+1
Could be that I’m just misreading the thread massively…I love my weird underground entertainment, though at a certain point it does seem to become more about the shock value than any underlying message or whatnot. When it comes to ‘grotesque and taboo’, though, I often feel this is done for the shock factor alone (‘Dashcam’ is an apt recent example), and that dampens my enjoyment somewhat not because I’m squeamish or anything, but just because, you know, why, what’s the point here, is there a point here?
As a huge generalisation, the more counterculture-inclined acquaintances and family in my life abhor ‘Hollywood’ as a concept (which usually leads me to remind them that ‘Joker’ and ‘Natural Born Killers’ or whatever was deemed controversial back in the day belong in that category). I do see where that stance is coming from, so I guess all manner of big-budget Nolan-Spielberg-Ridley Scott-whatever-it-might-be can potentially invite the wrath and contempt from the counter culture side. It’s not surprising that ‘the underground’ would sneer at ‘Mission Impossible x ∞‘, ‘Tenet’ and ‘Indiana Jones 5’ (then again, at this point, who wouldn’t?).
As to why that could be the case, for me personally, though I watch all big budget films pretty religiously if only to ‘keep up’, I think it’s about their predictability and the supposedly ‘natural’/‘inevitable’ plot points/outcomes that ultimately get old and just feel very forced at times, very ‘rule book’. Now, I’ll probably never be a proper devoted convert into all things counterculture, but I understand the exasperation with ‘redemption arc, fatal flaw, characters can never get what they want, mission can never quite succeed, cute dogs/kids/secondary characters must die with much tragedy, blah blah blah’. Ultimately, it’s just boring. I’ve been feeling that way for at least ten years, so I don’t know if it’s something personal to me.
On a more general popular psychology level, in my experience, some people who think in that way love to feel enlightened/like they’ve got a more refined, quirky taste than ‘the majority’. Nothing wrong with that, but that could be an internal subconscious motivation to sneer at all things ‘Lord of the Rings’ etc. (that’s something I relate to — always struggled a bit with getting into anything involving non-human furry or tailed-endowed anthropomorphic protagonists). I’m not entirely sure about people rejecting forms of entertainment/films merely/primarily because they make them feel bad. I mean, sure, although at a certain point of one’s cinephile journey, one might enjoy feeling challenged and, as such, be more inclined to sit through films that make one uncomfortable (though that’s deeply personal and predicated on so many other factors). But I think the underground could well just feel bored/exasperated with the ‘narrative formula’, and frankly, who could blame them.