Why do we care so much about what's overrated?

What I find strange is that, at least in my experience, people don't tend to react as strongly if you claim that a film is underrated instead. You're still implying that you think the ratings other people have given the film are incorrect, but people don't seem to get as defensive about that. Or maybe I just haven't read the right threads.

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It's the same thing except it's a positive instead of a negative. People will react to negativity.

I always feel superior to the people who like films that I think are crap (and the people who think films are crap that I like). Interesting how two people can experience the same situation from complete opposite perspectives.

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Cobpyth's Movie Log ~ 2019

I mean this is life. Some personalities sway with the masses, other go vehemently against them just for the sake of it and others are independent of both limitations. Thats a simplified version really, we are complicated beings. When/if I post in a overrated movie thread it's because I want to be heard but also connect with others that share my opinion. Basically its a way to connect with like minded people, I mean isn't that a reason why we are using this forum? Back to the OP question, obviously it can be a touchy subject. To me, what overrated means is that it was praised by the media and general public on its release and perhaps continues to be. Getting upset at the minority, (say a movie forum user who doesn't like the film) is understandable yet remember the marjoity of the public support your view. I think they are a fun part of this site and of course they are not compulsory reading. And I am not above being upset by certain posts, like someone bagging on the Godfather (a near perfect film if you ask me). But it's not a catastrophe to read such a thing and it doesnt lessen my opinion of that film it makes me critical of that poster, which can be a helpful thing if they are rating other film on the site.

Why do we care so much about what's overrated?

I don't care if someone doesn't like the films I love. But some people get irate if you criticize their favorite film and that's because their insecure.

Great thread Iro...

I've stayed out of many 'overrated' threads. Not a big fan of the word and think its used far to much. Especially for movies. One man's crapfest is another man's classic and it will always be that way. I was interested to see that this thread for a moment there began to degrade into another argument about how we're arguing about someones overrated argument.

Why are we like this? I have a few theories. Not sure anyone really is interested in what I think tho. I will say this. I think its got a lot to do with upbringing. Kids are taught certain things in every culture at a very early age that sets them apart from each other literally, from almost day one. Perhaps this is where all of humanity's greatness comes from.

But... this is also the cause of the great divide in the entire human race. We are NOT created equal. But a lot of institutions out there tell you we are. I really think this causes a lot of the rift.

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We are both the source of the problem and the solution, yet we do not see ourselves in this light...

No it's just the desire to conform to society: you want to like what you think other people want you to like. True individualism is the capacity to not care about what other people like: it is to respect oneself.

By they way, American culture is particularly obsessed with adherence to the aesthetic elements held as standard by the majority or the elites. Other cultures are not so obsessed with what's loved by other people: in Portuguese we don't have the word overrated for instance because we care less than US people do care about what one is supposed to like. US culture is often regarded as individualistic but in this aspect it's less individualistic than other cultures.

I personally don't see the problem with using the word "overrated", whether if it's accompanied by an explanation or not.

What I don't get is, why should it be obligatory for someone to elaborate on their position, once calling a film overrated, but it's not so necessary once someone simply says that they like/dislike/love/hate a film ? How is the former lazier than the latter ? I just kinda find it ridiculous how it can be okay if a poster announces that he hates a film (without any explanation), but then it becomes a " -gasps- how could you say such a thing" situation, when the word "overrated" is muttered.

Yes it's lazy and yes it can be frustrating, but it's definitely not more frustrating than the cases I presented.

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"A film has to be a dialogue, not a monologue — a dialogue to provoke in the viewer his own thoughts, his own feelings. And if a film is a dialogue, then it’s a good film; if it’s not a dialogue, it’s a bad film."

- Michael "Gloomy Old Fart" Haneke

It does? To my memory, people who hate films without explanation are questioned pretty often, I'd say, even if the word "overrated" isn't used.

That said, there's still the distinction alluded to earlier: an opinion about the film is just about the film. But the claim a film is "overrated" is inherently a claim about the people who like it, so one would expect it to be treated a little more personally.

Good to see Guap back doing the Lord's work. Things are as they should beat Mofo.

