I really have to get this off of my chest. This happens at IMDB, blu-ray.com, and pretty much anywhere else there is an internet forum on movies.
I was at blu-ray.com, which is a fantastic site, and looking at their message boards. It's something I like to do on sites, browsing message board subjects to get various takes on a subject. It's also a damned annoying activity because there's always someone in a thread that wants to stick the proverbial internet bayonet in you repeatedly.
I was reading this subject by this guy who just doesn't like Blade Runner. He bought it, watched the final cut and the theatrical cut, and didn't like either. I am also one of the few sci-fi fans that doesn't really care for Blade Runner. I find it pretentious, slightly boring, and I just never got what all the fuss was about. Well, this person who said he didn't like the movie over there is now being accused of having no taste in film, that he's spoiled by modern effects, and how pretty much he's a lesser person for not liking this movie.
I know the internet lets out peoples' real selves because of the anonymity of it all, but this is the equivilant of putting people in the internet stocks and taunting them. It's really stupid. If these people like all the movies ever made that are considered classics, can't I call them sheep, narrow-minded idiots, and without a shred of originality in their lives? I dislike quite a lot of classics... Requiem For A Dream, Pulp Fiction, Blade Runner, Apocalypse Now, even Rashomon. If I, like this guy, have no taste, why do I like Memento, Jackie Brown, Alien, The Deer Hunter, or Sanjuro? Those are all classics or cult classics...
To say such things like, "you have no taste" without knowing what other movies a person likes or dislikes is one of the dumbest, damn fool things you can do. All people are different, and if everyone all liked the same movies, life would be really, really boring. I know this argumentative style will not die, but in fact will fester and grow, as it has since the beginning days of the web, and that saddens me. People talk all about intelligent discourse, but it's never done.
Sorry, I just had to rant people.
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I totally agree with you. While I respectfully disagree about Blade Runner, you're absolutely right about the so-called 'internet hate machine'.
ReplyDeletePrime example: I'm a huge fan of Batman Forever (watched it last night, even). But all over the internet, people just despise it, seemingly only because Joel Schumacher made Batman & Robin. I'll admit it's not great cinema, but it's far, far, FAR from one of the worst superhero movies ever made.
I'd argue that while the internet has had a healthy influence on the film community, it's actually had an adverse affect on the film fan community. Instead of fostering intelligent discourse, it's made it far too easy to just declare that something or someone sucks and just walk away.