Why do people get so offended when other's don't like what they do?

[Aragorn]

Re: Why do people get so offended when other's don't like what they do

I will never understand why someone on this board would actually post that he hopes Fox cancels Fringe so he doesn't have to watch it anymore.

Temis, one insult some people like to fling on here is to call something a soap opera. No actual explanation or follow up as to why they call it that, or why they think that's the ultimate insult. Calling a show a "soap opera" (or "90210" for that matter) on this board is like when people end their argument with "case closed" or "enough said" even though they never actually said anything to begin with.

 

[Jetfire]

Re: Why do people get so offended when other's don't like what they do

I can't figure out why people need to get on forums and trash shows and movies just for the heck of it.

This is a really good question.

Because it's fun.

Not for the people reading that garbage.

 

[JarodRussell]

Re: Why do people get so offended when other's don't like what they do

For instance, bigdaddy complained about "2D characters" in SG:U. Does everyone agree that "2D characters are bad"? You'd think so, but there have been many cases where I've seen people argue that nothing is inherently bad in a show. If the writers "intend" for the characters to be 2D, or want to show a gun on a table that nobody uses later on, that's okay. Nope, sorry, that's bad writing. If the writers intended to write badly, it excuses nothing.

It's that kind of stuff I find absurd. I'm not going to start insisting that everyone share my tastes to the degree of, hey I like it when the lead actor has dark hair and blue or green eyes, so if you prefer a lead with red hair and freckles, you're dumb.

I had a discussion with someone who said the dialogue in Quentin Tarantino movies is pointless because what they say mostly adds nothing to the story at all. He's right about that. But if that's good or bad is entirely up to the individual.

If a director intends something, it IS just opinion whether it's good or bad.

I said several times that Bob Orci is a bad writer because the entire story of Star Trek 2009 is only connected through coincidences and characters making stupid decisions, and that it would be better if the movie would not rely on coincidences and people being stupid. But that's just my own opinion, not universal law.

 

[Starbreaker]

Re: Why do people get so offended when other's don't like what they do

I have a diatribe to go with this.

I CAN'T STAND Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Angel. I think Smallville post season 5 is the biggest pile of dren ever. I don't go into ever Buffy thread and talk about how much I hate it. I watched a handful of episodes and gave up on the show. I didn't submit myself to 150 hours of what I would consider torture.

What really gets on my nerves is people who will watch 176 episode of a show they hate (Voyager for example) just to berate other people who do like it. I don't give a crap what shows people like, but I wish they wouldn't come into threads of shows I do like and talk about how awful the episodes have been for the past 3 seasons except for that one "mythology" episode or something.

And occasionally I'll see someone that says "I hate Dune" or "Lord of the Rings sucked" or "The Prestige was the worst movie ever" and a little part of me dies inside, but I really have nothing to say that could change anybody's mind. Any discussion on here is going to have very little effect on changing someone's mind about what they like and don't like. The only thing I've ever changed my mind about is Stargate SG-1. I used to really hate that show but I had to watch it from the beginning in order to grow to love it.

In rambling conclusion, we should just all learn to get along, because we're all Star Trek fans and we all need to gang up on the people who say that hate anything Sci-fi.

Edit: Oh, I really hate when people insinuate that CBS crime dramas have no character development and are for people who don't "get" quality TV.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

Re: Why do people get so offended when other's don't like what they do

Lord of the Rings is my favorite work of literature period. I've read it five times. On the other hand, the times I watched Jackson's films were among the most unpleasant experiences I've had in my life.

However, I've nothing to say in the forums about it. One of the nice things about having my own thought processes is that I need not discard my attachment to those things I like about the books, that are completely missed by those films, just because most other people, who have actually both read the books and watched the films, might prefer the films. It may be a question of what elements are valued above others, which doesn't make either position objectively wrong.

However, there's just no point in even going there though, so I don't. It doesn't take much imagination to guess how rapidly a discussion along these lines would spiral out of control into a pointless waste of bandwidth.

 

[JiNX-01]

Re: Why do people get so offended when other's don't like what they do

Wrong forum BTW.

Nice touch.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Re: Why do people get so offended when other's don't like what they do

I had a discussion with someone who said the dialogue in Quentin Tarantino movies is pointless because what they say mostly adds nothing to the story at all. He's right about that. But if that's good or bad is entirely up to the individual.

Do you mean like in Pulp Fiction? That dialogue may add nothing to the plot, but it does add a lot to characterization. The person you were arguing with didn't understand one of the fundamental rules of writing, namely: there's more to a story than just the plot. Dialogue that serves only to build characters is still perfectly good dialogue.

That guy is a great example of what I'm complaining about, people who don't understand the most basic rules about what separates bad fiction from good. When I run across people like that, frankly I just tune out and find more knoweldgable people to chat with.

If a director intends something, it IS just opinion whether it's good or bad.

Tell that to Uwe Boll. If a director intentionally makes crap, the fact that he intended it does not make it less crappy. Or, like George Lucas, if they apparently intended not to make crap, yet did it anyway, their intention does not somehow make the PT any more tolerable.

I said several times that Bob Orci is a bad writer because the entire story of Star Trek 2009 is only connected through coincidences and characters making stupid decisions, and that it would be better if the movie would not rely on coincidences and people being stupid. But that's just my own opinion, not universal law.

Nope, that is one of the rules, that writers should make an effort to make their writing seem organic and real, that we should pay no attention to the man behind the curtain or at least not have him flung in our faces.

It is a flaw of that movie that, say, Kirk needed to land on just the right place on a huge planet in order to meet Spock quickly enough to keep the story moving along. It's not a huge flaw, because the whole movie wasn't just a string of outrageous, belief-defying coincidences, but it would have been better if they'd found a way to get Kirk from point A to point B without needing to do that.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Re: Why do people get so offended when other's don't like what they do

This is a really good question.

