do you get ridculed for watching b movies?

[Shadow]

As the only male child in the family, with four older sisters, and the only one who's tastes ran toward the the fantastic, I endured a lot of crap from my siblings for my choice of movies, TV shows, books, etc. I even heard one sister talking to another about me and she described me as "out there." Mom and Dad never seem bothered by my tastes. Hell, my dad loves a lot of the same stuff and mom regularly watched Star Trek with me. Most of the grief I took was from my sisters, who convinced themselves that I was some sort of introverted, socially inept shut-in that would spend my life living at home and dependent on others. Once I made up my mind to ignore them, anybody else's negative comments went in one ear and out the other.

However, despite my love for "bad" movies and trash cinema, I don't subscribe to the idea that I must therefore shun mainstream cinema and ridicule those who like such things. Wouldn't that make me as bad as those who would ridicule me for my love of Godzilla flicks? It seems like it has become fashionable to bash Hollywood and anything that they produce. Sure, I agree that the big studios are creatively bankrupt and studio execs haven't a clue at times on how to make a good movie, but that doesn't mean they don't get it right on occasion. It just seems to me that there is often an elitist attitude among bad movie fans who think they are more enlightened because they don't care for Hollywood fare.

[the master]

I sometimes get ridiculed by my friends, but I don't care, it's nothing serious. Nobody calls me a nerd or something, at least not after I tell them about the movies I watch, it's just "manly jestery" (I ridicule them as much as they ridicule me, status quo.) 
One of my friends tried to boost her ego by telling me how violent movies Saw-series includes and how much she enjoys violent movies and how they are a million times more violent than anything I have ever seen.
I listened to her for a while and told her about Cannibal Holocaust and other such films.
Never tried to boost her ego again. 

once i told a girl about cannibal holocaust and she said "why whould you watch somthing
like that"? in a very sad tone after i told her about the animals of course i was talking about
it to a crazy kid at the same time. by crazy i mean likes some of the movies i watch

[Andrew]

Ridiculed?  No, but I do often hear from people, "I cannot understand how you can watch those movies."  My children see my DVDs and refer to them as "Daddy's silly movies" (but they do beg to watch the monster flicks).  On the other hand, I have awed a number of friends and associates, and Marines, over the years.  The time a crowd of Marines watched The Crippled Masters was almost a legend, and we saw a couple of dance fights after a screening of Breakin'.  After Todd's birthday party I had everyone staring at the TV while the "Champions of Justice" was on.

This is on a plaque that one of my past units gave me when I transferred:

SSgt Andrew J. "B-Movie" Borntreger

Your dedication and untiring efforts will never be forgotten.  However, your movie recommendations may be.

All of my close friends also enjoy weird films, though their wives usually roll their eyes.  Katie likes some of them (she hates Italian zombie movies), and one of her friends, also a Katie, loves movies with midgets in them - we gave her a copy of The Terror of Tiny Town as a present some time back.

[Bmeansgood]

I still take heat for the time I whipped out Breakin 2 Electric Boogaloo during an uppity party at my house.  Nobody was around by the time the movie was over.   I contend it was just a coincidence but my wife says otherwise.

[ghouck]

However, despite my love for "bad" movies and trash cinema, I don't subscribe to the idea that I must therefore shun mainstream cinema and ridicule those who like such things. Wouldn't that make me as bad as those who would ridicule me for my love of Godzilla flicks? It seems like it has become fashionable to bash Hollywood and anything that they produce. Sure, I agree that the big studios are creatively bankrupt and studio execs haven't a clue at times on how to make a good movie, but that doesn't mean they don't get it right on occasion. It just seems to me that there is often an elitist attitude among bad movie fans who think they are more enlightened because they don't care for Hollywood fare.

I agree with you, , but more than once have I sat through some crap with a large group of people (the first Austin Powers is one), and NOBODY laughed one bit, it was just so mind-numbingly dull, , yet, , when it was all over, , they talked about how great it was, but couldn't make a single point, or point out a single scene to back their point up. I sat through the whole movie half paying attention, half watching the crowd. I got the feeling there was a subliminal message making people suggest it to others.

