The most jaded entertainment patrons

dudes at hobo knife fights tend to be p blasé

I should have listed Books, oops

kind of a tough one! sorta feel like modern media forces criticism to proclaim a new "masterpiece" at least once or twice a year in the interest of standard hyperbole.

that is, in the interest of selling entertainment products to a consumer...

Gamers

Or: PC gamers vs console gamers

I think the swift descent into "reality television" would indicate high levels of jadedness among the televisory audience. I look to knife-fighting babies as the next big smash hit show.

I think gamers + television watchers are probably the least cynical since both really dig populist pleasures and both are media forms that are doing very very well atm. it's easier to be cynical when the media has been disappointing for awhile. music + film have that gallows things going on where the patrons are patiently watching their industries die and that seems like it'd inspire some serious cynicism (not to mention that music really doesn't seem organized around getting enthusiastic about new hype anymore -- a lot of hype around a band like Sleigh Bells is more likely, at least around here, to inspire more derision than excitement). the film industry is obv not doing as poorly as the music industry but there are all those critic death watches and there's probably something really cynical about all those commenters who rail against film critics who give their fave films bad reviews. (alternatively that's not cynical at all but the opposite -- passionate fans defending what they love, so idk). actually, prob the right answer is theater and all theater patrons i know are always really snarky about the industry and i don't know if i've ever read one of those 'state of theater' trend pieces that wasn't like, 'yet another season without anything good.' i'd prob vote books if it were included as a choice, but as is i'll have to go with music.

I feel like all I hear about is how fucking amazing TV is these days. I mean, it might be true, or not, I don't know, but I would not vote television. What I mean is ppl who talk about whatever favorite cable TV drama is their cable drama of choice like we are entering an era of high tv art, you know what I mean? Everyone I know IRL who watches TV is watching something like "I didn't know I was 14 and pregnant because I weigh 300 kilos."

What I mean to say is the ppl talking about Mad Men and shit are all on the online.

man, TV is so fucking amazing these days

^^see?

always used to think it was quite funny how after gigs there'd almost be a competition to see who could be the most unenthused/derisive when leaving the venue.

yeah 'tv is so fucking amazing' really means 'there are like 4 amazing shows'

'otoh, sarah palin has her own show'

but of course i don't go to gigs anymore because they're all a load of OVERHYPED SHITE.

i'd say there's a lot more than 4 amazing shows but ymmv - the point was more that tv fans are pretty enthusiastic these dayz

and locquacious

that is my rap name btw
locquacious

i think american tv seems to have had more critically acclaimed "event" shows with money/marketing thrown at them in the last ten years than ever before. this all started with the sopranos, right? might just be britisher bias, tho.

music critics tend to have an easier time giving lesser albums a 2.5 or 3 star grade. Also with changing times there's always enough shift in trends to keep them focused and hungry.

film people to me seem to be the most jaded because A. movies are a 90-120 minute investment in one sitting, which is frustrating when they suck B. watching a bad movie is much more excrutiating than listening to a bad cd, and C. the mainstream film has been significantly dumbed down since the 70s, and D. movies are more likely to tease you with a hot start and fizzling out at the end.

i don't think there is a "most jaded" audience for any medium with a degree of mainstream popularity. or even for fringier media like poetry and dance. lame answer, but jadedness appeals to (or happens to) a small percentage of the audience of every medium. i think the jadedness of the fanbase does vary by genre, however. sci-fi fans seem willing to enthuse endlessly over the same old stuff, while the audience for obscure "cutting-edge" art music seems perpetually caught in a sneer at what it liked only yesterday.

The TV thing has become especially annoying since the advent of reality TV, where most anything with a plot is given reverence for the ingenuity of having actual narrative (and writers! and actors!).

But I gotta vote music - it's really the medium that, for me, hits right for the emotions and to listen to bad song is not simply something one can just be disappointed about but an actual deprivation of serotonin - that you are pissed you just wasted your time expecting something great and getting nothing from it. If I see an arty, well-thought of movie and come away dismayed I'm still comforted with the notion that at least I have a new perspective on life or learned something in the process or whateva.

When I hear the word "jaded," I don't think of pretentious people, or people with impossibly refined tastes. I think of hateful old curmudgeons like Andy Rooney or stupid naive people whose entire life experience has consisted of a lot of partying and thinks that everyone in the world has the viewpoint of a 14-year-old crack whore. I'd say that the most jaded fandom is superhero comics fans--a fandom that seems to have a lot of self-loathing 50-year-olds in 20-year-old bodies. (At least the ones I see online.)

where most anything with a plot is given reverence for the ingenuity of having actual narrative (and writers! and actors!).

this is crazy talk. crappy written tv is still crappy.

There are anomalies but I'd say Lost broke that 5-year stretch in which there was nothing but Amazing Race/that island realityshow/super-nanny/wife swap/incessant game shows. And I'll also say that Lost was crap television - ingenious (!!! can't emphasize that enough) when one thought that all these notions and ideas being brought forth were actually going to be tied together with enough persistence and then the later realization that shit was basically made up 2 hours before shooting.

Ok, wait, I think you misunderstood me and I, you (initially). I said the fanfare for television "post"-reality TV was especially annoying because the return to actual scripted television after such a long hiatus of completely-random-and-irrelevant (aside from "who gets casted off!!") from day to day seemed such like daybreak. And it wasn't - it just became bloated in comparison.

I think of hateful old curmudgeons like Andy Rooney or stupid naive people whose entire life experience has consisted of a lot of partying

I first read this as 'I think of hateful old curmudgeons like Andy Rooney or stupid naive people, whose entire life experience has consisted of a lot of partying' and had a fleeting image of party-boy Andy Rooney

Want me to get you some brain bleach?

I've been seeing a lot of yawnfaces at the cockfights and bear baiting.

Interesting thing is, way back when things like that were more popular they did tend to have quite a few jaded aristocratic spectators who were out for a day of slimming.

Didn't realise bear-baiting was such good exercise.

nausea is slimming

I'd say that the most jaded fandom is superhero comics fans

can't buy this, given that most (and the most popular) superhero comics endlessly recycle the same tired formulas for an audience that wouldn't have it any other way

there was definitely something very jaded about the age of gritty comics (sue dinby being raped and killed for example) but that seems to have tapered off in the last decade

"patrons" is a better word here than "fans." i think live music patrons (at rock/pop shows) are the most jaded because of the way they treat gigs as social events and would rather gab with their friends all night than pay much attention to the music. if you're going out to see a band, it's jaded not to actually listen to the music you've committed to seeing.

then again, a lot of music superfans don't really "listen" to the music either; they're too busy making AVIs for their little blogs.

most persuasive argument so far (xp)

it's different with seeing movies in theatres. the general social expectation is that you'll stfu during the film, and people will give you crazy stinkeye if they hear you talking, hear your phone ringing, etc.

Didn't realise bear-baiting was such good exercise.

facepalm.jpg

I meant slumming.

I guessed, but where's the fun in that?

Absolutely nothing, of course!

The suits in the recording industry and their anti-internet propaganda. They're basically using reverse psychology on the audience these days to move units. Sharing is stealing, buy that $14 plastic and foil, ect.

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