Do you cop flak for the shows you watch?

[Kzach]

I almost thought I was back in high school when, after mentioning on another forum that I watch Glee, I was assailed by derogatory comments questioning my sexuality and man-hood.

Now, none of it bothered me; my response was simply, "Are you serious? How old are you?" But it did make me wonder at mentality behind it and whether or not it was a common occurrence.

I can't remember a time, before this, when I've ever been teased about the shows I choose to watch. And I have watched a lot of stuff that could feasibly invite scorn like "Gay Eye for the Straight Guy", "So You Think You Can Dance", "Biggest Loser". Until now, nobody has ever pointed at me and laughed (well, at least not for this reason).

So, do people tease you for the shows you choose to watch?

 

[Fast Learner]

I've certainly been mocked by friends for my taste in shows, just as I might mock a friend when I learn that he loves, say, Jersey Shore. I neither case, though, are we saying that the other person is bad because we recognize that personal preference is personal. It's like if someone mocked me for liking olives on my pizza: they're not implying that it is unacceptable for someone to hold the tastes that I do, just their tastes and mine don't match, and perhaps even that they don't understand how I could have such tastes.

The people you mentioned didn't tease you for watching Glee, they used aggression to mask their lack of comfort with their own sexuality (nb: not saying everyone is secretly gay).

When it turns to aggression -- and make no mistake, stating or indicating that someone is less of a person and is therefor unacceptable is certainly aggression, even if mild -- it's not a discussion about taste anymore. Kids don't necessarily have the mental faculties and/or life experience to be conscious of where the aggression is coming from so it's more understandable. When adults become aggressive to cover their (usually unconscious) fears/discomfort it's just sad.

Albeit common.

 

[ggroy]

In recent years, I was mocked for watching shows like CSI and Law & Order.

Apparently quite a few of my friends really dislike shows like CSI and Law & Order.

 

[Cor Azer]

Can't say as though I've ever been mocked in a serious way for any of the shows I watch, but then, I don't really go out of my way to mention most of the shows I watch. A few "guilty pleasures" pop into conversation occasionally, but since they've been in the frame of a "guilty pleasures" topic, everyone expected there to be a raised eyebrow or two. At most, there've been the question, "Waddya enjoy in that show?"

 

[Diamond Cross]

I've been seriously mocked for liking things like Star Trek, comics and RPGs all of my life. I've even been in a couple of fistfights over it when I was a teenager. I still get a lot of flak from other people because I like these things.

 

[Wik]

The only show I ever got flak for liking was the Gilmore Girls. It went something like this:

WIK: Yeah. The girlfriend watches all sorts of bad shows. The only one I like is the Gilmore Girls. It's actually really funny... I'm a fan.
FRIEND: You like the gilmore girls!?
WIK: Yeah. It's not that bad.
FRIEND: Oh my god, ha ha, you woman! I can't believe you like the gilmore girls!
WIK: What? It's funny!
FRIEND: You're such a girl!
FRIEND'S GIRLFRIEND: You watch it with me all the time!
FRIEND: What!? No, only because you MAKE me!
FRIEND'S GIRLFRIEND: No! You're off doing your own thing, and the second you hear the theme song, you're on the couch!
FRIEND: What? No, um... F*&#.
WIK: Ah, the truth comes out. Welcome out of the closet.

 

[Relique du Madde]

In recent years, I was mocked for watching shows like CSI and Law & Order.

Apparently quite a few of my friends really dislike shows like CSI and Law & Order.

Well played.

 

[Rhun]

I've gotten some flak for watching Glee myself. But almost everyone that gives me flak I convince to watch an episode, and after they do it stops.

 

[Hand of Evil]

I get for Psych - love the show, but it seems my circle does not.

 

[ssampier]

I've mocked my friends for watching Glee and all (three? four?) High School Musicals. Of course I get a fair amount of ribbing for my (re) watching of old sitcoms and sci-fi shows.

Turn-around is fair-play, I suppose.