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Why do we all hate everything now?


Dixon Hill

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Great idea for a thread. This is something I've been pondering as well. I'm probably one of the more positive members here (see my exclamation point-filled reactions to new Williams news), and sometimes I wonder whether I'm naive or whether other people are too cynical. 

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A few weeks ago I bought Wild Tales on Blu-ray and today I bought Slow West so it's not that I hate everything! But it's true that in the last few years I have been let down by several directors that I love. 

 

 

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Oh to be clear, I'm not talking about JWFan in any specific way, nor do I agree with anyone who thinks we're a negative community in any sense - this is more of a broad thing that applies all over, but I do sometimes feel it seeps in here. 

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43 minutes ago, TheGreyPilgrim said:

Whether it's new Star Wars, new John Williams, new Twin Peaks, Nolan and Zimmer, Giacchino, superhero movies, Game of Thrones....

 

Don't you feel like people are generally far more negative than they used to be about pretty much everything?  

 

People? What people? All the people from all over the world?

 

I think there's a qualifier missing. Not to put too fine a point on it, I think it's just (or mostly) Americans. And the topics you mention as examples are, incidentally, all American too: JW, Game of Thrones, Twin Peaks, etc.

 

It's mind-boggling and rather tragic how, in the past few decades, America is going downhill in a handbasket. Maybe the 20 trillion national debt has something to do with it, weighing on everybody's mind? Consciously or unconsciously, many people (Americans!) sense it and are reacting to it...

 

 

 

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26 minutes ago, Sally Spectra said:

Some negativity is better than incessantly liking everything.

 

I don't necessarily disagree.

 

4 minutes ago, Josh500 said:

 

People? What people? All the people from all over the world?

 

I think there's a qualifier missing. Not to put too fine a point on it, I think it's just (or mostly) Americans. And the topics you mention as examples are, incidentally, all American too: JW, Game of Thrones, Twin Peaks, etc.

 

It's mind-boggling and rather tragic how, in the past few decades, America is going downhill in a handbasket. Maybe the 20 trillion national debt has something to do with it, weighing on everybody's mind? Consciously or unconsciously, many people (Americans!) sense it and are reacting to it...

 

You annoy me.

 

2 minutes ago, mstrox said:

Well, there are a few things at play here, in my opinion.

 

1)  People are generally more vocal about things that they dislike than things they like.  On the flipside, it's often easier to talk about things you dislike than things you like.  For those reasons, the people who dislike things are usually the loudest voices in the room.

 

2)  Culture has, over time, become less earnest and more sarcastic.  Generationally, that sarcasm has become watered down into a more humorless cynicism.

 

3) Our outreach ability has grown exponentially in the past 20 years.  Instead of using that blessing to expand our horizons and worldview,  we've largely made our worlds smaller by congregating in large groups of people who share our own values and opinions. 

 

In those echo chambers, what once was a maybe slightly disappointed "It wasn't for me" is followed up with a dozen more, until it becomes an angry "IT WASN'T FOR US!"  In my opinion, that makes us hate things instead of just disliking things.

 

Agree with all this.

 

42 minutes ago, Will said:

Great idea for a thread. This is something I've been pondering as well. I'm probably one of the more positive members here (see my exclamation point-filled reactions to new Williams news), and sometimes I wonder whether I'm naive or whether other people are too cynical. 

 

Whatever else, someone your age shouldn't have to wonder if you're being too enthusiastic.  That's unfortunate.

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13 minutes ago, Josh500 said:

People? What people? All the people from all over the world?

 

I think there's a qualifier missing. Not to put too fine a point on it, I think it's just (or mostly) Americans. And the topics you mention as examples are, incidentally, all American too: JW, Game of Thrones, Twin Peaks, etc.

 

It's mind-boggling and rather tragic how, in the past few decades, America is going downhill in a handbasket. Maybe the 20 trillion national debt has something to do with it, weighing on everybody's mind? Consciously or unconsciously, many people (Americans!) sense it and are reacting to it...

 

Yes! Donald will set things right!

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1 minute ago, mstrox said:

2)  Culture has, over time, become less earnest and more sarcastic.  Generationally, that sarcasm has become watered down into a more humorless cynicism.

 

I don't think that's true. 

 

One thing that is true for sure is that many, MANY people voicing their opinions on whatever have understood, often instinctively, that acting personally offended is a bargain for more social cachet in our culture. Think about pressure groups, heck, think about all those LGBT groups protesting 'Basic Instinct' without having seen it: stuff like that got progressively worse. So taking into account that this perceived 'negativity' is more often reactive than active - often labeling stuff as cynicism that is anything but - i think wry or belligerent humour has a harder stand than ever.

 

Other than that i think we just spend all too much time on the internet. It's here were the most misconceptions occur, mainly due to a lack of personal contact.

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4 minutes ago, BloodBoal said:

 

Yes! Donald will set things right!

 

Its true that the Americans did an incredible amount of whinging during their election campaign and quite a few months after that.

 

On social media...it was relentless!

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Over exposure, definitely. We're used to, in this digital age, getting what we want and having more influence in making it a reality that our standards are always set perilously and insatiably high. I think there's a happy medium somewhere, in the things we often hold up as 'guilty pleasures' the kinds of entertainment that you consume for gratification, and that's often ignored, unfortunately. You're either in the clique or out of it.

