Popular Things You're Just Not Interested In

[Max Rockatansky]

People have been saying movie theaters are going to disappear for the last quarter century.  I usually see a couple evening movies with my wife a month, the model is far from dead.

[Scott5114]

Movies, and therefore movie theaters, are Popular Things I'm Just Not Interested In.

[bm7]

As someone in my 20s:

Movies and TV shows. I think I've watched about 10 movies and a couple shows in the last 5 years. There's just not much that piques my interest.

Concerts. I listen to a lot of music, but I have no interest in going to concerts.

Modern video games. I also play a lot of video games, but hardly any of the modern AAA games interest me. Almost everything I play is from the 2000s or early 2010s. If I do play something newer, it's generally an indie game.

Alcohol, I've never tried it and don't really plan on changing that.

TikTok, or anything else that mindlessly throws random videos or other content at you. I want to pick and choose what I watch, not have an onslaught of stimulation that an algorithm thinks I want next.

Dating apps, they feel like such a weirdly impersonal way of meeting someone.

[texaskdog]

The TV shows that "everyone watches"  Breaking Bad, Game of Thrones, Modern Family, The Wire.....   I like older shows or offbeat shows, all these people who just watch everything everyone tells them to watch.

[Rothman]

I bet most of the ruckus was kids being unattended and given a twenty to spend on concessions. If I get a $12 popcorn, I'm handling it like a Fabregé egg.

It's more than just young kids throwing popcorn buckets. Many of the videos posted online at YouTube, various news stories, etc show a lot of grown adults taking part in the mayhem.

Pfft.  Kids have been trashing movie theaters for generations.

The shit taking place during these "Minecraft" screenings is on an entirely different level. The aftermath of a "Rocky Horror Picture Show" screening has nothing on kinds of messes behind left behind by "Minecraft" audiences.

I still disagree:  Rocky Horror shows could indeed reach the level of destruction, but you can go back even earlier to when kids just went to the theater to see the running reel -- 1950s and 1960s.  Sure, having a scene or two trigger mass trashing is a little different, but painting previous generations as saints in the theater is just silly whitewashing.

[ZLoth]

The TV shows that "everyone watches"  Breaking Bad, Game of Thrones, Modern Family, The Wire.....   I like older shows or offbeat shows, all these people who just watch everything everyone tells them to watch.

And, for most of these "talked about shows", most are quickly forgotten after their original runs have ended.

[formulanone]

I bet most of the ruckus was kids being unattended and given a twenty to spend on concessions. If I get a $12 popcorn, I'm handling it like a Fabregé egg.

It's more than just young kids throwing popcorn buckets. Many of the videos posted online at YouTube, various news stories, etc show a lot of grown adults taking part in the mayhem.

Pfft.  Kids have been trashing movie theaters for generations.

The shit taking place during these "Minecraft" screenings is on an entirely different level. The aftermath of a "Rocky Horror Picture Show" screening has nothing on kinds of messes behind left behind by "Minecraft" audiences.

I still disagree:  Rocky Horror shows could indeed reach the level of destruction, but you can go back even earlier to when kids just went to the theater to see the running reel -- 1950s and 1960s.  Sure, having a scene or two trigger mass trashing is a little different, but painting previous generations as saints in the theater is just silly whitewashing.

I suspect this "Minecraft-induced destruction" is probably happening in a mere handful of places, but the amplification of social and mass media makes it seem like it is happening everywhere.

Here come the clowns / gangs / sharks / carjackers...

[SEWIGuy]

Baseball

[JayhawkCO]

The TV shows that "everyone watches"  Breaking Bad, Game of Thrones, Modern Family, The Wire.....  I like older shows or offbeat shows, all these people who just watch everything everyone tells them to watch.

And, for most of these "talked about shows", most are quickly forgotten after their original runs have ended.

I mean, we're talking about those shows six years after their last episodes.

For the record, one of those shows is not like the others as far as perception both at the time and onward.

[Scott5114]

The TV shows that "everyone watches"  Breaking Bad, Game of Thrones, Modern Family, The Wire.....  I like older shows or offbeat shows, all these people who just watch everything everyone tells them to watch.

And, for most of these "talked about shows", most are quickly forgotten after their original runs have ended.

I still see Breaking Bad and The Wire discussed all the time.

Game of Thrones is an example of a show with an ending so horribly botched everyone was embarrassed to admit they ever liked it afterward.

[Rothman]

My son and I still quote Breaking Bad all of the time.

"Why are you blue?!"

[Big John]

My son and I still quote Breaking Bad all of the time.

"Why are you blue?!"

Because I like giving out information. 

[ZLoth]

And, for most of these "talked about shows", most are quickly forgotten after their original runs have ended.

I mean, we're talking about those shows six years after their last episodes.

For the record, one of those shows is not like the others as far as perception both at the time and onward.

If a show is still talked about years or decades after their original runs have ended, then it's probably a good show. How many shows were in the top ten in decades past, but we rarely remember them?

[formulanone]

And, for most of these "talked about shows", most are quickly forgotten after their original runs have ended.

I mean, we're talking about those shows six years after their last episodes.

For the record, one of those shows is not like the others as far as perception both at the time and onward.

If a show is still talked about years or decades after their original runs have ended, then it's probably a good show. How many shows were in the top ten in decades past, but we rarely remember them?

Television was a fairly disposable option 20+ years ago; you'd consume it and maybe quote it the next day but many moments were quickly forgotten. There wasn't any way to rewatch them unless you just recorded everything. So if anyone is still talking about a show even a few years after its run, it probably was seen as "pretty good" (even if you and I don't care about it).

