Tyler, The Creator said it very well in an interview where he called out the groups of people who pretend to like something because it's considered the best thing to like and not because it actually connects with them. It's performative.
My personal favorite is when people dislike some old essential cinephile curriculum film, but they’re too afraid of not sounding smart, so they mask it with “Well, I appreciated it/it was well made/it was a slow burn”
There's an opposite video of this somewhere on RU-vid. About how people will judge you for not being "normal" and genuinely liking these "snob" films because they think that you think you're superior. Imo, i see those type of people more often and in person, way more. The people that you describe are mostly shown online in movie forums and such.
Yeah agreed, judging people for what movies they press play on is dumb either way. But I definitely have met quite a few of the snobby types in real life haha, more often with music people than movie people though
I once pivoted from seeing an acclaimed old Japanese movie one night to joining my friends at a Mamma Mia screening. Don’t think that says anything, but it sure was something.
Agreed that people can watch what they want to, but there certainly is value in watching films that are challenging rather than just those that are easy. They force you to critically think, examine, and ponder them for longer periods of time. Sure, watching a silly comedy may generally be more enjoyable than watching a foreign art house movie, but nothing says you can’t do both. Some days, I may watch Adam Sandler, other days Ingmar Bergman. They both can have a purpose in one’s media diet.
I'd disagree it's not enjoyable. People just have a very narrow idea of what enjoyment means and would become entertained if they expanded it. Your heart and mind being reached *is* entertainment. Being challenged IS fun! Only when people internalize this will they be able to enjoy all things. Because I do agree with you there, there's room for every kind of movie.
After watching Eraserhead a couple of months ago, I thought I was the only person that likes it but on the Letterbox RU-vid channel when they asked Keanu Reeves what his top 4 favorite movies were and number 1 was Eraserhead, I felt okay and then found a lot of people love it too
How many snobs have you actually seen tho? Because every time I see that someone says they like somthing out of mainstream media they say "oh, you are one of those pretencious dudes are you? 🙄" That's what I see more often. Like, I agree with you, I used to be like this, but there is another side of this spectrum that I feel that nobody calls out.
The same thing is definitely applicable to the book community. Its crazy how some people won't take you seriously after you say your favourite author is Stephen King or someone similar.
I wholeheartedly agree with this video. Although I agree that you can objectively measure quality in art and all art froms can be objectively good or bad, many people make the mistake of forgetting that good and bad art are not the same as good or bad taste in art. Tastes are subjective, there is no objectively good or bad taste. I also fell into this trap in my mid to late teens, where I would pretend to enjoy the canonical classics of film and literature (although the canonical classics for a film I didn't like as a teen I end up loving an appreciating as an adult) for a shallow sense of approval and to look cool to random strangers. Not only I wish my teen self had seen this video, but I want to thank you for making this for those who are going through the same thing you and I did.
I see myself getting trapped by that way of thinking in the past. Now I can confidently say: "Killers of the Flower Moon" is fucking boring, change my mind
a lot of people seem to forget that a lot of the current mainstream flicks are bad for their own artform and the ethics of the masses. The totalitarian mindset of most marvel films are simply ignored in these discussions.
A few months ago I thought lesser of someone because they said a marvel movie was their favorite and I now realize how dumb it was to just crap on someone because they had different taste. You're right, good taste is mainly being passionate about what you enjoy, not what you're necessarily being passionate for.
I avoid snobby cinephiles (the ones who jerk off to Parajinov, Godard and Tarkovsky and scoff at the popular movies) like the plague: i would rather watch a movie with my friends, who watch like 15 movies a year but they are way more chill and down to earth.
If anything I mostly see people getting upset at the idea someones favorites are all old or foreign. Its funny how something like non american film has become code for pretentious. Personally I like both Akira Kurosawa and Lloyd Kaufman.
Both sides can be close-minded and both of them suck when they do it. I have black and white movies, foreign indies *and* hugely popular animated films and Back to the Future in my favorites list. People who only stick to a single lane are so very dull and irk me equally. I rarely even talk about my favorites because all it ever earns me is blank stares on the times I have opened up (I also keep my Letterboxd profile private unless someone wants to see it). Which you know, bothers me. I think people should be open to new things and be more curious than they are. But that's more in the sense of, just giving things a shot and seeing what happens. If they do and it's either not their thing or they only mildly liked it and superheroes are still their ultimate fave, I don't think there's anything wrong with that. I'm thrilled they do more than most people do and actually gave my recs an honest try. It's just the "you're automatically pretentious for liking off the beaten path movies or those movies themselves are automatically pretentious although I haven't even seen them" talk that bothers me. That's all. People who act like failing to connect those movies is an intellectual failing I'd rail against any day. At the end of the day, I keep my actual taste to myself but always try my hardest to recommend gateway movies because I think these movies matter and it kills me to think they won't be seen by as many people as possible. But that archival spirit is ruined by people who are completely snobby, and they piss me off endlessly.