Because it's fun.

Not for the people reading that garbage.

Sucks to be you.

 

[infinix]

Re: Why do people get so offended when other's don't like what they do

Its not very often that I see anyone start throwing insults right out of the gate. Typically someone comes in from out of middle of nowhere and starts ticking people off.

However, the reason why people take it so seriously is because of a self-worth issue. Its not that their opinions are being challenged. It is that their value system (who they are as a person) is being challenged. People don't like it when their value system is challenged.

 

[DWF]

Re: Why do people get so offended when other's don't like what they do

A: That was crap!
B: I thought it was great and here's why.
A: No it was crap! Don't oppress me!
B: Um...I'm not. I'm saying I disagree and loved it.
A: Sure, you're all together, but you won't shut me up! I hated it!
B: OK...so now what?
A: Now what? Now what is I say it's crap!
B: This isn't a conversation. If you keep repeating you hate it over and over, it's not a conversation. It's just you yelling.
A: You won't shut me up! Free speech! Free speech!
B: (shakes head and walks away)

Repeat five million times, you have the Internet.

 

[RandyS]

Re: Why do people get so offended when other's don't like what they do

This goes beyond the internet. The days of "agree to disagree," "respectfully disagree" and "healthy debate" are long gone.

Did those days ever actually exist?

They did indeed. People are a hell of alot more whiny now than they've ever been. Not just on internet message boards, but in all areas of life.

 

[bullethead]

Re: Why do people get so offended when other's don't like what they do

A: That was crap!
B: I thought it was great and here's why.
A: No it was crap! Don't oppress me!
B: Um...I'm not. I'm saying I disagree and loved it.
A: Sure, you're all together, but you won't shut me up! I hated it!
B: OK...so now what?
A: Now what? Now what is I say it's crap!
B: This isn't a conversation. If you keep repeating you hate it over and over, it's not a conversation. It's just you yelling.
A: You won't shut me up! Free speech! Free speech!
B: (shakes head and walks away)

Repeat five million times, you have the Internet.

And don't forget the other variation, where A starts with liking something and B decides to call it crap. I see that all the time at the Bioware forums.

 

[JarodRussell]

Re: Why do people get so offended when other's don't like what they do

Most of the time it appears to me to be like this:

A: Awesome.
B: Excellent.
C: Fantastic.
D: Nah, didn't like it.
A: Why?
B: Why?!
C: WHY?!?!

And the best counter argument is always the patronizing one, like "Your opinion doesn't mean anything, millions disagree with you." As if a) an opinion could be "wrong", and b) a minority was always wrong.

 

[Jax]

Re: Why do people get so offended when other's don't like what they do

What bugs me are the people who will watch something for years and dislike the majorty of it throughout but continue to watch. I mean what sort of twisted individual must you be to force yourself to watch something you consider awful shit...Its like hating a certain type of food that makes you sick but several times a week you to sit down & eat a bowl fo the fucking stuff

After that I only prod people I dis-agree with because its mild fun

 

[JarodRussell]

Re: Why do people get so offended when other's don't like what they do

The constant Star Wars prequel bashing has also shown me something interesting. I dislike the prequels. But apparently I don't dislike them strong enough. Which makes other people who dislike them much more pretty damn aggressive when I happen to disagree with their sometimes pretty far fetched arguments. I find that pretty funny.

 

[Greylock Crescent]

Re: Why do people get so offended when other's don't like what they do

You can't even say what's the better crafted image, because in art it IS only a matter of opinion.

&

when I happen to disagree with their sometimes pretty far fetched arguments.

If it's "only a matter of opinion" anyway, how can any argument about any film be "far fetched"?

 

[JarodRussell]

Re: Why do people get so offended when other's don't like what they do

You can't even say what's the better crafted image, because in art it IS only a matter of opinion.

&

when I happen to disagree with their sometimes pretty far fetched arguments.

If it's "only a matter of opinion" anyway, how can any argument about any film be "far fetched"?

Because discussions about films are not only about artistic standards. The two quotes have nothing to do with each other. This happens to be a good example of what I would consider a far fetched argument, thank you.

 

[barnaclelapse]

Re: Why do people get so offended when other's don't like what they do

I never understand that kind of mindset either. I don't mind a healthy debate, but people who turn a fun little argument (I really do believe there is such a thing) into something very personal mystify me. Passion for art is one thing, but that passion can also turn into a kind of dementia that just leaves the person having a minor stroke over someone who doesn't agree with them looking like a lunatic who probably has to pay for sex.

 

[Greylock Crescent]

Re: Why do people get so offended when other's don't like what they do

You can't even say what's the better crafted image, because in art it IS only a matter of opinion.

&

when I happen to disagree with their sometimes pretty far fetched arguments.

If it's "only a matter of opinion" anyway, how can any argument about any film be "far fetched"?

Because discussions about films are not only about artistic standards. The two quotes have nothing to do with each other. This happens to be a good example of what I would consider a far fetched argument, thank you.

Ah yes. Categorizing a request for clarification on two seemingly contradictory statements as an example of a "far fetched argument." I see what you did there. Nicely played.

My point had nothing to do with videogame standards or storytelling standards, but with the basic argument logic you've been using: if you disagree with their point, just assume they are not as informed.

 

[JarodRussell]

Re: Why do people get so offended when other's don't like what they do

Ah yes. Categorizing a request for clarification on two seemingly contradictory statements as an example of a "far fetched argument." I see what you did there. Nicely played.

My point had nothing to do with videogame standards or storytelling standards, but with the basic argument logic you've been using: if you disagree with their point, just assume they are not as informed.

And you did it again. That quote has nothing to do with the above either, why is it there?