What do you hate that (you believe) everyone else loves? What do you love that (you believe) everyone else hates?
Read all the comments – they are awesome. People really coming clean, and freely, about what they love and hate, against the advice of the whole entire world.
Here are some of mine:
I hated Forrest Gump. I was very gratified to see how many people over at Michele’s hated it too.
I hate bananas.
I hate licorice.
I do not find Brad Pitt attractive (I stole that one from one of the comments over there – but it is so true – and it is a relief to admit it here)
I do not give a shit about football. AT ALL. (Baseball is another story.)
I do not get what the big deal is about Henry James. I read his books and think: SO WHAT???
I love John Mayer.
I love Julia Roberts. Think she’s a very talented actress.
I love “The Real World” and I love “Road Rules”. (Mary-Ellis Bunim, Rest in Peace)
I loved Titanic. Thought it was a multi-million dollar art film. (SHUT UP, I DON’T WANT TO HEAR IT)
I loved Alanis Morrissette’s SECOND album. Very controversial of me, I know, but I think it was far superior to her first album which was a shriek-fest.
I’m sure I will think of more to add to this list.
Oh God, I just remembered right now, the #1 thing I HATE that everybody else on the planet LOVES:
Cake.
Here’s Bill McCabe’s list. Let’s hear it for hating Forrest Gump! After reading all the comments at Michele’s, and Bill’s list, it makes me wonder: Who DID like that movie?? Don’t be afraid to admit it if you did – Please explain why in the comments. You will not be judged or scorned.
Or – you will be judged or scorned if you say anything to me like, “YOU DON’T LIKE CAKE??”
Birthday parties absolutely tormented me as a child for that very reason. It was a never-ending refrain.
“YOU DON’T LIKE CAKE??”
I go to baby showers now, with my adult friends, and I still get the same thing.
It’s a shame for a Mick to admit, but I hate potatoes.
Bill,
I hate them too.
I think it makes sense for Micks to hate potatoes. After all, look at our past history with them!!
It’s all we ate, morning noon and night – and then one spring day – the potatoes went bad – and millions of us died.
Not a very good track record.
I hate cheesecake, rootbeer, and regular coke (I actually prefer the taste of diet coke)
Laura –
That’s another one. I hate all soda, except for ginger ale.
Why do people like this stuff?
Michele has an open discussion going about things you hate that everyone else loves BTW, get well soon, Michele. Besides a movie I won’t go in to and Forrest Gump, which I mentioned in her comments, I have a few…
More hates: I wouldn’t touch Christina Aguilera or Britney Spears with a ten foot pole, skanks are not appealing.
Shania Twain can’t sing, are you people just buying her albums for the photographs inside?
Thank God you hate Forrest Gump. I positively despise that movie to the core of my being. As for Titanic, I can’t say I really love it, but I don’t understand the visceral loathing it seems to inspire in some people.
I suppose I can understand the bad history with potatoes, but I’m a Slav and that’s what we made vodka from, so I can’t be too harsh on them. They never turned on us like with you guys, and I still have the memory of some extraordinary Indian potato creation I had last week which was possibly one of the taste highlights of my entire life.
I think the only time I’ve ever even watched a complete football game was when the Pats were in the Super Bowl (ho hum, something else I feel obligated to do today). Like you say, baseball is completely different.
Incomprehensible that you don’t like cake, but OK, more cake for me. ;-)
Oh, and I hate ALL “reality” shows. I actually probably hate the idea of them more than I hate the actual shows, since I go out of my way to avoid watching them.
Super Bowl Sunday (February 1, 2004)
I wonder what ever happened to jana. She was the first blogger visitor to this site. Maybe shes still honeymooning. I hope so, anyway. AllTheBest jana! Bloggers should add Sheila Astray to their rolls even though she doesn’t care about football. Delig…
I hate pancakes and waffles.
but not as much as you hate mint oreos.
more things I hate:
caviar (tried it once at a party my inlaws were hosting, yuck)
Three Stooges (must be a female thing)
Mmmmm…caviar and cheesecake. With root beer. :-p
What about caviar cheesecake?
