Name Something Enormously Popular Whose Appeal Escapes You

Since it's late at night . . . let me blurt this out quickly before too many people catch on . . .

I don't like rock 'n roll music! Never have. One thing I detested about the Army was that somebody in the barracks always had the radio on. Even today when I'm in someone's car I ask them to turn off the radio.

oh hell, almost anything enormously popular has no appeal to me - so much so that I rarely even know what IS popular:rofl:

Probably never will. I enjoy the internet too much.

the acting is horrible.

all those vampire tv shows.

and for the record, i don't like rock music either. i'm more of a new age and space music kind of person. about the only music with words i listen to is by great singers like enya, eva cassidy, linda eder, josh groban, clay aiken, michael ball, sarah brightman, etc.

video games.

GLEE IS AWFUL.

And the vampire stuff has no appeal to me either!

I like how you think! :-)

the glee thing just baffles me.

But other than her, yeah, it's just basically High School Musical: The Series.

Worthless filler crap.

This video is the most pretentious tango I've ever seen. At the very end, Tom "The Hammer" clumsily drops his partner. She nearly ends up on the floor.

Too bad there wasn't a color commentator around to say, "Oh too bad . . . the judges will take points off for that.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_qrxesgTlo&feature=related

but I can't imagine life without rock and roll.

Your should re-post this in GD . Tonight would be good for that :)

as soon as someone mentions any of the first five things I thought of but wisely declined to mention...

I don't like football either. If it were just a sport, that would be one thing. But the whole build-up around it is pretentious and off-putting. When the announcers on TV start in with this technical-sounding jargon, you'd think it was the American Way of Life.

The day after one of the major bowl games there was a picture of this Tebow person with Bible quotes in his eye-black. Seeing that made me glad I'd missed the game. If he plays in the pros, I hope I'm never stuck in a living room where the game is on the television.

What I do hate is when some people are chatting about football and someone (certainly not saying you) feels that they have to chime in to say they hate football.

To me, that's like hanging around at DU and saying, "I hate politics!"

The one good thing that my benighted little community has done in the past couple of years has been to ban Nascar. And Walmart, too. No wonder I stay here.

Lady Gaga.

I could go on. But I won't.

Surely you'll reconsider your distaste for tattoos when you see this one:

Impressive.

(Can't see it, sorry.)

and the Grateful Dead

Twitter
Texting
Ring tones
Hell, almost every feature on a cell phone.
Baggy pants.
Reality TV
Nike
Like (the word)
I was like, he was like, she was like... (the phrase)
IPad
Tattoos
Cars that drag the ground.
Rims
Music with a heavy base line.
Country music.
Kids television based on a product.
Hats on backward.
Sunglasses that rest on the bill of a baseball cap.
Mossy oak camouflage.
Media whores.

Uh, hang on a minute.
HEY YOU KIDS, GET OUT OF MY YARD! Damn kids.

Wal Mart (natch)
Wrist watches that have so much information it makes the numbers too small to read.
In movies when anyone touches a gun you have to hear the "kydex rattle" or an action cycle.
Movies where the longest scene is less than ten seconds.
Movies where the special effects are the star.
The proliferation of acronyms in written text.

Uh - I gotta go. Those damn kids are back.

:thumbsup:

Is there a more overrated director in this film making generation?

Don't get me wrong. Sports are fun. Its the watching part I don't get. People paying hundreds of bucks for a dozen cable channels and devoting their lives to watching somebody ELSE play. And the ones in my age group will also spend several hundred bucks on the newest gaming system, 50-60 bucks a year on the newest Madden game, but won't spend the 20 bucks to buy their own damn football to throw around.

I just don't get it.

Pretty girl, but just never got the whole "zomgzomgzomg!" thing everybody seems to have with her.

Who's the one in Sherlock Holmes? Rachel Mc-something? Can't act to save her life.

I do understand the appeal, especially in business, but I don't need or want one. I spend a lot of time at home so I'm always close to a computer.

I'm with ya.

I refuse to ever get one. Ever!

Horror flicks in general,...

These are things I never quite got. There's nothing wrong with them; I just never understood what their appeal was.

