Here is a question that I found myself pondering... if anything becomes mainstream, is it destined to be hated?

 

It can be anything... A band, a film, fashion, or whatever...

 

To me, it seems once something is popular with the general public, people start looking for a reason to hate it. Any reason at all really. This is especially true if it started out relatively unknown to the general public, with just a small cult following.

 

Now I am not saying whether or not it is deserved. Sometimes for example, when a band becomes popular they indeed do change their style and its understandable that people have mixed opinions on whether or not its for the better. I understand that.

 

Lets use Dane Cook as a example here. He started off relatively unknown, gaining popularity on the internet from places like Myspace. However once his popularity grew, hating him suddenly become the "cool" thing to do. In essence, I have to wonder if he wasn't a victim of his own success in a way.

 

What do you think, is anything that becomes popular destined to be hated?

Of course. The more people like you, the more people hate you.

This is known as Twilight Syndrome.

This is known as Twilight Syndrome.

Except Twilight was terrible of it's own merits, popularity being irrelevant. And Dane Cook's humor is low-brow and almost aimed at the lowest common denominator in most cases.

I don't really have much to add to this. It's a common occurrence, and not that surprising really; there's nothing in the world (entertainment-wise) that every single person likes. The more people hear about a specific band or movie or whatever, the more people are bound to say "That sucks." And then there are of course the loyal fans from the first minute, who'll think of it as a kind of betrayal when the band or whatever go mainstream, since, like you said, it usually comes with a change in image.

STOP LIKING WHAT I LIKE

People who blindly hate the mainstream are just as bad as people who blindly like what's popular.

 

So think twice before you make YET ANOTHER hate post on Justin Bieber or Miley Cyrus or whoever.

Don't be mean to Justin, she's only 17 :razz:

People who blindly hate the mainstream are just as bad as people who blindly like what's popular.

 

So think twice before you make YET ANOTHER hate post on Justin Bieber or Miley Cyrus or whoever.

Can I cite the flagrant abuse of auto-tune from both of them?

 

All auto-tune has done is allowed unskilled schmucks to perform, using it as a gap for those who really lack skill. When autotune is used in a good way, it's awesome. But if you're using it to fix your [cabbage]ty voice, then you have no purpose putting out pop music in the first place.

I used to be a big mainstream hater, but I've since cooled off. I don't watch television and I don't listen to the radio (unless it's NPR :-P). Eliminating those outlets of mainstream culture from my life has been the best thing I've ever done. I find all my entertainment independently via the internet and ignore the rest.

I think people "hate" stuff like this because they have a desire to be unique. Of course, everyone does it, so it's not unique at all.

 

Hate is such a strong word. It's laughable that people actually "hate" a musical artist or actor because they aren't a fan of their work.

I think people "hate" stuff like this because they have a desire to be unique. Of course, everyone does it, so it's not unique at all.

 

Hate is such a strong word. It's laughable that people actually "hate" a musical artist or actor because they aren't a fan of their work.

 

 

That is exactly what I think. The dislike of the mainstream comes from someone attempting to define themselves as a person from the music they like, the films they watch, etc...

 

So when it catches on with the general public, they view it as a betrayal. Turning their backs on the original fanbase if you will. Or perhaps just angry that its less unique than it was before.

 

But yeah, in some cases I would say hate is too strong of a word. In other cases, people behave in such a vile manner that I believe it to be fitting.

I think it's more to do with teenagers being at a stage of their life when they're searching for identity. The easiest way to gain identity is to appear unique from everyone else, so they like things that purport this. Being unique is seen as the antipathy of following the 'mainstream', and further somebody is from this hell-riden place, the more identity they have.

 

Of course, the whole thing is a fallacy, since being maintream is by definition to be liked by more people. Yes, Miley Cyrus has more fans than Tool, Twitter and relative media coverage say as much. Gaga has in all likelihood sold more records than whatever new band the NME happens to be fancying right now and will probably continue to do so. More people are bothered about Bieber and Selena dating than the new artist you think is the Next Big Thing. Deal with it--it doesn't diminish your liking of alternative metal or indie pop/rock at all, unless of course you never liked it in the first place and where only listening to it to remain 'different' somehow.

 

On a more light-hearted note, I think it's Fool that has an amazing link in his signature for this kind of stuff.