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Letterboxd

As Yods said, it's no different. I've asked people why they didnt like a movie, and I get asked to clarify when I dont like a movie.

I think the title of this thread should be "Why does anyone care if someones uses the term overrated?"

I'm not sure it's exclusively a personal attack. It could easily be a mining for information (why do ppl like a certain movie), as well as a commentary on the general consensus such as critics and the often occurring ripple effect it has on casual moviegoers. It could of course carry over to more discerning film enthusiasts as well.

It can be irritating, such a broad statement. Just not sure why it's become an obsession on either end of the subject.

Amen to that!

Highly rated movie is a staple of global culture, thus to claim movie overrated is to take a stance in shaping global culture.

In other words people are much more likely to watch highly rated movies, so by defining or selecting what should be rated highly, one is shaping suggestions for people to watch.

I think it is overrated. I do use this word. I know I do. But I always have (or at least try to) a reason for why I said it. Using The Sound of Music as an example, and without going into too much elaboration right now, I hear all of this praise for it, but I can't feel about it the way that others do. I don't care about the storyline. I don't have any feeling for the characters. I don't like the music (with the exception of two songs) at all. Quite honestly, I think it is very boring. Putting those things together, and feeling as I do towards it, I can't really understand what it is that others see in that film that I don't. So then I will say that I think it is overrated. I think it gets more praise than it deserves.

But that is the key thing there for me. I have no problem with someone saying something is overrated if two things are also said. First of all, I, too, would like to know why someone said something was overrated (mainly because I am curious). Second, I do NOT want someone to say something is overrated like it is a FACT. I hate that. I would never simply make the statement of "The Sound of Music is overrated", when how do I know if it is a fact that it is? Clearly there must be something about it that makes so many others like it. I just don't know what it could possibly be that would make people like it so much. Therefore, I personally think it is overrated. I say all the time that I "think", or I "feel", that something is overrated. If I have ever said it as if I were stating a fact that it was, then that was an accident.

It drives me crazy when someone gives their opinion like that because who is that person to say that their opinion is a fact, and that, essentially, I am wrong for how I feel? And that is what it comes across as most when people say such a thing as something being overrated. It comes across like it is a fact that it is, and that means it is a fact that they are right and the people who like whatever it is that is supposedly overrated is wrong.

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I became insane, with long intervals of horrible sanity - Edgar Allan Poe

I've never seen Sound of Music but my mum LOVED it so to me, it cant be overrated because...well because she was my mum.

I do think it is true that many of us use the term "over rated" to say that I don't like a film everybody else seems to like. However, it does seem that there could be some basis for legitimately claiming a movie is over rated. One example might be Titanic. It was nominated for all the awards, and it grossed a bundle, but I thought my time would have been better spent watching A Night To Remember again.
One way to look at it is that 50 years from now people will remember a handful of films that I have seen. They may be the films that grossed the most or won all the awards, but I'm betting that many of the films that are remembered will not be films like Titanic or fill in the blank. The truly great films will stand the test of time, and to guess what those will be is probably beyond all of us. But we can probably name several "successful" films that will not stand the test of time. I would call those over-rated. Having an opinion is not necessarily taking a swipe at somebody if you acknowledge that your opinion is one among several others legitimate opinions.

One reason why identifying overrated movies might matter is if you see films as more than just for entertainment. If you go to movies for stimulation of your imagination or your intellect, than it matters if the movie is fluff or propaganda, or whatever else you identify as important. What I said above still goes. I still go with what i said above, but when somebody tells me that Twilight is the best movie franchise ever, I feel i have some basis for saying "I think that movie is overrated" and I know I probably won't hear that opinion on this site, but I'm sure someone, somewhere believes that and I feel justified that there is a basis for saying that movie was overrated or perhaps still is. I'm just saying it's not all subjective. .

There are some well articulated arguments here. However, IMO, the reason we bitch about overrated movies is the regret over the 90 minutes to two hours of our lives -- per movie -- that we are never getting back, all because we heeded what other people had to say about them. The lost hours slowly mount to days, weeks, months...

Me too

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