Mere –
HAHAHAHA
Yes, I despise mint oreos. I hate them so much that I actually completely blocked their existence out of my mind – and now you have reminded me of how revolting they are.
But if you spread Grey Poupon on them, I might change my mind…
Oh, and Dave J –
Just curious: Why did YOU hate Forrest Gump?
Let us all discuss.
Another shocker: While it certainly isn’t very good, The Postman isn’t as bad as it’s made out to be.
What I hated about Gump was the “ignorance is bliss” message. I hate ignorance, and I certainly don’t see it as a way to go through life happy.
Let’s hear it for soda haters!
As a matter of fact, I hate all carbonated beverages.
Spears and Aguilera are untalented skanks with nothing to sell but sex. However, I do have to sheepishly admit that I kinda like Shania Twain.
I’m at odds with Red and most of the rest of the populace on this one, but I’ve always loathed An Officer And A Gentleman. Never could stand Richard Gere – the whole movie seems about as genuine as a $3 bill to me. It pleased me greatly when I eventually learned that Debra Winger can’t stand Gere either.
I thought Forrest Gump was actually a dangerous film. A Rousseauist version of what we should aspire to.
We should get rid of our intellects, we should be like Forrest, who, I am sorry, is a dimwit. He only survives because he does not have a thought in his head.
Bill, you’ve hit the nail on the head. Ignorance is only bliss if you have the mentality of a very slow 3 year old.
Oh, and I didn’t say, “I loved Officer and a Gentleman because I think that that is what life is like.” I love it because of the performances, and also because, on some higher level, it does believe that you can be saved from living a life of quiet desperation by meeting the right person at the right time. Not a soulmate (ICK) but the right person at the right time.
I do believe in that.
When I’ve watched the movie in my frequent cynical moods, however, I’ll see that ending scene, and think, “I give them about 2 weeks.”
Oh, and about Aguilera – while she may have a skanky image – that girl has got some PIPES on her. I would definitely not call her “untalented”.
But continue on.
I am horrified right now – I am cat-sitting at a small apartment in the West Village and I went to go put on a CD, and heard/felt a crunch under my foot. I looked down and there was an already-dead mouse, killed by the cat – and I had squashed it to bits.
I heard the crunch of its little bones, and my foot made blood squirt out everywhere.
I have still not recovered.
Pretty much, yeah.
OK, it’s true that Aguilera does have a great voice (while Spears has no voice whatsoever). I didn’t differentiate between them because Aguilera makes no discernible artistic use of her innate vocal ability. I feel the same about her as I do about Whitney Houston – just a terrible waste of a great instrument.
I agree that one can meet the right person at exactly the right time. That particular movie (AOAAG) just never succeeded in getting me to suspend my disbelief. I do love a lot of movies which could be placed in the romance category – in recent years, Amelie became one of my all-time faves.
On Forrest Gump, I can’t say I hated it or loved it. I was well aware that I was being manipulated as the movie played out, but even so it wasn’t an altogether unpleasant ride. It could be seen as an anti-intellectual screed, but I think it’s more likely it was just conceived as another variation of the Hollywood “high concept” movie.
Sorry about the mouse.
Add me to the list of Gump haters.
Hate the Stones. And the Yankees. HATE Russian literature. And cats. And light beer. And Anne Rice. And chocolate cake. And Jennifer Aniston.
Love dogs, the Red Sox, Chow-Yun Fat, vanilla cake, Miller High Life, potatoes, pork chops, and Drew Barrymore (how embarassing).
Dan-
I love Drew Barrymore too. What’s not to love? She’s adorable.
I guess I hafta defend old Shania a little bit here.
