Underwhelming masterpieces

[WOSTR]

Many 'though provoking, metaphorical psychological masterpiece' types I have watched have been boring.
Many people who enjoyed these stories pop up to let those who don't feel the same know that it's because they lack intellect, don't let these people intimidate you.
I'm currently watching 'I'm thinking of ending things', this could be 40 minutes shorter and it would make no difference, I'm not missing anything whilst browsing here as it's full of small talk and seemingly irrelevant scenes that'll serve as an Easter egg later, you get the message soon enough, plus the description name drops 'Being John Malkovich' and 'Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind', two other stories people praise for how bright they are.

[Caro]

I don’t have much to add right now just wanna say I’m FASCINATED by this thread. There are about as many opinions I agree with as there are opinions that I look at and think “Wow! That’s such a different perspective!”

[Phantomlight]

I agree! I am glad people are being respectful of each other and aren't getting offended, though perhaps we might feel that way, we aren't acting on it. There are some different opinions on each thing, but that isn't an indication whether something is good or bad, just a different perspective, like you said ^^ I think that's a lovely thing.

[Mane]

Hmmm, I agree with you for the most part, but about that label classic being imparted. I think it kinda is. I think most literary works that are considered must-reads where labeled as such by academics. Same as movies. It's the movies that are critically-acclaimed.

Of course, there are those works that rise to fame via plain popularity.

Whatever category the said piece of fiction belongs to doesn't matter, it's about a title that has been put on some form of pedestal and it completely missed the mark with you as an individual.

[Dane_Sherbet]

What is an academic though, except an extreme fanboy of one particular thing?

If you're bucking the academic or the popular consensus, don't just leave the conversation there. Explain why you think something like LOTR or Citizen Kane didn't do it for you. Is there a pattern, a context that gives insight into not just these works, but also yourself?

[Mane]

I've never seen the term academic being likened fanboy.

Obviously I meant the exclusivist group of scholars, teachers and experts in their field whose evaluation of said work carries weight and trickles down to the general populace. Most people hear about LOTR and Citizen Kane being masterpieces before they had a chance to see it for themselves. Their reputation precedes them and the person builds up their expectation accordingly, then, for whatever reason, it fails to live up to those expectation.

This was the situation I meant and people gave examples. I didn't think it was necessary to go into details as to why it wasn't to their liking, but many have and that's great.

Edit: to repeat/clarify, this thread was NOT created to bash or criticize widely popular or acclaimed works, but to post about these instances where you picked up a piece of fiction BECAUSE it was widely popular or acclaimed or recommended etc only to find out it wasn't to your liking.

[rumpenstiltzkin]

I jut never liked LOTR
As young and very into fantasy ( I LOVE ELFS AND FANTASY OMG I devoured fantasy books as a kid and I still do) but I just could never get into LOTR, it was so booooring...
I think I liked Bombadill in the books but I didnt get much further than that.
I even tried keep liking it when the movies came, helped some friends queue for the movie tickes only to end up with great spots for the premier and fall asleep halfway xD Movies are beautiful and i enjoy the music but the story is just to slow paced and boring for me

(also i never ever understood why frozen got so big and popular, i feel like the only one in the world who dislikes these movies, esp the first one)

[Mane]

I've seen many people consider Frozen to be a fairly average movie as far as the story is concerned and that "Let it go" really is what carried it all the way to the top of the charts.

I have to agree. I watched Frozen and Wreck it Ralph back to back, expecting Frozen to blow me away, only to find out that I had enjoyed Wreck it Ralph way more, even though it hadn't received half of the recognition Frozen got.

[Dane_Sherbet]

Well, a lot of academics have this veneer of respectability that comes with the passage of generations. But there's really no difference between someone writing papers on medieval romances and someone doing the same kind of analysis on YouTube and with video games. Scholars have a certain amount of clout because, in so many words, they know how to steer you in the direction of the really good shit.

[rumpenstiltzkin]

Thats the thing tho I dont get, the story is so weak? It has so many questions and holes and it really blew my mind when I watched it for the first time and thought, this movie wont get big

[ar-ninetysix]

Would you believe there's extended versions of the three-hour long films?? People can marathon them for eleven hours now instead of nine!

[rumpenstiltzkin]

Haha yes, ive been invited to these marathons and i just looked at my friends like they dont know me AT ALL

[Prisim]

I've seen many people consider Frozen to be a fairly average movie as far as the story is concerned and that "Let it go" really is what carried it all the way to the top of the charts.

This is basically how I felt about it. To me it was average at best and not really worth the hype it got. The songs weren't memorable outside of Let It Go.

However, I did like that it was sisterly love that saved the day and not another fall in love with the prince in 5 seconds save the day like most Disney movies. In fact they even poked fun at that so I appreciated that.

[Mane]

You know what, that is indeed a very good point in its favor.

[WisdomChimp]

MGSV
Cloverfield Paradox
Star Wars: New Trilogy

[Pony_wearing_a_hat]

I'm a musical theater freak, and... I don't like Grease. I can tell it's high quality and the songs are really great, but the plot just isn't for me. It's regarded as the quintessential movie musical, but I'm just not into it. I don't hate it, I'm just more of a Bye Bye Birdie person. (the musical, not the movie)

[ar-ninetysix]

Oooooh since you brought it up, I might as well..

Musicals. Just in general, I don't get the appeal. At all. There's a huge disconnect for me between the music and acting somehow. My mind says they're not allowed to coexist.

I've mentioned it before in a different thread sometime ago. @nathanKmcwilliams , I believe you didn't like em much either. Did that change for you since we brought it up last time?

[nathanKmcwilliams]

@ar-ninetysix in general I'm not a fan of musicals, simply because the music isn't my taste. Plus there's always dancing involved, another thing I don't like much. It's just off-putting.
I've got a few exceptions where I'll enjoy musical numbers, like in say... the Muppet movies, but overall, musicals just aren't my thing, never have been, even before I was a metalhead.

[skicoak]

I think most literary works that are considered must-reads where labeled as such by academics. Same as movies. It's the movies that are critically-acclaimed.

Hmmm... That kind of thinking only makes sense in isolation of other factors. Primarily, that things like Oscars and other awards are doled out by the body of creators producing in these fields. I understand that the term "critically acclaimed" can have a very literal meaning but it usually includes acclaim from giants in the field. I'm prone to believe if Martin Scorsese or Quentin Tarantino says a movie is a "masterpiece" then it likely is...even if popular opinion differs.

Whatever category the said piece of fiction belongs to doesn't matter, it's about a title that has been put on some form of pedestal and it completely missed the mark with you as an individual.

to repeat/clarify, this thread was NOT created to bash or criticize widely popular or acclaimed works, but to post about these instances where you picked up a piece of fiction BECAUSE it was widely popular or acclaimed or recommended etc only to find out it wasn't to your liking.

I don't believe this thread is out of line or any of the discussion has gone off the rails so to speak...

But of COURSE there's no way a topic like this isn't going to largely be about individuals rationalizing their differing opinion and attacking/discrediting the structures and institutions that declared a work a classic/masterpiece. It's human nature.

[Aeneas1]

I actually HATE Frozen. I hate it with every fibre and core of my being. I've written an entire piece explaining why. Firstly, I dislike the fact that it treats the only talking snowman in the work as innocuous comedic relief rather than a serious character in his own right. Olafur has virtually no human depth to him whatsoever, but perhaps he is simply not meant to HAVE depth, and he wants to melt for some unknown idiotic reason.