One time, I came across an article with how to cope enjoying something most people hate or don’t like. I related to it so much that it was as if that author read my mind.
He or she discussed how it could feel when you absolutely love something and look for others’ opinions, but find mostly negative reactions and how it hurts you.
In fact, many movies I saw in the theaters as a child did very poorly. I was unaware of their unsatisfactory performances then. I didn’t find out until recently.
However, I drifted apart from those films, and, with a few exceptions, no longer have strong feelings about them. Some I just liked, but didn’t become obsessed with. So, it doesn’t bother me how badly those movies did.
The exceptions of unpopular movies I absolutely enjoyed and wished were more popular are Shrek the Third, the 2005 remake of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, the 2004 movie of Teacher’s Pet, and Space Jam: A New Legacy. Well, maybe a little less with Teacher’s Pet.
While I’ve fantasized about it being as popular as Aladdin or The Lion King, having an honest trailer on YouTube, and even being on Broadway, I once got bored with it in the late 2010s. I couldn’t even make it to the end, which is ironic, because I used to be highly addicted to it.
At age 10, I saw it in the theater and tried to see it again, but it was almost done. Once it was released on DVD, I would want to watch it every day.
Even at age 17, when I was able to control my temptation to view it all the time, I still loved it. Despite finding it boring at some point, the strong feelings have still stayed with me. I’ve even watched a few clips of it on YouTube, and I enjoyed them.
I saw the original Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory from 1971 on video when I was little. I liked it.
But once I saw the remake, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory in 2005, I ended up enjoying that more. However, everyone else who saw both disliked the remake and favored the old one more. I still do appreciate the original adaptation, though. In fact, I think both versions are amazing and were done well.
Still—I felt lonely as I were the only one in this world who liked the reboot more. There are others like that, but probably not many.
But now I like both film adaptations equally.
For Shrek the Third, it wasn’t until several years after it came out when I discovered how unpopular it is. There was a lot of negative feedback about it on YouTube.
That confused me and made me think, “Shrek the Third” couldn’t have done that poorly, right? I mean…movies usually do have to have a certain minimum level of popularity for there to be another installment, right? Otherwise, “Shrek Forever After” wouldn’t have been released.
But when I searched the film on Google, most overall ratings were three stars or less. And I absolutely enjoyed the movie very much. I loved it so much that I would give it beyond 5 out of 5 stars. Luckily, I have a couple of friends who liked the film, too.
When I first discovered that Space Jam: A New Legacy did poorly, one of my friends still showed it at his house anyway. Despite its hate from the general public, I ended up enjoying it. Not just because of the humor, but the various strengths, such as the characterization, knowledge required for basketball, and the creativity that went outside the box. You can read my review of it here.
Other people have felt lonely being in the minority of liking things, such as Rebecca Black’s “Friday,” Teen Titans Go, or post-2004 SpongeBob episodes.
If you ever experience feeling bittersweet about loving something, but being one of the very few, don’t give up hope. Someone might like the unpopular thing, too.