Imprinting on media

[gnarlygninja]

Imprinting is definitely a thing. I know a lot of people whose tastes seem to have ossified sometime around college, and don't have much interest in anything new or in being critical about the things they loved as kids. But how strongly it happens can vary quite a lot. The Star Wars prequels are a good example, that have already been brought up. I see people on the internet talking about how they were great movies, and it was only cynical older fans who couldn't accept that the franchise had moved on, tanking their critical reception and it seems like a lot of people my age really do love them. I...don't. I did when I was younger, my 10th birthday was The Phantom Menace themed, I forced my dad to take me to a late night showing of Attack of the Clones on vacation (apparently I had read the novelization in advance and would not shut up about Yoda having a lightsaber), and I went to see Revenge of the Sith in a bathrobe at midnight with a toy lightsaber. But as an adult I have no real affection for them. I think they're terrible movies, much worse than Gen X memed them to be and awful independent of the first three.

 

[payn]

Imprinting is definitely a thing. I know a lot of people whose tastes seem to have ossified sometime around college, and don't have much interest in anything new or in being critical about the things they loved as kids. But how strongly it happens can vary quite a lot. The Star Wars prequels are a good example, that have already been brought up. I see people on the internet talking about how they were great movies, and it was only cynical older fans who couldn't accept that the franchise had moved on, tanking their critical reception and it seems like a lot of people my age really do love them. I...don't. I did when I was younger, my 10th birthday was The Phantom Menace themed, I forced my dad to take me to a late night showing of Attack of the Clones on vacation (apparently I had read the novelization in advance and would not shut up about Yoda having a lightsaber), and I went to see Revenge of the Sith in a bathrobe at midnight with a toy lightsaber. But as an adult I have no real affection for them. I think they're terrible movies, much worse than Gen X memed them to be and awful independent of the first three.

Interesting. You seemed to like them at the time, or at least the buzz got you going. What was it that put you over?

 

[pukunui]

I forced my dad to take me to a late night showing of Attack of the Clones on vacation (apparently I had read the novelization in advance and would not shut up about Yoda having a lightsaber), and I went to see Revenge of the Sith in a bathrobe at midnight with a toy lightsaber. But as an adult I have no real affection for them.

I reckon the Revenge of the Sith novelization is pretty good. Does a much better job making Anakin's fall feel earned - for instance, the reason he's upset about the council not making him a master in the book is not because he's just being whiny and immature like in the movie but because Palpatine has led him to believe that the Sith secrets he needs to keep Padme alive are in the Jedi Temple library's restricted section, which only masters can access.

RA Salvatore's novelization of Attack of the Clones, however, is even worse than the movie because he inexplicably incorporated a bunch of deleted scenes that are essentially duplicates of scenes that are actually in the movie. It makes no sense when you read it.

 

[gnarlygninja]

Interesting. You seemed to like them at the time, or at least the buzz got you going. What was it that put you over?

At the risk of being glib, I grew up.
I could say that I grew up in a household that didn't really care about movies, so once I was exposed to more of them I became more critical, and that's true but its really just that I'm not the same person I was when I was 9, or 11, or 14. A lot of the things I read, watched, ate, and listened to then aren't very good if I go back to them. For every The Sandman there are dozens of Dragonlance and Star Wars EU novels. There are a few things I can recognize are a hot mess I grew up watching, like Highlander, that I still like and music/food are judged more leniently but I'm definitely on the shallow end of the imprint pool.

I reckon the Revenge of the Sith novelization is pretty good. Does a much better job making Anakin's fall feel earned - for instance, the reason he's upset about the council not making him a master in the book is not because he's just being whiny and immature like in the movie but because Palpatine has led him to believe that the Sith secrets he needs to keep Padme alive are in the Jedi Temple library's restricted section, which only masters can access.

RA Salvatore's novelization of Attack of the Clones, however, is even worse than the movie because he inexplicably incorporated a bunch of deleted scenes that are essentially duplicates of scenes. It makes no sense when you read it.

Interesting! I don't actually remember anything of the novelizations, if I still have them they're 2000 miles away and I'm not exactly raring to read them again anyway. Managing to write an even worse version of Episode II is almost an achievement.

 

[payn]

At the risk of being glib, I grew up.
I could say that I grew up in a household that didn't really care about movies, so once I was exposed to more of them I became more critical, and that's true but its really just that I'm not the same person I was when I was 9, or 11, or 14. A lot of the things I read, watched, ate, and listened to then aren't very good if I go back to them. For every The Sandman there are dozens of Dragonlance and Star Wars EU novels. There are a few things I can recognize are a hot mess I grew up watching, like Highlander, that I still like and music/food are judged more leniently but I'm definitely on the shallow end of the imprint pool.

That makes sense. My friend has a 15 year and 12 year old that he watched the movies with. They loved the prequels all the kiddy bits and what not. He is currently re-watching them with his son (12) and noticed he is changing some of his opinions on which ones he likes best. Moving from prequel to OT. Seems sequel is a big meh for him. Anyways, he noticed his sons taste changing and he is noticing things that kids dont notice when they are young. It will be curious to see where he eventually lands, and if that imprints.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I know a lot of people whose tastes seem to have ossified sometime around college, and don't have much interest in anything new or in being critical about the things they loved as kids.

One of my friends is going to be 55-56 this year- a couple years younger than I. When we were in college, the entirety of his music collection was Led Zeppelin’s discography plus some Doors, Who, and a few other classic rock bands.

I must confess I was stunned when I went to his apartment one day (years after we’d both graduated) and found a Love and Rockets CD.