by James Rocha
My sincere apologies for anyone I have mislead.
You see, after my previous post on how I hate cliffhangers, found here, I received quite a large number of very angry letters whose writers thought I hated Sylvester Stallone's movie, Cliffhanger.
This was never my intention, and I certainly did not want to give that impression. My sincere apologies, sincerely. This was not at all what I wanted to happen.
I certainly do not hate Sylvester Stallone's Cliffhanger. Again, apologies.
After all, the Stallone movie has Sylvester Stallone in it and is about mountain climbing! Those are two things I acknowledge exist in the actual world! How could I possibly hate a movie with two things that I know, for a fact, exist?
I mean, it has happened before. American Sniper? Bradley Cooper certainly exists. And, sniping exists. But, really, American Sniper? So, me acknowledging the existence of two things from the movie certainly isn't sufficient to avoid my hatred.
And, let's be honest, Cliffhanger isn't Over the Top. At least, I don't think. I never saw either one, I don't think. I mean, I may have seen bits of Over the Top. Either that or ESPN shows professional arm wrestling. I know I saw professional arm wrestling on TV, so it was either a movie or real. And I don't think there's a lot of movies out there. But, in the end, I'm fairly certain that these are two different movies. I wouldn't say like Cartesian certainty. I could start both and then learn they were in fact the same movie with different names and allegedly different topics, but I don't think that's likely to happen.
So, basically, unlike Cliffhanger, I may have seen Over the Top, and I am pretty sure I don't hate either.
I mean, "hate" is a strong word. Can I possibly hate a movie that I've never seen? What would that even amount to?
Actually, let me make a confession: I have never seen American Sniper.
But I'm pretty sure I hate American Sniper.
Perhaps this is unfair, and I do worry about that. I mean, the truth is, I hate what American Sniper stands for. But, I can also admit that I sometimes come to appreciate the aesthetically pleasing display of a movie whose message I hate. Top Gun works here. I even kinda enjoyed The Help. Hey, I'm being totally honest here. I wish I didn't have to be, but, you know, it is a blog. You can't lie on a blog. "Can't" here is a high level of impossibility, and isn't just normative. I don't know why that's the case, but it just is.
Anywho. Yeah, I think we can hate films we haven't seen, and perhaps even continue to hate them past realizing they are kinda entertaining. To use a TV show, I hate the Mentalist, but I watched every episode. It was very entertaining. I think the show was misogynist in a very subtle and deep way (I think the hidden story behind the Mentalist's story is about how demeaning it can be to have to work under a female boss, especially since she is always wrong--but, in the end, the mentalist always undermines her every effort, and ultimately seduces her -- I mean, when you put it like that, how could you not hate that show? But, I also have to admit, it was well written and exciting, and I kept hate-watching the entire series even when I wanted to stop. Again, I wish I didn't have to tell you that, but because we are on a blog...).
But, having said all that, I don't feel this way about Cliffhanger. I have no strong feelings about it, not having seen it, and not knowing its message. I was even surprised to learn as I researched this blog post that Cliffhanger is liked by both fans and critics. Who knew? Maybe that's why I got so many angry letters!
Yes, I do too research my blog posts.
So, in conclusion, I think you can hate a movie without having seen it. I think you can hate a movie or TV show that you find entertaining. I am pretty sure Cliffhanger and Over the Top are two different movies. But I don't hate Cliffhanger. Or Over the Top.
I'm glad we discussed this. Please stop the angry letters. Unless they are about the Mentalist.