Serialized TV programming has a little more staying power nowadays thanks to DVD and streaming options, which were rarer options 20+ years ago. But yeah, I find most of it rehashed situations, tired tropes, with different faces and new plot holes which I don't have the time nor much curiosity to watch anyway.

[thspfc]

Anime
Pickup trucks

[jeffandnicole]

I've never been part of a popular crowd, even going back to school days, so no matter what the in-thing was, be it clothing, hair, shows or whatever, I usually wasn't interested in it.

[kphoger]

I've never been part of a popular crowd, even going back to school days, so no matter what the in-thing was, be it clothing, hair, showers or whatever, I usually wasn't interested in it.

That's how I read it at first. 

[ZLoth]

Anime

There is some very good anime, and also some good reasons behind some of the dislike of anime.

Pickup trucks

Especially if you use it more of a status symbol rather than as a utility vehicle. I'm more likely to rent a pickup truck from U-Haul or a home improvement store rather than purchase one because the gas milage of a sedan is much better than a pickup truck.

[JayhawkCO]

And, for most of these "talked about shows", most are quickly forgotten after their original runs have ended.

I mean, we're talking about those shows six years after their last episodes.

For the record, one of those shows is not like the others as far as perception both at the time and onward.

If a show is still talked about years or decades after their original runs have ended, then it's probably a good show. How many shows were in the top ten in decades past, but we rarely remember them?

The Wire ended in 2008, so 17 years ago. Is that good enough for "decades" for these purposes? Still a damn good show. And The Wire wasn't even particularly highly watched when it was running live, only after it ended did it really become recognized for its brilliance.

My main point is that a lot of shows that get a lot of hype get said hype because they're good.

[thenetwork]

The TV shows that "everyone watches"  Breaking Bad, Game of Thrones, Modern Family, The Wire.....  I like older shows or offbeat shows, all these people who just watch everything everyone tells them to watch.

And, for most of these "talked about shows", most are quickly forgotten after their original runs have ended.

I mean, we're talking about those shows six years after their last episodes.

For the record, one of those shows is not like the others as far as perception both at the time and onward.

A lot of those forgotten shows of late were shows that had, IMHO, camera shots that looked like a 3rd grader was holding the camera.

Unsteady shots, random zoom-ins and zoom‐outs are two of many examples of why I cannot watch them. 

Live, as-it-happens shows like Cops or On Patrol Live have cameramen who can keep a more steady shot -- even while moving around.

[ZLoth]

The Wire ended in 2008, so 17 years ago. Is that good enough for "decades" for these purposes? Still a damn good show. And The Wire wasn't even particularly highly watched when it was running live, only after it ended did it really become recognized for its brilliance.

My main point is that a lot of shows that get a lot of hype get said hype because they're good.

Babylon 5 had a pilot movie in 1993, and ran from 1994 through 1998. I watched every new episode, have all the episodes on DVD, and is still fondly remembered.

The reference to "decades" are for shows like I Love Lucy, Twilight Zone, Dragnet with Jack Webb, Emergency, Adam-12, I Dream Of Jeanie, M*A*S*H, and so on.

[JayhawkCO]

The Wire ended in 2008, so 17 years ago. Is that good enough for "decades" for these purposes? Still a damn good show. And The Wire wasn't even particularly highly watched when it was running live, only after it ended did it really become recognized for its brilliance.

My main point is that a lot of shows that get a lot of hype get said hype because they're good.

Babylon 5 had a pilot movie in 1993, and ran from 1994 through 1998. I watched every new episode, have all the episodes on DVD, and is still fondly remembered.

The reference to "decades" are for shows like I Love Lucy, Twilight Zone, Dragnet with Jack Webb, Emergency, Adam-12, I Dream Of Jeanie, M*A*S*H, and so on.

Sure, but I would argue a lot of those shows are nearly unwatchable now. Great for their time, but the topics and/or humor aren't necessary relevant in the 2020's. I watched a lot of that stuff on Nick at Nite with my grandparents when I was a kid.

Again, the whole reason I'm in this conversation was that someone said that shows that "everyone" watches aren't any good. They're not good BECAUSE everyone watches them. But "everyone" watches them because they're largely good.

[vdeane]

Television was a fairly disposable option 20+ years ago; you'd consume it and maybe quote it the next day but many moments were quickly forgotten. There wasn't any way to rewatch them unless you just recorded everything. So if anyone is still talking about a show even a few years after its run, it probably was seen as "pretty good" (even if you and I don't care about it).

Serialized TV programming has a little more staying power nowadays thanks to DVD and streaming options, which were rarer options 20+ years ago. But yeah, I find most of it rehashed situations, tired tropes, with different faces and new plot holes which I don't have the time nor much curiosity to watch anyway.

At the same time however, the media industry is more fragmented than ever, meaning that while the ability to rewatch/watch later is at an all-time high, everyone is watching (or not) different things, and few things can break into the mainstream discourse like "appointment TV" could.  Not to mention that the "binge TV" model that Netflix uses means that shows can quickly have a lot of discourse for a week to a month but then quickly fade until the next season a few years later (and heaven help you if you don't have time to binge a whole season right when it comes out - you'll either have to let yourself be spoiled or be unable to read/discuss the show).

[webny99]

 Uh... everything?

Seriously, I could never create an exhaustive list, but some that come to mind are:

-Fashion
-Celebrities
-Novels
-Small talk
-Social media
-Organized sports
-Chocolate

[webny99]

Apple anything

Agreed. Apple crisp is the only exception, and it's an exception despite the apples, not because of them.

mowing early in the morning when the grass is still wet

I think you missed the "popular" part. Not only is that not popular, it's a sure fire way to become un-popular with your neighbors.