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Comedians - a couple made me laugh in my teens, but now I find them all boring. There's something about attaching the "comedy" label that instantly makes me think "canned humor" (which I guess is what comedy is). I remember watching movies with friends or at school and it seemed like everyone instantly laughed during certain scenes, but I had absolutely no reaction. I would often fake a laugh to not seem too weird. Kevin Hart, Dane Cook, Will Ferrell, Louis C.K., Schumer, etc - hearing them makes me want to start clawing my eye out.
I also find about 90% movies and 95% of popular tv shows to be unentertaining. Most of my friends can talk non-stop about tons of tv shows and movies. In the last 10 years the only tv show I've watched was Breaking Bad (watched it all 4 months ago in about two weeks). After watching that I was craving more, but couldn't stand to watch more than 1 episode of anything else I tried. I have absolutely nothing on TV that I MUST watch - if I'm flipping through I'll typically stop at the news, Shark Tank, American Greed, Lockup, 600lb Life, Intervention or sports.
So are there any other people like me who aren't easily entertained like 99% of people seem to be? In some ways it's a blessing because you get more done, but in some ways it's a curse because you don't get the all the joy of being entertained.
BTW - I've never downloaded any music either. The only music I listen to is a little bit of country on the radio while driving. I know almost nothing about who sings what or who's in what band. This is another conversation killer when talking to people because everyone loves music.
No you're not alone. I feel the same way. There has been a lull in truly entertaining stuff because quality has downgraded a bit. Standards have lowered and people just hype the ship out of stuff these days. Anything that is mildly entertaining is considered this grand achievement in music, tv or film, so when you see it expecting a masterpiece, you're kinda let down. I don't even expect much out of mainstream tv or film. Comedy is a disaster for the most part. It's all hit or miss. They all try to out do each other in how nasty and exhibitionist they can be.
Personally as far as movies are concerned, my theory is that when movies and tv switched to digital it took a lot of the magic away, that larger than life cinematic experience. Everything has that really clean and glossy look. The grittiness of films are gone.
Also every mainstream movie or show is there to push buttons, push actors, push sequels, franchises or products. They don't even try to hide what they're doing. And the story gets pushed to the side or there's lazy as hell writing. The movie isn't just the product anymore, it has all this added crap to sell something else.
I also don't connect with characters anymore, especially in comedies. I don't even recognize the people in those comedy or rom com movies in real life. I've never met people that annoying, insufferably yuppie, insecure, lost in life or debauched. It's as though writers live in a bubble between NYC and LA and forgot what regular people were like and what regular life was about. Regular life = urban yuppie/hipster with serious emotional issues.
Those are at least the few reasons why I think I've lost the ability to be entertained by mainstream entertainment.
No you're not alone. I feel the same way. There has been a lull in truly entertaining stuff because quality has downgraded a bit. Standards have lowered and people just hype the ship out of stuff these days. Anything that is mildly entertaining is considered this grand achievement in music, tv or film, so when you see it expecting a masterpiece, you're kinda let down. I don't even expect much out of mainstream tv or film. Comedy is a disaster for the most part. It's all hit or miss. They all try to out do each other in how nasty and exhibitionist they can be.
Personally as far as movies are concerned, my theory is that when movies and tv switched to digital it took a lot of the magic away, that larger than life cinematic experience. Everything has that really clean and glossy look. The grittiness of films are gone.
Also every mainstream movie or show is there to push buttons, push actors, push sequels, franchises or products. They don't even try to hide what they're doing. And the story gets pushed to the side or there's lazy as hell writing. The movie isn't just the product anymore, it has all this added crap to sell something else.
I also don't connect with characters anymore, especially in comedies. I don't even recognize the people in those comedy or rom com movies in real life. I've never met people that annoying, insufferably yuppie, insecure, lost in life or debauched. It's as though writers live in a bubble between NYC and LA and forgot what regular people were like and what regular life was about. Regular life = urban yuppie/hipster with serious emotional issues.
Those are at least the few reasons why I think I've lost the ability to be entertained by mainstream entertainment.
Right on.
One of the latest things that annoys the heck out of me is Kevin Hart being hyped into oblivion. I see him everywhere and his schtick has been beat to death. He's just not funny yet you would think he's the king of comedy.