The French made Jerry Lewis a Commander of the French Empire - it's enough to make me wonder whether the French really are lacking something. Then I watched a Molière farce on the educational channel. All the actors behaved like Jerry Lewis. I was astounded that this is considered classical literature.

And no, I never saw a need for a "war on terror." Count me out on that one.

Bruce Springsteen's Born in the U.S.A. is a mystery. I have less trouble with Mick Jagger singing Black is Black.

And golf. What's that all about? Even stranger is the fact that people watch it on television. To me, that's the mystery of the ages.

Lived in Jersey for nine years and, sorry paisans, I just don't get it. Born in the USA is a middle of the pack stadium song (compare him to Queen and try arguing Springsteen is a great) and everything else he wrote seems like forgettable open mic night clap trap. I guess I just have a thing for songs with more than the same four words repeated over and over again.

I don't really get the Rolling Stones either, but that's a whole nother thing.

I love Jovi though... can I show my face in the Garden State again?

:)

People seem to judge him all the time based on "Born in the USA" as if that was the only song he ever wrote. Then, people who both like and dislike him proceed to make further judgments based simply on the *title* of that song without ever talking about what it actually expresses. To wit: Glen Beck's recent Shattner-esque spoken word rendition of the lyrics in an attitude of shock and dismay that they actually aren't patriotic.

A challenge: can you tell me, without looking up the lyrics online, what that song is about?

This is not to even touch on the rest of Springsteen's lengthy catalog, most of which involves more than four words. Songs like Bobby Jean, Downbound Train, Nebraska, Atlantic City, Racing in the Streets and Darkness on the Edge of Town.

and getting shabby treatment. I don't dislike the song because it represents brainless nationalism (I know it doesn't). I don't even dislike the song. I just don't think it's a "great" song worthy of the kind of veneration it gets.

And I have listened to a lot of his other songs (I did live in Jersey for nine years). They just seem mumbly and self-indulgent to me.

Different strokes, eh?

The mumbly thing I can sometimes agree with. I think he was maybe a bit *too* influenced by Bob Dylan in that regard. I don't deny the different strokes aspect, but your post seemed full of all the generalizations about Bruce that people make, IMHO, all too often without considering the range of evidence. You, obviously, know what you're talking about so I can't fault you there.

Speaking of different strokes and Bob Dylan, I guess he's where I diverge from a large section of the pack. A lot of people think he's the best, but a lot of his music just doesn't sit with me. Some of it is pretty alright though.

They all look alike, and that look is not cute. More like grub worms, which aren't adorable. Don't understand the appeal at all - and I'm a hetero female; thinking babies are cyuuuuuuuute is supposedly hardwired in my DNA.

Not that I can blame the babies for not being cute; it's hard to look good when you've just squeezed your way out of a small opening. But I don't find them at all appealing, even after the trauma of birth has worn off.

Add to the list weddings, proms, dressy formal occasions -- just yuck. I'm far too pragmatic to sink a small fortune in an uncomfortable dress I'll only wear once.

Also, another vote for reality TV. Are there really people who remotely care about Paris Hilton's British best friend? I think of that more as unreality TV, because I can't believe it's an actual show!

babies do seem grub like to me also, and smell not so good, and are sticky...if I were ever to adopt it would have to be an older child.

Even people who I respect like the show. I just don't understand the appeal of listening to people sing standards flatly.

Twitter involving celebrities in particular. Also, any of the 973 different award shows for the "entertainment industry". I refuse to watch until I finally receive my overdue nomination.

Repug, I could have written your post. I can't stand either. Throw Facebook into the mix, too.

Networking I get. I'm on Linkedin.com. But Facebook is way too privacy-invasive for my taste.

and cell phones in general. I don't own one because I don't like being accessable at all times...although I may get one for emergency purposes only...still thinking about it...

that I let calls go to VM on my cell but I OTOH get irritated feeling I always have to be available.

I think it's shit. Did that come across?

Give me a good werewolf story, any day.

Also agree with the other poster that werewolves are WAY cooler. Why aren't there any pop culture werewolves besides that little Twilight love triangle boy? Actually, nevermind. I don't want werewolves to be ruined by tween-romance pop culture bullshit like vampires have been.

