The Glade 4.0

Inspired by a discussion held in several places elsewhere.

"Mediocrity combined with popularity incites more hatred than something that's actually bad" ~ Anonymous Internet quote.

What artists do you really despise? Nickelback? Britney Spears? Celine Dion? The latest American Idol winner?

Why do you hate them? Some of them are truly talentless hacks, but most of them aren't. They simply aren't that notable, apart from the disproportionate attention they are given. Do you think that's the difference? If you'd never heard Celine Dion before, and you had a friend who could sing just like her, would you not be impressed? But there's a difference between being impressed with someone's karaoke skills and being able to tolerate listening to an entire CD full of them.

The simple fact is, as much as we hate so many of these artists, they aren't bad. William Hung was an example of "Bad", and none of us hated him. We just laughed at him. A true lack of ability or talent doesn't inspire the same level of animosity, because we simply don't care. It's the popularity given those who lack true distinction and have only a mediocre level of talent that pisses us off.


What do you think?

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Well Ali Baba had them forty thieves, Scheherezade had a thousand tales
But master you in luck 'cause up your sleeves you got a brand of magic never fails...
...Mister Aladdin, sir, What will your pleasure be?
Let me take your order, Jot it down -You ain't never had a friend like me
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"Bad" is subjective. McD's hamburgers aren't "bad", if comparing them to eating feces.......

The only problems I have with shitty, mediocre pop culture is that it often clogs the paths for me to find the "good stuff".

Good analogy. Especially considering that most people, even if they recognize McD's hamburgers aren't that good, occasionally crave a Big Mac.

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Well Ali Baba had them forty thieves, Scheherezade had a thousand tales
But master you in luck 'cause up your sleeves you got a brand of magic never fails...
...Mister Aladdin, sir, What will your pleasure be?
Let me take your order, Jot it down -You ain't never had a friend like me
█ ♣ █

I believe his name is Bruno Mars...has anyone ever listened to what he is saying???

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Raell Kromwell

No one deserving of my ire specifically, but the "music" Industry has little to do with music talent and everything to do with marketing. That's the real lesson of American Idol, though it was true long before that.

I've met some people who sing very well, who never got the opportunity to be famous, or just never cared to be such.

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I prefer to think of them as "Fighting evil in another dimension"

Mmmmm Katy Perry.

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Holy shitsnacks!

I find her many times more tolerable than Britney Spears.

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Buckle your pants or they might fall down.

Personality-wise, maybe. But that "California Girls" song has got to go. Seriously. You can't just reuse a song title like that. It's fine to COVER a song, sure. But that title belongs to Brian Wilson, and his song was far better (and nothing like Katy Perry's.)

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Well Ali Baba had them forty thieves, Scheherezade had a thousand tales
But master you in luck 'cause up your sleeves you got a brand of magic never fails...
...Mister Aladdin, sir, What will your pleasure be?
Let me take your order, Jot it down -You ain't never had a friend like me
█ ♣ █

I gave up on hate a long time ago, takes too much energy and solves nothing.

I do change the channel on the radio when some songs come on though. If I don't like it I don't have to listen to it.

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The U. S. Constitution doesn't guarantee happiness, only the pursuit of it. You have to catch up with it yourself. B. Franklin

"A mind needs books like a sword needs a whetstone." -- Tyrion Lannister, A Game of Thrones

Indeed And much hotter.

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Holy shitsnacks!

I prefer Zoey Dachne... Dashna... Duschound? You know what I mean.

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"...the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?" -Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

I'll take both. Cause then it'd be like doing twins.

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Holy shitsnacks!

My biggest beef with pop culture in general is that I cannot decide if it reflects the decline of societal values, is accelerating it or is actively steering it.

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Zooey Deschanel?
I prefer Emily, personally. Not sure why most people think of Zooey as "the pretty one".

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Go back to zero, take a pill, and get well ~ Lemmy Kilmister

Zooey is younger. Perhaps that's why? But Emily is a lot more elegant.

Whoa, they are sisters?? I assumed Emily was Zooey's mom...

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Uhm. Emily is 35. Zooey is 32. (and both younger than me...eep)

Emily's main character she's known is often very prim and proper and probably contributes to your perception, where Zooey takes roles as the Manic Pixie Dream Girl.

My hate is dependent on if I can escape it. I remain mostly a cultural void when it comes to pop music, I do not have to listen to it. It is when it (and the pop culture that goes with it) is rammed down my throat nightly in the news, newspapers, and so forth. I think the best example for me would be Lady Gaga, don't care for her music, don't hate it. The fact she is interjected so often into other things makes me hate.

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"Life isn't divided into genres. It's a horrifying, romantic, tragic, comical, science-fiction cowboy detective novel. You know, with a bit of pornography if you're lucky."
— Alan Moore

I'd stop on a dime for you.
I'd step on a mine for you.
I'd suck on a lime for you.
I'd make a lame rhyme for you.

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Sail forth! steer for the deep waters only!
Reckless, O soul, exploring, I with thee, and thou with me;
For we are bound where mariner has not yet dared to go,
And we will risk the ship, ourselves and all.

http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/videol ... lazy-songq

Thanks to you Stathol, I have this moron's song stuck in my head.

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Holy shitsnacks!

Popular things tend to lean towards the lowest common denominator over time. So I still listen to Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin instead.

Movies have gotten pretty bad across the board, but my music tends to come from other places than MTV or VH1 so I don't have much of an opinion. I think a collapse of the industry would do art some good though.

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"...the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?" -Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

Haha; his review of 'Grenade' is perfect:

http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/videolinks/teamt/tis/tpsr/30353-grenade-ep-19

That's exactly what's wrong with it. The song is completely psycho, but it's more than that. "I'd throw my hand on blade for you"? Really? That's a thing people do? Might as well be, "I'd run of a cliff and get blown up by an Acme box of TNT for you". It's like being simultaneously harangued and serenaded by Wile E. Coyote.

Also, this:

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Sail forth! steer for the deep waters only!
Reckless, O soul, exploring, I with thee, and thou with me;
For we are bound where mariner has not yet dared to go,
And we will risk the ship, ourselves and all.

Todd's pretty awesome

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Holy shitsnacks!