As for movies, I'm no expert but it seems like things peaked in the 90s. Titanic, Forest Gump, Pulp Fiction, Shawshank, Goodfellas, Fight Club, Boys n the Hood, Good Will Hunting, etc, etc, etc. Even simple comedies like Friday and Dumb and Dumber seem like classics compared to what I see now.
Most Pop culture is insulting or boring to me for a very long time. Bits and pieces stand out from time to time to keep me interested, but one's taste over time changes also. When movie scripts devolved to constant repeats of "F**K", ad nauseam, which continues to this day, it just takes away from rather than adding to the story. It's all a race to the bottom, comedians being the worst. I can't remember the last time any one of them made me laugh. And I'M made out to be a stick in the mud. But put on a Dean Martin Celebrity Roast and you'll see me laughing like never before. What's the difference? Real talent, less drug use, or just different standards?
After all the hype, which turns me off, I finally heard a moment of Justin Bieber's singing. All the hype, over THAT?!? It's all his good looks, and not a damn thing more!! Which only re enforces my getting turned off by hyper hyping by our media.
Maybe the expansion of our media is reaching it's useful end? Look at how news is skewed and twisted so much for so long. I ignore most of what I can't stand, maybe others will finally follow and just turn the horse s**t off.
Maybe millennials lack a frame of reference? They think movies from the 90s are "old". They speak of them how we discuss old Orson Welles movies. I'm techinically a millennial but am old enough to have enjoyed quality stuff and can tell the difference between good quality movie and hyped up mediocrity.
I also can't stand the way people talk about films these days. Everything is hyped up to be the best thing ever and it usually always turns out to be mediocre to decent. It's never the masterpiece they claim it is. Movies that are just entertaining are hailed as riveting pieces of cinematic art. Why? Why do young people hype things up so much and they'll write stuff on twitter about how they cried and had an emotional experience over a decent film any older person would just rent at the RedBox?
Last, I'm not a film snob by any means. I don't tell people to watch obscure indie French films but I recommended Kiss of the Spiderwoman and people looked at me as though I was talking about the opera. WTH, people don't know about that movie? It was a major Oscar contender. It's from the late 80s too.
I think people's standards have just sunk to an abysmal low. This is mostly for the mainstream. The mainstream always had trash movies but there was always a good counterbalance of great films too. Now it's all "fun" movies and if you say anything people call you a film snob and accuse you of being against "fun".
Those daft young teenage films.. over the top funny or supposed to be. films that shove in boobs and sex when its about something else entirely and not required... The Big Bang theory, gets me down as hubby seems to enjoy it,,, Adam Sandler very unfunny and his silly face annoys me.. over the top computerized stuff... nearly every film has it now.. zombie movies that just arent scary... weve seen it all... stretched out plots that could be undone in ten minutes.. The Saw type movies that are just horrible.. if thats entertainment they can keep it.
if the old classics were really so great, they would dominate cable and the airwaves instead of being relegated to middle of the night viewings and obscure channels. Frankly, the over the top acting usually has me in stitches or quickly reaching for the remote.
I figured it was about time that someone would chime in with their counter-counter culture narrative that because there was schlock back then that we shouldn't criticize the utter crap that mainstream media has succumbed to today. In the main, the standards have been lowered to market to endless array of over the top ridiculousness in search of a tent pole franchise. In their pursuit the writing takes a back seat and we get insultingly bad writing, plots and stories.
There are still good movies and good tv I agree but in the mainstream especially as far as for the summer flicks, it's mind numbingly bad. This is near universal feeling that quality has sunk in the main and I don't get the reaction that says otherwise. Do you think people are being more hipster than thou by pointing this out?
A lot of people, not all, are just less entertained by the stuff out there because they know the movie itself isn't the end product anymore. Things are written with the expectation that there will be sequels, reboots, spin offs, the carreer launch of a certain actor or actress, promote rides at Disney, etc, etc. I mean the product placement alone is just over the top ridiculous. We've gone from the kid in ET eating recess pieces to Batman finding a perfectly nice looking jeep in the middle of a war zone to use. I saw it Avengers Age of Ultron too.
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