Women's clothes that encourage the exposure of flabby bellies.
Women's shoes that come to an extreme point, like witches' shoes.
Dancing With The Stars
Basketball
Church

deal of landscape for no purpose.

m

And how anybody can watch anybody else play it is totally beyond me.

I just don't get the appeal

Alcohol.
Marijuana.
Saint Douchebag's Day.
Modern mainstream hip-hop.
Golf. Jesus H GOD you've got to be kidding me with it's appeal.
Wear anything sports related aside from the occasional hat on weekends when my hair has had it.
Cigars.
Tobacco products in general.
Camo ANYthing.
Sunglasses.
Glee.
Mad Men, despite HRH Christina being part of it.
The Sopran- . . . let's just say it - ANY "Must See", "Smartly Written" critical splooge-fest cable drama.
Fantasy sports leagues.
Lady Gaga.
Late Night Skin-emax. Great if you like seeing douchebag guy butt in abundance.
Throwing up devil horns at ANY kind of music other than metal/grindcore/death/spazcore/black metal/goregrind/doom.
Continuing to dress and act like a douchebag despite the countless parodies against douchebaggery.
Not learning from other people's mistakes, but making them on your own. Over. And Over. Again.
Any form of entertainment with the mafia as the subject. And I'm a slobbering Godfather/Goodfellas fan. DAMN, I mean, when does it END already?
"F Bombs, Beatdowns and Bloodshed" movies.
South Park. Not interested anymore. Matt and Trey are Randist douches.
The worst aspects of frat mentality carried on WAY after college is over.

sunglasses. :wtf:

I LOVE rock'n'roll music, and can't imagine life without it. :-)

... It's not like the winning team gets to rule the loser's city or anything.

I love books. I love the smell of books. I love my bookcases...messy as they are. I love to find little notes that I have written way back when....or very old bookmarks.

I just don't get it. Ho Hum.

Seriously - I could go to a bar and get better entertained on Karaoke night than watching that dreck on TV.

He looks like a stand-up comic. He acts like a stand-up comic. Audiences react as though he's a stand-up comic.

However, he's not a stand-up comic--or he'd say something funny once in a while.

I don't get it. :shrug:

I just don't get the appeal. :shrug:

I might watch if you put all reality show people in cars and crashed them into each other?
:shrug:

That's about it, really. I love everything else. :loveya:

When he started, he was a hack of an MC. Then he became a hack of a rocker. Now, he's like the emblem of Neo-Southern Frat Rock. I think he's from Chicago.

What the fuck?

I don't get how this guy has lasting power. He rips off played out songs. How is he viable? Sure there are other musicians out there who are worse. But he's like a one man white trash hit monster. I don't even know if he has hits anymore. He just 'is'.

Honorable Mention: Madonna

:)

"Eveyone Loves Raymond." No, everyone does not love Raymond. Meh.

Just kidding. I love bacon. There is no meal in the world that can't be made better by adding bacon. Bacon-wrapped bacon with bacon bits sounds like nirvana to me.

nt

I just don't get it - hideous voices, garish colors, lame stories - just fucking irritating

Why do people "follow" other people? Don't get it.

The need to have a lot shoes. You only got two feet, you can only wear one pair at a time.

NASCAR..Really? Cars going around in circles. Though it does sound really cool on surround sound.

Golf.

Sarah Palin!!!!!!

Most reality tv.

I could go on..but I won't. :-)

And it has nothing to do with the stereotypes of redneck fans.

I also don't understand the career of one Simon Cowell. It's amazing to me that someone doesn't punch him in the face.

IMHO.

As George Carlin once said, it's as exciting as watching flies fuck.

I just don't get the whole "Sexiest Man Alive" thing. I mean he's OK but I see sexier men just walking around town.

I was also going to say cell phones, texting, twittering, etc. but that's pretty much been covered in this thread.

seems like a nice guy, but some people practically worship him.

Yeah, there are SIX BILLION people in the world, all different, and If you pray to Jeebus he will wave his magic wand and make everything wonderful.

Sorry, didn't work, and I am sick of hearing about him and his wonderful shtick.