No, she is not going to inspire me to throw my Janis Joplin records out in the trash. Her music certainly isn’t rock & roll, which is the musical form I love. However, I do like her voice, I think she exhibits a certain amount of wit and humor, and unlike most of these other current divas, she writes some decent songs. I don’t even own any of her records at this point so it’s not like I’m a big fan, but I do not experience revulsion when one of her songs comes on the radio. That puts her ahead of about 99% of everything else that gets played on the radio these days, in my book.
The worst part was having to clean up the teeny bit of blood and guts on the floor. It was absolutely awful.
It was also hard to do because Charlie the cat stared at me the whole time, insolently and proudly.
I should probably give Catcher in the Rye another chance, I hated just about every book I was forced to read in school.
The three things that usually cause the biggest reactions are:
1) I hate coffee. Dress it up all you want, add all the fancy flavors or surrounding ambience and it still tastes nasty to me. Some extreme coffee hounds do not take well to this information. I was once accused of not liking it just to spite people.
2) The Beatles have never done anything for me.
3) I don’t like Metallica and have always found them to be more silly than anything else.
I don’t like coffee either, Rodya (or tea, for that matter).
Unfortunately that doesn’t alleviate the need for caffeine, thus my ongoing addiction to Pepsi One…
I can’t stand coffee, I like the aroma, but I can’t drink the stuff…or any hot beverages for that matter, aside from the occasional hot chocolate.
this is a fun idea, sheila–remember when we talked about this at dempsey’s one night? but i hate: Led Zeppelin, mayonaisse (GROSS), cantaloupe (GROSSSSSS), Cameron Diaz (even in “being john malkovich”. i dont’ think she has any talent at all. mean! sorry!) I love: Mariah Carey (as a musician this is an embarrassing statement to make. but i own all of her albums…scary, but i love her!), “the cutting edge” (cheesy, lovely movie).
Siobhan –
The Cutting Edge!!! Ha ha
It always makes me think of Rachel … too damn funny
I can’t stand Drew Barrymore, with the exception of when she was “Gertie” in ET. I find her to “play dumb” and she totally thinks she is cool. If I saw her on the street, I might want to shove her. I also only like the old Beatles stuff. When they started growing their hair and wearing bell bottoms, they skeeve me out. They always look like they need to brush their teeth, and they smell like BO. But when they were young, and wearing suits and harmonizing, I love them. I also hate fish or any sort of seafood. Being a Rhode Islander, I often hear, “WHAT? Not even clamcakes? No chowder?” nope. Sometimes I can take a few bites of lobster, but only the claw meat, with lots of butter, and if it doesn’t taste like anything. So I don’t even count that.
Great great answers.
I hated Catcher in the Rye. Holden Caulfield was a whiny rich punk. And while I’m on hates – add Vonnegut, Updike and Heller to the list. So many wasted hours….
Fun comments. Like one of those fun conversations at a bar or a party were everyone gets riled up and heated about their passions.
I am SO with you on the cake issue. I’ve even said that at my wedding I will have a giant three-tiered rice krispie treat, because I think it’s awfully presumptuous of brides and grooms to assume that everyone wants a piece of their blechy cake.
(Oh yeah, and I hated Forrest Gump, loved “Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie”, and I’ve never understood the supposed allure of Brad Pitt either.)
Danielle –
Your comment is very validating/ I am also very impressed that you could rattle off the name of Alanis’ second album … I knew it was something like “Used-to-be Obsessive Compulsive and Semi-Suicidal…” but I couldn’t think of it off the top of my head.
The giant Rice Krispie treat is a hilarious idea. I have always been partial to ice cream cakes myself – I always had a Carvel cake at my birthday parties when I was a kid.
I wonder if they do wedding cakes …
I’ve always found the thought of a secret city hall eloping event kind of romantic, however, so perhaps it is a moot point.
Dan -I agree – I love hearing all the comments.
If you and i were at a bar, all riled up, and you said you didn’t like Heller, I might have to ask you to step outside.
Come to think of it, that’s a rather funny idea for a story – or at least an event in a story.
Two people scuffling on the sidewalk. People watching. Somebody murmurs:
“What are they fighting about? Did one guy steal the other guy’s girl, or something?”