 

EDIT: It's Mask actually (A Local Guy).

Thumbs up if you know X before he was famous!!!

EDIT: It's Mask actually (A Local Guy).

The conformity one? Didn't know people actually clicked those links :razz:

...

Guessing it's a desire to distance oneself from the "lowest common denominator", or an attempt to appear more cultured by liking things nobody else has heard of.

 

Wonder what will happen when hating the mainstream becomes too mainstream.

People who blindly hate the mainstream are just as bad as people who blindly like what's popular.

 

So think twice before you make YET ANOTHER hate post on Justin Bieber or Miley Cyrus or whoever.

I find it all the more funny that no matter whether you like or dislike [cabbage] pop musicians, it's still helping them get cash. Case in point: Rebecca Black. To everyone who [bleep]ed about her for days, thanks, you're the reason why she's in the process of making another album. If there's one thing boysloveme15 taught me, it's that negative attention is still attention. Which she/he got from Lady Gaga. Who in turn said Rebecca Black was a genius...

Rambling over, let this thread not go off topic.

Who in turn said Rebecca Black was a genius...

She probably is. It isn't funny how unbelievably famous she is now, and it pretty much happened overnight.

 

Actually kind of like Friday though. It's very catchy. E-rep destroyed :shades:

I like what I think is good. Thing is, I find a lot of mainstream stuff lack quality and are just there to make money. If it wasn't the case there would be more quality and competition between the mainstream stuff, and that would make it more interesting. I don't hate mainstream, I just keep myself out of mainstream stuff.

Who in turn said Rebecca Black was a genius...

She probably is. It isn't funny how unbelievably famous she is now, and it pretty much happened overnight.

 

Actually kind of like Friday though. It's very catchy. E-rep destroyed :shades:

 

I dont think Rebecca Black's a genius, but the people who promoted her definately are. :P

People who blindly hate the mainstream are just as bad as people who blindly like what's popular.

 

So think twice before you make YET ANOTHER hate post on Justin Bieber or Miley Cyrus or whoever.

I find it all the more funny that no matter whether you like or dislike [cabbage] pop musicians, it's still helping them get cash. Case in point: Rebecca Black. To everyone who [bleep]ed about her for days, thanks, you're the reason why she's in the process of making another album. If there's one thing boysloveme15 taught me, it's that negative attention is still attention. Which she/he got from Lady Gaga. Who in turn said Rebecca Black was a genius...

Rambling over, let this thread not go off topic.

As the saying goes, there's no such thing as bad publicity. I'd be fine with the likes of Bieber and Miley Cyrus staying within their own niche.

The stronger you hate it, the larger it will become.

 

Why? Because as long as it gets attention, it gets mainstream. For better or worse.

I agree with RpbGamer. Haters make things more popular. If you don't like a certain type of music, than it's better to say nothing about it than to hate on it.

That's [cabbage]: haters may make the thing more famous, but as long as there are only haters making money off it will be hard. There are certainly people that like mainstream music, it's because it's mainstream that it's hated and not vice-versa.

 

Just think of the logic in your statement: you're basically saying that record companies should try to make something that is hated by as many people as possible to make money. That just doesn't make sense.

hrm. Well. I usually try to shove my musical tastes down everyone's throats. And most of it is far from "mainstream". If my favorite groups went mainstream, so what? Awesome, I now have more people to discuss my musical tastes with. Silly ppl hating for the sake of hating. *rolls eyes*

That's [cabbage]: haters may make the thing more famous, but as long as there are only haters making money off it will be hard. There are certainly people that like mainstream music, it's because it's mainstream that it's hated and not vice-versa.

 

Just think of the logic in your statement: you're basically saying that record companies should try to make something that is hated by as many people as possible to make money. That just doesn't make sense.

Actually, look at Nickleback. Mentioning you like them on the internet is a death sentence, it's hard to overstate how utterly loathed they are If hate for them was any bigger, it would collapse in on itself and create a black hole. But they're popular. Sure, they've got a huge hate-base, but they have a bigger fanbase. They're not catering to us self-righteous internet folk, they're catering to them, and it's pretty much guaranteed that none of those guys will ever have to have a real job.

 

And with Rebecca Black, let's be honest, you probably don't know anyone that hasn't heard of her. She's a celebrity, and she's probably going to be able to reap whatever rewards a celebrity of her status can.