 

 

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Could it be connected to my generation's "meme culture," which basically entails criticizing everything imaginable (albeit for comedic purposes)? 

 

Actually, this kind of ties into a major problem I have with the modern world, namely, the evident inability of many to make a joke that doesn't criticize something/put someone down, a joke that isn't just a negative comment in disguise (even if it's not intended to be hurtful). Luckily many JWFans do have that ability, but at school it's often a rare breed (although thankfully I am rarely if ever the target of this not-very-funny "humor"). But that's a different discussion! 

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6 minutes ago, Stefancos said:

It's not just your generation.

 

the internet has a hell of a lot to do with it. It taught people that can say what they like with a very limited chance of any real accountability.

 

And it feels bloody good too. In my professional life, so often I have to act all serious and pretend to be friendly with all these industry morons, it makes me feel sick. Maybe even a little more dead on the inside. But being on the internet allows me to wipe that professional goodie-two-shoes facade away and unleash my true self - all the characters I play in my head.

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People are getting older and they like what they used to get. The older they are the more they criticize negatively without any proper reason or because something is different. Of course this is a bit generalized, but look for example at the cinemas, where loads of young people are satisfied by Transformers 9590 and Fast and Furious 3958308593. Middle aged people tend to be more demanding, very old people however tend to grumble when they aren't completely satisfied. This might be a cliché but there are recognizablel tendencies. The more you know the better you can rate it and the more often you discover some real shit. Now, as everybody is aging and everybody spends the time with people of the same age, this simply leads to the impression that "everything" is more hated by "everyone" than earlier.

 

That's not all, but it's at least an important effect that influences a neutral evaluation.

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1 hour ago, Quintus said:

It seems the irony of the thread is lost on those dishing out copious amounts of LIKES like they're going out of fashion and planting them on any mildly agreeable post that comes level with their FOV. I've noticed that has become the culture here lately, and I fucking HATE it.

 

This actually was one of the observations that got me thinking.  I also noticed that the likes seem to skew heavily in favor of posts that are disparaging rather than positive.  I performed extensive studies to verify this before starting the thread.

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12 minutes ago, TheGreyPilgrim said:

This actually was one of the observations that got me thinking.  I also noticed that the likes seem to skew heavily in favor of posts that are disparaging rather than positive.

 

So... people like hate?

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I just don't agree that generally speaking, we hate everything now.  There are many pleasant surprises I have experienced in the past few days.  A very simple example, I am loving Stranger Things, which I was only now introduced to after returning from Comic-con and must now binge watch. I was the age of the characters at that time so it has a certain 1980's nostalgia for me too.  But wonderful writing, acting, characters, cast, etc.  I will say there is a general feeling of anxiety but that is personal not general.  Try not to get too bogged down in calamities.  Times in the past have been much worse and we've made it through.  I think all generations felt things weren't as good as it used to be.  "Children today are spoiled. They contradict their parents, gobble their food, and tyrannize their teachers." So wrote Socrates in 450 B.C.  I am not an optimist (I consider myself more of a pragmatist) but there are many amazing and wonderful things happening these days and we live in amazing times.  It isn't full of hate and negativity but at times, I do agree it can feel hopeless.  That is where perspective comes in.  

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Take no notice, this is just a thread for GreyPilgrim to project his poorly shrouded vexation at having to endure a world where one or two JWFaners weren't too keen on Nolan's new movie. Plus I've been moaning about Twin Peaks on and off a bit. Away wit yer!

 

 

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5 hours ago, TheGreyPilgrim said:

Are people satisfied by the latest Transformers or Fast and Furious crap?  I don't actually know, do these films perform well?

Some people are. I had a really disturbing experience at the cinema and I wasn't even watching F&F.

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1 hour ago, Quintus said:

Take no notice, this is just a thread for GreyPilgrim to project his poorly shrouded vexation at having to endure a world where one or two JWFaners weren't too keen on Nolan's new movie. Plus I've been moaning about Twin Peaks on and off a bit. Away wit yer!

 

Nope!

 

23 minutes ago, Evil-Lyn said:

What's wrong with the new Twin Peaks?

 

Not much, but it probably didn't need 18 episodes.

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There's a brilliant 9 episodes worth of brand new mesmerising storyline with some astonishing parts, which have unfortunately been stretched out to 18 'leisurely' hours by Lynch.

 

Imagine if Peter Jackson had decided to make his universally beloved Hobbit film into a 9 hour trilogy instead? You get the idea!

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8 hours ago, karelm said:

I just don't agree that generally speaking, we hate everything now.  There are many pleasant surprises I have experienced in the past few days.  A very simple example, I am loving Stranger Days, which I was only now introduced to after returning from Comic-con and must now binge watch. I was the age of the characters at that time so it has a certain 1980's nostalgia for me too. 

 

Don't you mean Stranger Things? ;)

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I didn't even watch the last episode and a half of season 1. Was just dragging on too long and I couldn't be bothered. 

 

I could just the Goonies and ET again.

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Yeah, I think it appealed to a certain type of person who is very vocal in social media and or running stuff like BleedingCool and that sort of stuff. 

 

Its target audience is quite influential at the moment.

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1 hour ago, Quintus said:

Fair enough.

 

I couldn't really understand why the world went absolutely nuts for Stranger Things either, but I suppose TV is at the most zeitgeisty it has ever been. Blame social media.

 

Season two needs to be a bit better.

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