Disliking Highly Regarded Things

So we've all been there before, we heard of a classic album that's considered one of the best, and/or is highly influential. You take it home, listen to it, and you hated it.

The album felt like a drag, you couldn't find a single song you liked, and you couldn't stand the vocalist. What the hell is everyone thinking? Why is this highly regarded? Who the hell was influenced by this?

You go on the interwebz and rant about how it pissed you off, and you get a deluge of responses telling you that you're a moron, or you're just trying to be edgy. Clearly they're the morons for liking this piece of shit.

So with this scenario in mind, what's your thoughts on disliking things like this? Is it alright to go around calling it completely atrocious, or should you at least appreciate the aspects of what made said thing so highly regarded? Is it possible to separate your opinion of what you like vs something that is objectively bad or good?

Is it alright to go around calling it completely atrocious, or should you at least appreciate the aspects of what made said thing so highly regarded?

I think you can think something is atrocious. It just bugs me when people act like you called their mother a whore or something, because you hate an album.

Is it possible to separate your opinion of what you like vs something that is objectively bad or good?

Yes and no. Your opinion will always color how you like/dislike something. But you can still objectively say, "This aspect was good". For instance, I hate Michael Jackson, but to refuse to acknowledge that he was influential in pop music would be kind of dumb on my part.

I've never been there because everybody loves me and my opinions. :3

Personally I think it depends on how it's brought up, or how it's said. Like I feel it's okay to say you didn't like it, but to take something that's a big deal, and to call it complete shit does seem a bit douchy, or placing yourself on a pedestal. Like saying "I don't really like the Beatles" vs "the Beatles' music is utter shit"

Though I do agree sacred cow deals are always ridiculously annoying. Even in things you like. For example I think Final Fantasy VII is a good game, but when people act like I raped and murdered their mother because it didn't change my life and I don't think it's the best in the series is taking it far.

I agree wholeheartedly.

I try to be objective regarding something. If I don't like it, it's still very difficult for me to find absolutely nothing positive about it.

Yeah, unless something that's generally considered really really bad, I always find something that's good about it. Especially if it's something that's considered good or popular, as it can't be complete shit if so many people like it.

Exactly.

So lately I've started noticing that people really love abusing the word pretentious. If they see something that's artsy or something that's doing something different, and they either didn't like it, or didn't "get" it, they say "oh, this is pretentious bullshit". It's like the word overrated, where people throw it around because they think it has a lot of meaning, but realize it's a fairly meaningless word without any description as to why something is overrated or pretentious.

So it's really a negative term that's lazily used as some kind of justification to not explain why you dislike something.

quit being so pretentious, Grungie

Stahp