In fact, it was so negative and depressing I had to get away from the goddamn church and preachers.

The Abrahamic religions are pretty much a pox on humanity much of the time. I have a lot of respect for the emphasis on education and achievement and questioning that the Jews have. I've even been known to wear a chai letter around my neck in respect.

The rest of it they can keep.

I can't explain it, but I get a kick out of going to a sporting event, but can't force myself to endure one on TV. I did get excited about the Super Bowl this year, but I'm from Louisiana, so there was no escaping the fervor. But I just can't see sitting through games on TV. It's boring, and lacks the feel of a sporting event.

nascar
football
baseball
soccer
golf
the superbowl
most sports actually
twitter
jim carrey
Steve Carell
Michael Myers
Adam Sandler
Ashton Kutcher
Oprah
Miley Cyrus
Perez Hilton
stupid comedies
romantic comedies
situational comedies
...comedies in general
religion
faith
god
The Good ol' days
reality tv
twilight
tobacco products
capitalism
breasts
kindle
ebooks
drag queens
gay pride
feather boas
...


Q3JR4.

Feather boas are itchy and hot. They don't do much good for the person wearing them in my experience.

Gay Pride is pretty annoying because you have all kinds of people in the GLBT community (speaking as a gay man that is my community) getting together, standing around, and walking around where a bunch of shops are with nothing but crap for sale. Not to mention the in fighting and downright back stabbing-ness I've grown to expect from the community here in town.

Personally I find drag queens to be annoying, whiny, argumentative, men who just want the world to pay attention to them. I don't understand the draw of watching a grown man in heels lip sync on stage while flouncing about.

I don't like ebooks because to me there's just something about holding a book in the palm of your hands. You can take it with you, pull it out or put it away when you need to, and it doesn't require batteries.

The kindle is annoying because--firstly see above, and secondly--Amazon has too much control over what you can and cannot put on the device.

Finally, someone once asked me, "Why are men so interested in women's breasts?" And, honestly, I couldn't answer that question. I get it that most men are built to ogle those bouncy bags of flesh and enjoy doing so whenever they get a chance, but it just doesn't do it for me.

Hope this clears up any confusion. :)

Q3JR4

What's wrong with feather boas?

Disney World--See my other post. I know, I know, it's the "magic" for the kids. But I honestly think my daughter was more excited about splashing around in the hotel pool after we got back from the park than she was the entire day at the park.

Las Vegas--A city that is only known for one thing, and that is gambling one's money away. Not to mention all the casinos on The Strip are patterned after some place else (Rome, Paris, New York, etc.) that is indefinitely better than Las Vegas itself, but gives lazy people an excuse NOT to see the real thing. (You know, why go to Paris to see the Eifel Tower? It's right there in Vegas....and you can gamble under it! :eyes:)

The fashion industry--I just don't get it. Really. Why go crazy about clothes no normal people will wear? To me, it just gives some people an excuse to be shallow and materialistic.

Reality Television--Something most of us can agree on. Just a waste of time. In the end, do we really care who wins Dancing with the Stars? Really?

Also, fancy cellphones like the Iphone. I don't text. I don't use any "apps". I don't think I use my phone to do anything other than, you know, call someone. Wait, that's not true...sometimes....I use my phone as a CALCULATOR! Wild!

Now there is one thing that ironically I can understand the appeal of, and that is Fox News and conservative talk radio. Because I think there's a desire for people to want to hear what they want to hear, regardless of whether or not its actually true. But just because I understand the appeal doesn't mean I'm not disgusted by everything about that concept.

packing heat :)

tattoos

piercings.....

no judgments here, just not my thing...

Medical TV shows.

but the media say they are, so...

Tiger Woods (and the game of golf in general, really - boring as hell to watch, so why does there need to be an entire channel devoted to it?)

Paris Hilton (and other "celebrities" famous for doing nothing but being famous, plus her and any other reality TV- the only reality tv show I ever liked was ABC's The Mole, so of course it died)

Don't get me wrong - its not as if I don't get the poetry, the bass - the sampling.

So I see the talent involved, but I just don't enjoy it...