As kaiju fan, godzilla movies like 1954, Shin & -1.0 are considered the greatest but still there way better movies like Godzilla vs. Mothra '64, Invasion of Astro Monster, Godzilla vs. Biollante & Gamera Trilogy that have satisfying stories to experience as a casual viewer
I Just Saw Snake Eyes G.I. Joe Origins Yesterday and I enjoyed what I saw sure the movie flopped but It was a Good film In my opinion lots of action I loved the movie's version Of Scarlett good looking and badass love that woman
I've always thought of my LB top 4 as being indicative of my taste. I want the movies that people see on my profile to give them an idea of what kind of movies I like. Now of course, those films are my 4 favorites of all time, but I've also cultivated that over the past 6 years since I started using Letterboxd. I'm much more interested in peoples' individual tastes than I am in how it fits into some sort of canon
Its not a bad thing to like movies or old movies, its a bad thing to deny the newer things and pretend like your better purely because you watched something different
I think it depends on wether you’re passionate about a genre or subgenre. If you don’t like a film that maybe is too old, go back to it; don’t dismiss it and forget about it. In all things one must be both open and critical. But we don’t have to like the sand thing.
I mean it's kind of like living a life when you have be serious and when to have fun. Movies like Seven Psychopaths Burn after reading 21 and 22 jump street Hot fuzz The naked gun and it's enjoyable for me to watch. For me it's the types of people who takes it too seriously about almost everything just don't know when to loosen up
I try to get people to watch In the Mood for Love, but they weren’t experienced or passionate enough about cinema to appreciate it or get into it. I’m sorry, but that’s just such a downer for me. Like be smarter so I can enjoy this simple piece of cinema with you. Like how are so dumb you can’t appreciate something like In the Mood for Love? These people are in fact beneath me for not seeing what I see. There is nothing wrong with me wanting to broaden the tastes of the general public. I’m trying to make their meaningless lives better.
I'm not going to feel ashamed for having good taste, if everything is art.. nothing is... there's a stark difference between the masterpieces of Kubrick and soulless Marvel flotsam.
"the movies I like are better because I like them more, the movies I don't like are worse because I don't like them" Edit: these replies are getting far too political I'm scared
@@videogamesworld01 finally someone with sense in the replies, you can't expect me not to judge someone's cinematic taste when they prefer, poorly written, nuanceless CGI rubbish over well written, character driven and meaningful films about the human condition. this is by far one of the smuggest videos I've ever come across and faux cinephiles like him are poison to our community and cinema itself. it's enablers like this that allow my favorite medium to be perpetually destroyed by vacuous, unwatchable slop that's either boring or riddled with woke rhetoric.
@@AbrasiousProductions sorry, I was with you until the momment you brought the woke in the conversation. Like it or not political propaganda always existed in cinema and people could make meaningful works out of that despite their limitations. It doesn't matter if it was right or left propaganda people always managed to make good films despite that. Aside from that as a cinephile you are supposed to be able to analyze a movie despite your political beliefs and this clearly shows you can't. People like you don't deserve film as a medium
Aint nothin better than the life of brian. (What are you gonna do with he fetus put it jn a box?) As a person with a trans friend he finds that hilarious. I love movies no matter what.
Being a snob movie/audio/musicphile has lost any worth or merit,if it ever had it all in the last 10-15 years since P2P, torrents and pirate plataforms became commonplace. I still believe that pricks that like Metallica, Taylor Swift, Ed Sheran, Greenday or Emily in Paris doesn't deserve to smell my shit, but it's an opinion I rarely vent because, indeed, nobody fuckin cares. In fact, it's a topic I never raise in the rare ocassions I talk with people at work. Moreover, I actively avoid clubs or circles where wannabe teens watch a Kubrick film for the first time. I'm content with the fact that I've seen more movies, and listened to more albums I wasn't familiar with in the last 5 years than in a movie going lifetime.
