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Why is film snobbery so openly tolerated?
- Thread starter guek
- Start date
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Can't you enjoy those films and be able to explain why they're so good compared to others without being a snob about it though?
Charles Foster Kane
Rosebud
Whatever you need to tell yourself to avoid introspection, dude.
Hero_of_the_Day
Member
You have my axe.
Bobby Roberts
Banned
Sure you can.
The problem is that someone's going to call you snob for it even if you're being cool about how and why you like the thing you like. Because if you're even going to start calling someone a snob because they show they can actually discern the quality of things and appreciate things on various levels, it's because you're not really interested in discussing the movie itself, you're interested in using the movie as a means to let other people know what assholes they are for not thinking the way you do.
It's how you minimize someone's opinion without having to actually address it. You just write them off as a person instead of simply disagreeing with the opinion (which is actually easier than coming up with reasons to dislike someone over a movie)
"When is the Star Wars bubble finally going to burst?"
Snowman Prophet of Doom
Member
Snobbery, i.e. arbitrarily looking down on people because their likes/dislikes don't align with yours, is silly.
But if you assume that anyone who tries to employ more critical distance and objectivity in appraising films is a snob, well, that's on you.
But if you assume that anyone who tries to employ more critical distance and objectivity in appraising films is a snob, well, that's on you.
TheKaeptain
Banned
One day you're going to be watching it and everything I complain about will click.
It's really hard to not sound like a snob when you're explaining why something doesn't work for you.
Catching feelings.
Most of the people in the film thread know I am not serious.
I guess so, but I think most snobbery is unintentional. A lot of really ground-breaking art sounds like absolute shit to the uninitiated, and trying to explain why it's artistically more impressive than something pleasant but simple always comes off as condescending.
A snob is anybody who appreciates quality but can't properly express that appreciation.
George Oscar Bluth II
Banned
The cinematography already clicked. Isn't that enough? Isn't that enough?
IDKAboutThat
Member
If you like a bad movie I will tell you about how your movie is bad. I don't have the highest standards, either. But there are a lot of shit movies that I will mock as such in the world.
Makes sense as far as internet arguments go. I always took a snob more as someone who can't fathom why someone could enjoy something that's quality-wise worse than something that's better quality-wise who would often belittle people for that. Personally, I usually have two lists for this sort of thing for whatever media.
Media I like/enjoy best:
Media I think is actually the best:
TheKaeptain
Banned
dialogue is next bro. Editing is after that.
FeenixRising
Banned
Charles Foster Kane
Rosebud
Already there
honestly the key really is to just stop giving a shit. Or, more accurately, allow yourself to only give as much of a shit as you feel like giving. If someone questioning your taste legitimately gives you pause, then it's worth it to genuinely examine why your tastes are what they are because, most of the time, that leads to you better being able to articulate why you like what you like. Which is really the only bar to clear in talking about film or any subject. like, people in these kinds of threads parody film snobbery by talking about hating Bay and loving Bergman when in reality some of the biggest snobbiest film nerds hate Bergman and adore Bay and Paul W.S. Anderson and think Jean Rollin is the greatest filmmaker ever and will outline exactly why John Ford is boring and worthless or why Twixt is better than The Godfather. Taste, in my mind, isn't about having those opinions or their opposites as much as it's being able to explain what it is you're looking for in art that leads you to those preferences.
Discotheque
Banned
you see guek was making a stealth "why doesn't everybody like my marvel movies" thread but you had to let the cat out of the bag man!
best post in thread forreal.
George Oscar Bluth II
Banned
Somebody make it stop.
People should be able to discuss what they don't like about films.
trying to outlaw negativity on things is silly and even potentially dangerous.
Get a load of this pleb, I bet he can't even name all 30 Akira Kurosawa films.
old manatee
Banned
They are remaking Akira.
TheKaeptain
Banned
I don't take anyone that hasn't seen and loved The Conformist serious.
Charles Foster Kane
Rosebud
There's a noticeable difference between "Here's why I don't like this movie" and "Anyone that likes this crap is the cancer killing modern cinema and culture itself".