Having said that, there is some rap I like just from their choice of samples - US3 for example.

Some folks make the mistake of always doing it in public with their friends

That's not always the best way to do it...

And I'm waaaay past the age of experimentation.

Pot isn't dangerous for most people - I just wanted to make that clear

Most of us are actually FOCUSED by it, rather than distracted by it

I like to drink but I watch very closely how much I have. Even a slight buzz makes me very dizzy and nauseous.
I don't like that feeling.
Understand, I have no problems with anyone who wants to smoke pot. It should be their choice.

Who has time for all that crap?!

In theory an addictive drug should have at least one appealing aspect

I have been forced to see a couple of his movies and it is like torture to me.

I was going to say Adam Sandler, too.

I always found him painfully unfunny. The Adam Sandler bits that other people thought were funny on SNL left me rolling my eyes.

the restaurants I go to serve smashed potatoes (mashed potatoes with skin present) instead of traditional mashed potatoes. As far as I'm concerned, this dish was created by someone who simply wanted an excuse for doing a half-assed job of peeling potatoes.

Breast implants. Natural > enlarged.

Glenn Beck. Who is entertained by this guy?

Bill O'Reilly. Much more entertaining than Beck; dumber than Bush (therefore no threat to a box of rocks). Where's the appeal?

Fox News overall. For that matter, any 24/7 news network. Ho hum, at best; criminally inaccurate, at worst.

Ricky Martin. Lady Gaga. Miley Cyrus. Aside from Pink and Beyonce, pretty much every woman in recorded music these days. Most of the men, too.

Axl Rose. I mean, really: why would people pay to hear him screech?

Modern country music.

Horse racing. Not terribly nice for the horses, methinks, and at any rate, you're watching horses run around a track. What'sa matter, library closed for remodeling?

The Olympics.

Motivational speakers.

and we'd be in agreement.

Hmmm, it's been sometime since I've kicked it..

And I don't care one iota just how comfortable and easy to put on they are, I still hate them.

btw, welcome to DU.

:hi:

Cynicism.

Ew, to all of the above.

not really music anyway.
And Applebee's. The should call it Swanson's since they serve frozen dinners.

half the population seems to like it - mores the mystery to me

I can understand a couple drinks to unwind, but getting shitfaced to the point where you piss your pants, dial your ex, wreck your car, guarantee a hangover, or risk alcohol poisoning is beyond me.

There's a story on here today about a kid who died because his "friends" pushed him to do 21 shots on his 21st birthday (he was already drunk when they got to the bar). Evidently, the kid got so drunk the bar threw him out into the cold, but his friends didn't take him home, they just left him in the cold to freeze and die from a combination of hypothermia and alcohol poisoning. Woohoo! Partay! That's my idea of a good time.

His 2-year old son probably will think it was TOTALLY worth it when he grows up and his grandparents tell him how daddy really died.


On a related note, drinking games where the object is to have the other guy drink make no sense -- if you're there to get drunk then you're doing the other guy a favor by "making him" drink, right? I guess because maybe eventually the other guy will die? Oh yeah, BURN man! Woohoo! Partay!! More Buffett!

allure. I enjoy having wine or alcohol but feeling drunk is for me an abysmal experience with no redeeming value, I rather overdose on caffeine, my drug of choice.

I've seen it. I get it. I would call it the Coen Brothers' least impressive film to date.

Also, The Blues Brothers. Can't stand it.

:cry:

I really wanted to like The Big Lebowski, too.

I know there's an active Lebowski cult here at DU, but I think it's the Coens' weakest effort.......

Most of it is shit.

Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift. YUCK.

After he hit puberty, I never got his appeal, even at the height of his popularity in the 1980s. He was a good dancer, but voicewise I was never impressed. Plus, even before all the child abuse allegations, he always struck me as being just too odd. I honestly think MJ was a better marketer and hypist than he was a singer. Sorry, just how I see it.

Ditto for Prince. KISS as well.

And my apologies to any resident potheads, but I just don't get the appeal of constantly getting high to the bejeezus to the point it becomes a lifestyle and that being all said person wants to talk about. It just seems like a waste of life to walk around in a constant haze like that.

