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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Snarf Zagyg" data-source="post: 9702835" data-attributes="member: 7023840">In my experience, it is often easier to unpack why we don't like something than why we do, even when we look deep into ourselves.To put this more concretely- when we have a preference for why we don't like something, it's usually pretty easy to express. We know why we don't like something. But while we can try and isolate elements that we enjoy about the things we love, it's hard to truly explain why we love that thing- because it is usually a gestalt reaction from a combination of factors.To use some examples from film-The other day, I decided to watch a random streaming movie that I knew nothing about. The Outbreak (2025). It wasn't good. It wasn't the worst thing I ever saw, but it wasn't good. And I can articulate all the ways in which it wasn't good- the acting wasn't top-notch. The "scares" (including jump scares) were poorly edited. There was an emotional component in the plot that absolutely did not work (for reasons of poor plotting, dialogue, and acting). The choice of sets, location, and cinematography (angles, framing, closeups, etc.) felt very '80s TV movie. Finally, there is a "twist" that was telegraphed too transparently too early in the movie ... you know, one of those "M. Night" twists. So 80% of the movie was waiting for the twist that I knew was going to happen, and that only mattered if you cared about the emotional component that did not work. I could go into more detail, but I won't- the point is, I can easily write volumes about the ways that the movie doesn't work.On the other hand, I also watched Surf II (1983) recently. Loved it. Don't get me wrong- it's a "bad" movie. But it was so bad, it circled back to being awesome. But why? Obviously, there are some camp elements. And I think that the movie is more self-aware that it is bad than the prior movie (which definitely is not self-aware). But it's hard to specifically unpack the way the various parts of the movie (the soundtrack, the Stoltz, the '80s, the Stoltz, the weird other-worldly qualities of a surf/goth dynamic, etc.) combined to impact me.Which is important- because what we take out of things has an objective component, but a subjective one as well. Objectively, Wes Anderson and Quentin Tarantino make very different types of movies that I can discuss. And yet, subjectively, I love them both. But I can also understand how, despite being able to discuss objective aspects of filmmaking (e.g., WA- symmetrical framing; QT- Leone closeups), I can also understand that other people simply won't enjoy either (He's too twee or He's too violent).Eh. As Socrates said, "The unexamined bard is not worth killing."  Which is why he totally deserved that hemlock.</blockquote>

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