How tf do people read/watch through the entirety of something they think is mid?

[smokesalty]

Okay I've been thinking about this becuase I've talked to people who've told me they'd finished say reading through an entire book series and I'm like "oh did you like it?" and they tell me it's okay.

Maybe it's just me- but I will watch through the entirety of something only if I think it's really good or that it's so trash that I can laugh at it. When something is just 'meh' I will usually just drop it.

idk for me I cannot waste my time watching/reading something I'm not invested in. I've had shows and such that start out good and get kinda bad later on and usually I just drop it. I get that meh media means that it isn't bad, but it isn't great, so half the time I feel like there's a missed opportunity, which can make me frustrated.

It might just be because I'm super picky.

[arxianfall]

Do you go to any fast food and eat mid food?

It's like that.

[darthmongoose]

For me it'd usually be either I want something on in the background while I'm working and so only paying partial attention, OR it's something my partner likes, but I'm ambivalent about, and I don't mind having it on while I play Hearthstone on my iPad or chat on discord.

[Kelheor]

If the thing is finished, I just want to know how this stuff ends. If it's still ongoing I will give it some time before dropping, so maybe it could redeem itself. Usually it has at least something to get me going, the setting, a character or a relationship, etc. I binged the first season of Riverdale because I loved the color palette, I sure can go places.

[NickRowler]

I guess my rule for books/movies are that if I get to the halfway point and I am still not interested, I am not going to continue.

Sometimes for movies, I will watch them in chunks. It can help, especially if you are taking a film study class. Some streaming services let you speed up the movie/show which is great for stuff that drags.

For shows that lose my interest, I just stop watching. If it is something I used to love and I am now frustrated at it, I also stop. I don’t want to watch stuff that makes me angry or miserable, I would rather watch something I enjoy.

[TreeHugger]

Lately, the only true reason I'll watch or read something that I don't really enjoy is because 1. Someone is asking me to review it and I have free time/want to help that person out. Or 2. Because my friends or someone close said it was good and want me to enjoy it to/have conversations about how good it is.

Most of the time I just end up reading or watching whatever it is just so that I can say that I watched or read it. Ex. The Owl House. I swear my friends say it's really good but I legit can't sit through it, I watched it anyways though

[igneriss]

Oh yes, a lot not only mid, there are cases where I keep reading even if it's bad. Usually it's if:

• I think it might get better later: it's usually with webcomics, but sometimes also with books. If the idea is promising but everything else is mid, I still might give it a chance. Sometimes there is a nice plot twist or a revelation at the end which suddenly makes the reading worth it;
• a friend recommended it and is waiting for my opinion on it. I've read two volumes of a popular YA fantasy serie and hated most of it, but that's a sacrifice I am willing to do for a friend cx after 2nd volume I told her that I give it, I wouldn't be able to read more haha;
• it's a challenge. With a friend we're reading books from Bokklubben World Library. A lot of them were mid (at least for me), some of them were a torture to read, but hey, it's a challenge.

[DokiDokiTsuna]

As most people are saying, there's usually one thing to hang onto that will make you stay with the story.

For example in anime, it's usually that the visuals are just fantastic (at least for me). Seriously, I think a large portion of popular or 'legendary' anime are just 'mid' stories that are carried by a constant barrage of gorgeous art and animation, at least from what I've heard secondhand. And that's not a bad strategy; if you can't tell a good story, at least make it a treat to watch unfold.

Another anime-specific example: you already know what happens in the manga. :9 This was my experience with Shadows House S1; I would definitely put the anime into the 'okay' category. But I kept watching it because I like the manga, and I wanted to see the different choices it made in comparison.
Plus the end credits are just so good...I actually was tempted to give up on the anime near the end, but having constant cravings to see that ED animation and hear the song again ultimately forced me to finish it. ^^;

[authorvicomara]

There is only one reason why I'd continue to read a novel or comic that I deem as average:
1. I haven't found anything new to read that would qualify to get into my list of 'Good' reads (i.e. worth re-reading). If I cannot find anything better to read for the day, I will settle down for average (though to be fair, I have my personal standards for what I call average as well).

[wispysing]

there's usually one thing to hang onto that will make you stay with the story.

Definitely agree with this. There usually has to be at least one component that is decent enough despite the rest being mediocre. I (sometimes unconsciously) try to study the media I consume, so am willing to sit through hours of good visuals and a bland storyline just for the sake of taking notes for my comic, and vice versa.

If it's the case of a show I was once invested in, then I will drop it willingly, though I'll tune in at the end just to see how my once-beloved characters resolve the plot.