On a related note, most stoner movies, as I find a lot of them to just not really be very good to the non-stoned person. Although I did enjoy "Pineapple Express". (And while the main character was a stoner, in no way, shape or form do I ever consider "The Big Lebowski" to be a stoner movie.) Also, people who believe that recreational legalization is the number one issue in America. Don't get me wrong, I fully support the need to legalize for medicinal purposes, and I also think way too many resources are wasted on a relatively innocous substance. But to somehow insinuate the fact someone cannot get legally stoned for non-medicinal purposes is the greatest tragedy to ever befall the country? I think there has to be some perspective out there.

Oh, and while maybe I'm just a big liberal weenie, but guns. People who collect guns. People who obsess about guns. People who brag about buying automatic assault rifles. People who go to gun shows every week to buy more guns. People who think CCW permits will solve any crime problem. I guess I might understand a small handgun securly locked inside one's own home (if crime is particularly bad in that neighborhood), but beyond that, it's just so much gratitious excess. And frankly, I feel just as secure in my gun-less house with my 32 inch aluminum Easton bat under my bed. But that's just me.

Religion/Church
Golf
Corporations
The Military
Patriotism
NASCAR and any car racing, frankly
Country Music (and I grew up with that crap ringing in my ears)
American Football
Meat

A bunch of sub-par books made into sub-par films, starring people with little to no personality.

but it seems like there's so much useless, superficial crap going on in all popular media. :shrug:


:hi:

It isn't only on a national level. It's here in my little town. I like to call it "the big fish in a little pond" syndrome. :hi:

I just don't get it. I've heard his songs a million times and have no idea why he's so popular. It's mediocre mainstream rock music, does nothing for me. The only musician in the band worth anything is Clarence Clemons.

Regardless of his politics, I think his music is as mediocre as it gets. I have been trying to avoid anything he does ever since that god-awful "Dancing in the Dark."

I accidentally heard one of her songs yesterday and still feel violated. Holy FUCK, that was awful.

You'll never catch me using it.

Bacon (sorry I just find the stuff to be vile-- and I am not a vegetarian-- and it stinks up the place)
Reality TV
Republicans
Offshore drilling
Harry Potter
Twilight
the Kardashian sisters (who are they and why are they famous?)
celebrity gossip
golf
large vehicles
rap music
organized religion

:hide:

I think I was burned out early on, but yeah, I can hardly stomach their songs anymore.

I don't like much of popular culture, but since we are social beings, I tried to like some of it.

the appeal of football escapes me, or competition for its own sake. I think humans have proven they are great athletes already. And I think sports and college should be separated already. C'mon!

ps - I hope you don't mind if I use your thread to up my post count . I am trying to find the magic number where I can post my own thread.





I am trying to get my post count up to the magic number where I can start my own post. Thanks for your post.

time for a nap.

Never knew that.

don't like virtual keyboards, just give me a real one dammit. I want to press my buttons, not get fingerprints all over a screen that will get scratched anyways. This includes cell phones, ipod touch, ipad, computers, etc.

David Spade. He ain't funny but a lot of people seem to think he is. Why? I have no idea.
Long live Rock and Roll!

:D

Can't stand the taste.

Normally, HBO's original programming is beyond incredible--The Wire, The Sopranos, Big Love, True Blood, Curb Your Enthusiasm, John Adams, Generation Kill, The Pacific, Treme, etc.

Then there's Sex and the City.

Which has plenty of fans (enough to get its own movie made, plus a sequel), but I don't get it's appeal.

The four main characters are all shallow, materialistic, and just plain unlikeable. Ditto for the supporting characters. The "humor" isn't very funny, and the plot lines are cliched.

My wife loves it. I tried to be a good husband and watch it along with her. Really, I did try. And I just couldn't do it. Nothing about it was entertaining and engaging to me in the least. I literally think watching a test screen for 30 minutes would be more entertaining to me than sitting through an episode of SATC.

There, I said it.

Honestly, I don't know much about Farmville or Mafia Wars, but nothing from what I've seen has made me want to play them. All they manage to do is take up space on my FB page and force me to hide friend's updates.

but they are not that popular and seldom get very far.