“No. One of them said they didn’t like Catch-22.”
First, pretzel-thrower–now, mouse-cruncher.
In defense of Forrest Gump, I never saw it as an ode to ignorance(a view shared by many). This was a person who, while obviously lacking in intellectual subtleties, had an inherent grasp of certain fundamentals–decency, loyalty, friendship, love, and duty. I see him as childlike and innocent, rather than ignorant. He lacks the dogmatic ugliness of real ignorance. Forrest knows he loves Jenny. She, being human, fails him. His love remains. When he discovers he is a father, there is no self-absorbed intellectual battle within him about what to do, the burden of new responsibility, the ramifications for his way of life. There is only abiding love. It is simplistic and schmaltzy, but I found it endearing.
As for The Rolling Stones, the opening bars of Gimme Shelter(good movie, too) are truly inspired.
As for dislikes, I don’t understand the appeal of Elvis Costello, “smooth” jazz(jazz for people who don’t like jazz), 99% of Phillip Glass, “head-banger” music, or Tori Amos. Sushi gives me the willies. I never saw Bill Clinton as anything but the ultimate con artist, as in an oldtime “confidence man” who gained one’s confidence through charm and deception, and then emptied out the bank account. I was completely befuddled by the success of Robert James Waller’s The Bridges of Madison County. I am dismayed by women with tatoos, piercings, and augmented breasts–WHY?
OK–that’s enough ranting.
I threw the pretzel in 1987. Can I be forgiven for it yet??
I know I won’t be forgiven for my tattoo … because that’s for forever … but can we let the pretzel-throw go??
I hate smooth jazz too. It makes me mad.
Beth:
“WHAT? Not even clamcakes? No chowder?”
Wouldn’t that be pronounced “CHOWDA”? (chorus of boos)
Dave: True, them Swiss are sneaky. I like it. I hope for North Americans to one day achieve such a sneakiness. (We might have to. Oceans aren’t THAT much protection anymore…and everything on the planet is only a day away from anywhere else)
Jim –
Beth and I (and a couple others here) are born and bred Rhode Islanders and have worked very hard to lose the accent, as much as we love and adore it.
Chowdah, indeed.
Wups, forgot to weigh in on the “love/hate” thing.
Hate: “My Big Fat Greek Wedding”. Most people loved this movie; I’m a pariah because I don’t. The same people are shocked to hear that I hated the movie, even though I’m Greek myself.
Also hate: The band Nickelback. Hatehatehatehate.
Love: Star Trek DS9, Doctor Who.
Usually a lurker – but here’s mine: I hate the films of Martin Scorsese, Pink Floyd and Dennis Miller. Love: Jane Campion films, even “Holy Smoke” and “In the Cut”, Justin Timberlake, The Who and even more than The Who, Pete Townshend’s solo efforts, and taking the subway – even in NYC, even in the dog days of summer.
Also – I’m with all those who feel like “Catcher in the Rye” is overrated, but not liking Russian novels is a veritable sacrilege!
No, Jim, not even chowdah. My husband likes to tease me about tuna fish (ewwwwww) and tell me it isn’t the FISH that I dislike, it is the mayo. Then, when I tell him I don’t like the mayo, either, he says, vehemently, “OHHH- I see- it isn’t the FISH you dislike, it is the Mayo…” No,say I, it is both. “So REALLY what you don’t like is the fish part, right?” NO! I DON’T LIKE EITHER!!!! Then I realize I am screaming about tuna fish. So totally not worth that level of emotion.
I read you, Beth (and Red). I just had an uncontrollable outbreak of juvenile Simpsonitis when writing the “chowdah” post.
Mayor Quimby’s son:”Say “Chowdah”, Frenchie! Chowda!”
French Maitre d’: “Chowdiere.”
Quimby’s son: “Hahaha!”
Forgive me: Since I’m from Toronto, y’all can make fun of my pronunciation. Give and take. That’s what it’s all ABOOT.