[AlydaB]

I will forever be embarrassed by the fact that I made it through a 500+ episode anime I thought sucked for the sake of one favorite minor POV character. I skimmed through filler episode after filler episode hoping for a glimpse of this favorite character in hopes that they would at least get a satisfying, well-written arc (they didn't lol). Sad, sad waste of time. :'D

So, to sum up what I've seen here:
- one aspect of it is appealing enough to keep you from giving up on it
- you have hopes that it'll get better
- a friend loves it and wants you to watch/read it too
- free time and nothing better to do
- low effort background noise kinda thing
- a personal or friendly challenge

I've read and watched a lot of mediocre stories for each of these reasons, but I'm trying to be more selective about what I invest my time and energy into nowadays. "Meh" stories aren't worth the effort when my to-be-read list is as long as it is.

[GumshoeComix]

most things are Mid, not everything's gonna be A space oddity 2001 / everything everywhere all at once. There's a reason why adam Sandler movies still make so much money. People like stupid shit.

@AlydaB same I watched all of eyesheild21 just to see if they would make it to the big game at the end when that part of the manga wasn't even animated. and I think Hitman reborn is Mid now but it was peak writing when I was a teen.

there's also bad movies that are just fun to have in the background like Dude where's my car
imo there's nothing wrong with dumb fun movies, especially if you're having a rotten day/week/year. And that's really what most Mid movies are you walk out going "well that was a movie" or its something for you to chill and relax, and not think too hard.

and i think this can apply to any medium.

[KeinanX]

How I felt watching the Tokyo ghoul anime, (it was a rough experience) other than that I just stay dead clear of shows that I know I'm not going to like, that is unless it's a classic or something, but honestly it depends.

[TheLemmaLlama]

idk for me I cannot waste my time watching/reading something I'm not invested in.

I mean, we all go in to a new story uninvested, right? I know nothing about this story, therefore I'm not invested in it, but I'll read/watch it if it's good.

Conversely, investment is pretty much the opposite. I know A LOT about this story/world/franchise, therefore I'm VERY invested in it, so I'll still read/watch it if it's NOT good :'D

Of course, to get me invested in it in the first place, it had to start out good, but I can't drop it even after it dips down to mid because of my investment. I can't leave things unfinished; it just feels bad! I need closure on the world and characters I grew to care about!

---

I also consider myself super picky, but more in the sense that I don't get into mid stuff in the first place. I don't even get into stuff that starts out good; it needs to be absolutely amazing to the point it haunts my waking life if I don't go back to it and see what happens next.

But one exception to this is if I'm doing research for my own stories. I'll gladly comb through stories that explore similar themes/aesthetics/genres, most of which are mid. In fact, I like to have a variety in quality for these 'study stories' because it gives me a fuller perspective on not only what to do but also what not to do and what could be improved on and pushed further :]

[goatbat]

tbh i don't think i necessarily do this that often (i drop things v easily, even things i love by forgetting tbh LOL) but, i do very often say this when i think 1) someone asking me about my opinion to ascertain whether or not they'd like it or 2) i know something isn't necessarily good, but i like it anyways, so i'm like ehhhh it's ok. lol

also sometimes it's just nice to have a distraction tbh! soaps are the peak of good escapist distraction TV, good for distracting you from the problems of everyday life. but i'd say speaking generally they are . . . mid by definition, haha

[Mallory]

I'll do it if there's some aspect of the mid thing I'm really invested in (usually a particular character). Like I can enjoy stuff and be like "this ain't a masterpiece by any means and if you weren't weirdly obsessed with this character like me, you'd probably find it pretty bland". Or like someone else said, if I think it might get better (still trying to suffer through the first Hobbit movie because I feel like it gets more interesting when the elf lady shows up).

Also it's a way for me to force myself to take breaks. Otherwise in inevitably wind up going back to work and over-working.

[Lensing]

I only drop stories which bore me or are getting ridiculous.
5% of the things that I read and watch are great or good, most of it is okay.
Okay can still be entertaining in some way. I also continue stories which are bad
in some parts and think it will get better later, it usually doesn´t.

[somethingsomething]

As someone who's binged all of One Piece once upon a time, only to catch up to the current episode and immediately lose all interest, sometimes you're just bored and have nothing better to do. One piece has pacing so bad that it's a mortal sin, a never-ending cast of monotonous, one-note characters, and most of the time, its animation is subpar. I'm unsure why it's as popular as it is. In my opinion, all it manages to do well is create the one-off hype moment. But when I was binging it, it was just the most exciting thing I had to do at the time.

[system]

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