I cannot describe the visceral level of aversion I have to mainstream shit. It doesn’t matter if the show is the best thing on earth, if the general public knows about it (And I don’t mean the internet, I mean the average person) then I refuse to watch or partake in it. I have no idea why and it genuinely kills me to be like this and I have no idea why.

It prevents me from joining most fandoms nowadays unless the fandom is niche. Things like Hotel Hazbin, Studio Ghibli films, Star Wars, The Office, K-pop (in general), Kpop Demon Hunters, most popular anime… WHY. WHY AM I LIKE THIS?? Is anyone else like this? Is there a reason for this or a phenomenon that causes me to feel this way?

Even people just going: “Oh yeah I love One Piece, you should watch it sometimes” makes me go “Oh fuck nah I’m good” as if the damn show was a personal insult. I feel like a stuck-up prick when I do this but I genuinely can’t control it, it makes me UNCOMFORTABLE to watch these shows and the more someone recommends it to me the worse it gets. It doesn’t even have to be recommended to me personally I can just see other people raving about it and go “Aw great now I’m gonna have to listen to this shit for the next 9 months.”

This can also happen with media that was previously unpopular but then got popular. Junji Ito was one of them. The moment I saw Hot Topic was selling merch of it and that multiple anime’s were coming out based on it, I stopped reading his books altogether. I used to buy up every single one of his books and read them constantly, now? I just lost interest and moved on, hoping the hype would die back down and then I could enjoy it again

  • darthelmet@lemmy.world
    1·
    2 days ago

    It’s a condition called hipsteritis, and unfortunately it’s terminal.

    I do get you though. I’m not as extreme as what you’re describing, but I’ve definitely had this reaction to some things.

    For me, one version of this is sort of an overcorrection to unreasonable expectations. If something is super popular and a bunch of people recommend it to me, I’d expect it to be the best thing ever and… that’s just not how that works. The most popular things are the things that are acceptable to the most people, not necessarily the best or what would be your favorite, so I go see the thing and if it’s just ok I feel like I have to push back against everyone overly praising it.