I get the feeling some movies suck, and people talk them up because it's the cool thing to do (Napolean Dynamite), rather than be honest.

[trekgeezer]

My wife and kids accepted my tv and movie choices a long time ago. Some of my friend and coworkers stare at me in amazement when I tell the travails of having view something several times before getting all the way through it. 

You have to admit there's some kind of wiring amiss in our brains that causes us to torture ourselves with some of the schlock we watch.

[Mr. DS]

Growing up my mother used to lay into my brother and father for letting me watch horror films.  When I got into my late teens she still lamented over some of the culture I was taking in.  Still, I never was in trouble with the law and lived a pretty clean lifestyle so she couldn't complain. 

Nowadays my wife just accepts my nerdiness and always has. From the awful movies to the collection of toys based on the movies.  She may make comments like "what the hell is this sh*t you're watching" but I usually remind her she likes awful romantic comedies starring the likes of Jennifer Aniston. 

[peter johnson]

I am blessed in this regard --

Not only does my wife love things we can laugh at together -- eg:  The entire Ed Wood catalogue -- but is willing to sit through painful stuff as well ("Starcrash!!" -- though she did howl at the brass torpedo men!).

Some of my nerd and theatre friends are even worse than me -- I agree with not being able to sit through Italian Zombie movies, and my biking buddy lives on them -- I never would have known of "Pumaman!"(See it!~SEE IT!! if you haven't already -- you cannot believe how awful this thing is!!) had I not been in a play with this other guy, who also showed me "Leeches!".

On the topic of Katie's midgets:  "In Bruges" is out this week on DVD -- maybe today.  The whole business of liking midget entertainment as a focus is explored exhaustively in this film.

peter johnson/denny crane

[tpjazz]

I have to admit, I'm a little surprised by some of the responses to this thread.

I find that when people see my DVD collection, or just find out about my taste in movies, that they're fascinated. It's strange, exciting, and unheard of to most people. "You watch bad movies? Tell me about it!" I get asked question after question about what's the worst movie I've ever seen, what some of the more "creative" titles contain (ie. The Giant Gila Monster, Blood Feast, etc), and if I'm willing to watch one or lend one out. It's a hobby that seems to really catch peoples interest, because pretty much everyone watches movies, but B-movies are a thing that few people have a lot of experience with but can still relate to easily.

[KYGOTC]

Last night me and a friend got in a small fight because I wanted to watch FORBIDDEN ZONE and he wanted to watch anything BUT that. Also, a different friend is always making fun of me for my taste for b-movies. But then, he likes JUNO, so he's already lost credibility for his opinion on movies.

[voltron]

I voted "no", but there was one time when some friends and I watched I Spit On Your Grave, and one of my friends couldn't stop lauging throughout the entire movie (apparently, he's into Jet Li type stuff). After it was over, he was like, "do you have any other movies that is so bad they're funny"? I mean, funny is the absolute LAST thing I'd ever call I Spit On Your Grave. I guess because it was a low budgeter with no name actors is why he'd call it "bad".

[BeyondTheGrave]

Never been made fun of. My famliy actually got me into B-movies and my friends are all pretty alternative to the mainstream crap so everythings all good. 

[KYGOTC]

Darksider, im gonna go ahead and boost yer karma for your super-rad avatar. "LOOK! ROAD MAPS!!"

[HappyGilmore]

Most people make fun of it, but hell, I like them, so whatever.

[Jack]

It seems like it has become fashionable to bash Hollywood and anything that they produce. Sure, I agree that the big studios are creatively bankrupt and studio execs haven't a clue at times on how to make a good movie,

Sounds like you're as fashionable as anyone else here    I haven't heard anyone say that they never, EVER make a good movie.  Call it shunning mainstream cinema, or just learning through vast amounts of experience that it's completely uninteresting to you, same thing. 

I ridicule people who just do whatever everyone else does, whether it be movies, TV shows, music, etc.  They're extremely boring.  Variety and uniqueness are the spice of life, and those people basically don't have any.  "Yeah, we went to this movie, you know, the one everyone else has seen?  And our opinion of it was, well, about the same as everyone else's.  Afterwards we went out to that place, you know, where everyone goes?  And talked about the things everyone talks about."  Blah blah blah.