"The Year in Overrated Pop Culture"

"This is not to say that I never find myself on the side of critical consensus—I do more often than not, probably. My favorite movies of the year—The Handmaiden, The Love Witch, Elle, Moonlight, Embrace of the Serpent, Cemetery of Splendor—were all acclaimed to various degrees. But there’s something particularly frustrating about being on the other side, of being indifferent or worse regarding that thing everyone says they love. It can make you feel alienated from humanity, like you’re from some other planet and have not been gifted with the gene that allowed everyone else to experience the pleasure at hand. It can make you very suspicious and cynical of anything that looks like groupthink.

See, the reason I’m suspicious of this way of thinking is that I’m susceptible to it, too. I like to think that when I enjoy pop culture that’s critically acclaimed, I do so organically. But I know that when I see something that doesn’t wow me after hearing how amazing it was—Manchester by the Sea is a perfect example—an extra layer of disdain accompanies my critical assessment. It’s a multivalent frustration—at the movie, at the crowd, at myself—like being in a room where everyone is laughing and not getting the joke."

http://themuse.jezebel.com/the-year-in-overrated-pop-culture-1790260055?utm_campaign=socialflow_jezebel_facebook&utm_source=jezebel_facebook&utm_medium=socialflow

I just loved these two paragraphs.