I know seemingly intelligent people who were actually planning about what to do in the event of “the” zombie apocalypse! That’s about as idiotic as standing on a hill, chanting, and holding up welcome signs in case an Ewok happens by! That’s not to say that there aren’t some good movies containing the current fetish monster, but most of it is pure garbage cranked out by people trying to ride the current bandwagon rather than, oh, say, doing their job and coming up with a good movie script/novel/comic book or whatever…
The second thing I hate are fans who are so completely wrong about what they are ranting about even in the face of unsurmountable evidence that they don’t know what they are talking about. For example, when I went to see the first Star Trek movie (yes, I AM that old) I had the misfortune to sit behind a couple of dimwits who were too young to have seen Star Trek on its original run on TV as I had, and they chattered about Star Trek this and Star Trek that throughout the whole movie, and it was blindingly obvious that they hadn’t seen most of the episodes they were blathering on about because just about every thing they said was wrong. Another case in point, there was a fellow in our local model railroad club who claimed that the S.P. never operated its big cab forward locomotives in Oregon, in spite of anything anybody could tell him. Even when I presented him with photographs of a pair of cab forwards parked in front of the Oakridge, Oregon depot, lent to me by the son of one of the engineers in the photograph, with the depot sign in clear view, he persisted in his erroneous belief.