As long as you can explain to me why you liked or disliked something in a semi eloquent fashion, it's cool with me. That's what I'm looking for, the discussion. If you've got a strong reason why bayformers touched you, then I'm all ears.
I'm a huge fucking film snob, but I also understand that personal history and nostalgia play a huge part in individual taste.
I'm a huge fucking film snob, but I also understand that personal history and nostalgia play a huge part in individual taste.
You're inferior if your taste is inferior.
But seriously though, this is common everywhere. Like for example, did you not see some of this elitism coming from game mechanics centric fans in the gaming section? There are always people who centred their identity around their hobbies and thrive on the cheap satisfaction of being superior to people who are less exposed. Just ignore them because it's just circle-jerking in an enclosed echo chamber.
But seriously though, this is common everywhere. Like for example, did you not see some of this elitism coming from game mechanics centric fans in the gaming section? There are always people who centred their identity around their hobbies and thrive on the cheap satisfaction of being superior to people who are less exposed. Just ignore them because it's just circle-jerking in an enclosed echo chamber.
Yeah, I can get behind that. It's really easy for appreciation to basically turn into bigotry, especially with newer artforms.
Today's snobs often love the art that yesterday's snobs tried to stamp out. Man With a Movie Camera basically wrote the book for modern editing and cinematography, but at the time American critics complained that the film "does not take into consideration the fact that the human eye fixes for a certain space of time that which holds the attention."
TheKaeptain
Banned
I did laugh when he said it happens in film more often. OP, have you ever read literature reviews?
So who's inferior when a movie snob and a book snob meet?
Okay? I thought I clicked on a thread about movies...
and arguing with music nerds?
Music nerds don't seem as vocal.
I think the thing with snobs like myself is that we get very, very, very wrapped up in why we like the things we like. We'll dissect a film and figure out what about it makes it different than that film, and what makes it similar to other films that we liked. It has this kind of pacing, that kind of drama, this kind of storytelling, etc. Once you get into that mindset, you get obsessed with taking apart movies and putting them into their pieces. And for a lot of people that's a fun discussion.
But what also happens is that we remove our own biases and nostalgia from that equation. It's important to factor those in, because they make up so much of why we like a thing, moreso than the individual elements. It also closes us to the opinions of others, and that's how you get the worst side of snobs like myself, the elitist jerks who crap on all the things other people like in order to reinforce the "formula" we've found effective.
I get it, I've tried to temper it. I think the discussion of why we like movies is a good one, it just needs to be more welcoming. That said, I'm always pushing for people to be more elaborate in how they explain why they like something, because I do think it raises the level of what people are willing to try.
But what also happens is that we remove our own biases and nostalgia from that equation. It's important to factor those in, because they make up so much of why we like a thing, moreso than the individual elements. It also closes us to the opinions of others, and that's how you get the worst side of snobs like myself, the elitist jerks who crap on all the things other people like in order to reinforce the "formula" we've found effective.
I get it, I've tried to temper it. I think the discussion of why we like movies is a good one, it just needs to be more welcoming. That said, I'm always pushing for people to be more elaborate in how they explain why they like something, because I do think it raises the level of what people are willing to try.
Fancy Clown
Member
Well said
Count Dookkake
Member
You did. Try reading and thinking at the same time.
old manatee
Banned
I heard they filmed thousands of hours of Robert Downey Junior's face up close in the Iron Man helmet so that they can continue to have him in the movies after he has aged.
Monocle
Member
Good post.
Subpar Spatula
Banned
Why do I get the feeling Guek made this thread because people like to not think Marvel movies are great movies? The OP did defend Age of Ultron to a really silly length in the OT and other threads.
OT:
Film snobbery is fine. You're labeled a snob either way if you dislike X's favorite movie. You're not labeled a snob by definition of the word.
OT:
Film snobbery is fine. You're labeled a snob either way if you dislike X's favorite movie. You're not labeled a snob by definition of the word.
TheKaeptain
Banned
It's because we all know what he is talking about.
old manatee
Banned
I honestly think that Captain America: The First Avenger is Joe Johnston's best film since Jurassic Park III.
He could be talking about the prequels for all we know.
Fist bump me, bro.
We seem to have several of them on neogaf.
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