These are different things

[dhampyresa]

I wish there was a shorter way to convey "I said I hated it, not that it was bad".

For example, I hated watching the movie Flow. I hated it so much it dealt me actual literal physical damage.

The main character is a cat who spends what feels like the entire movie being scared and/or unhappy. There are also multiple scenes of characters having their cherished possessions get lost and/or destroyed.

I never was not digging my nails into my arm from stress. The marks didn't fade for over 24 hours. Actual literal physical damage.

It is, however, a good movie. Part of why I hated it was how good it was, even. The little kitty is so little and so kitty ;_;

This obviously works in reverse, where me liking something doesn't mean it isn't bad. Though no example comes to mind at present, which either means I have never watched a single movie nor read a single book in my entire life or that I am less critical of things I enjoy. (To be honest I would rather have bad taste and enjoy things than the opposite.)

Anyway, I would like a concise way to convey the above, since it appears yo be a difficult concept for many people to grasp. Something as pithy as "depiction isn't endorsement". "Enjoyment is not quality", maybe?

Comments

[angelofthenorth]

"I hated because it was good "

[sovay]

The main character is a cat who spends what feels like the entire movie being scared and/or unhappy. There are also multiple scenes of characters having their cherished possessions get lost and/or destroyed.

*hugs*

I have not watched Flow</i because even after being assured that the cat came safely through the story, I really did not feel up for an extended depiction of a cat in peril or distress. I am sorry it was so hard on you. I think saying "it was good but not for me" should suffice.

[larryhammer]

I am reminded of Grave of the Fireflies, which I never need to see again -- and indeed, possibly need to never see it again. Very, very good, which is precisely why ACK NO.

[minoanmiss]

Twelve Years A Slave goes in that category too, yeah.

[corvidology]

Shit but brilliant... Brilliant but shit. ;D

[kore]

Flow sounds good! I will never see it ever! Typically I say something like "It just sounds like it's not for me." But then people want explanations, sigh.

[rachelmanija]

I actually DNF'd that movie because I wasn't enjoying it. It was excellent but...

I often find myself saying in reviews, "This was a good book that I did not enjoy."

[eller]

I have not watched this movie, but I know exactly what you mean! There's so much excellent art and literature I do not enjoy...

[minoanmiss]

I applaud your desire for concision. :) I might say, "So well made I couldn't enjoy it" but that would probably also be taken as a topic sentence. OTOH many of the things I put in that category I want people to know about so I'd probably just babble my explanation anyway (for example, I think Twelve Years A Slave should be shown in high school curricula across the US and I will never ever watch it again, for the same reasons.)

[genarti]

I go with "It's very good but a very stressful experience" or "I didn't ENJOY it, but it's very well done," I think, in that situation. But yeah.

(I did love Flow, but Becca and I had to postpone our planned post-movie errands to go home and pet our little black cats before we did anything else.)

[watersword]

"Not to my taste" is my go-to for stuff that is well-made but I hate.

[la_marquise]

Goodness, yes! I feel like this about the film Brazil. It's a great film that makes me really really uncomfortable.
Emotional reactions differ so much, but we tend, I think, to let a subsetof opinions dominate -- the critics and the literati etc. Which devalues anything that doesn't hit their particular buttons in the 'right' way. The classic example of how this damages and hides value in other areas is romance -- romance is suspect because or sexism and classism and this in turn trains us to question our own tastes, and see ourselves as lesser in some ways. But: it seems to me that the film Bridesmaids, say, says asmuch about friendships between women and the pressures placed on them by differences oin wealth and class as any approved art film (Hannah and Her Sisters, maybe). Additionally, unlike many many canon works, Bridesmaids is by a woman about women and for women.

[musyc]

There are also multiple scenes of characters having their cherished possessions get lost and/or destroyed.

Oh, hell, I'm very glad to learn this before watching it. I was already leery because I have so much trouble with Cats in Peril, even the most innocuous Disney-style peril, that I didn't think I could make it through in one sitting. Characters experiencing loss of favorite possessions? Hi there, childhood issues. I'll have to give this one a pass.