On Guilty Pleasures

[renfys]

 I don't do guilty pleasures. I refuse to feel guilty about anything I enjoy. Good or bad, if it makes me happy that's all that matters. It pisses me off whenever people use the phrase 'guilty pleasure'.

I really like the Fantastic Four film from 2005, and more so I like the Silver Surfer sequal in 2007. I have never denied that and claimed that. I enjoy those films. No one can take that away from me. And yeah, they are a bit shit. Like some of the acting is ropey and there are some awful lines and I enjoyed it.

Why is that such a bad thing? Why should I feel 'guilty' about that? When I was a kid, the Silver Surfer cartoon was something that made my life tolerable. Seeing it again as an adult, reminds me of those old days, watching the cartoon and just forgetting all the bad shit that was going on around me. I refuse to feel guilty for that. It's the same reason I love Iron Man. But cause that's a better film, it's not a guilty pleasure and I'm not going to get teased about in the queue at CEX. 

I really like Girls Aloud. There is no connection to my childhood there. But some of those songs cheer me up. No, it's never going to win an Ivor Novello prize or whatever but so what, I am happy. I refuse to deny that. Deny my enjoyment in that.

There is no such thing as a guilty pleasure. You should never feel guilty for enjoying something just cause it's badly made or unpopular or just 'cause whiney cishet fanboys tell you so.

And sometimes, whether something is good or bad is subjective. I tend not to read reviews.

I really dislike a lot of things. FPS games, Supernatural, the last two or three Harry Potter films. Coffee. M/M fanfiction.

But I am never going to tell anyone that you shouldn't like those things. If you like The Half-Blood Prince or the First film part of whatever the seventh book was called (I really can't remember), or really ship whoever those blokes are in Supernatural (I have no idea) then I am happy you are happy. 

Anyone who tells you that your ship, your favourite film, your music, your beverage of choice is a guilty pleasure is not someone who respects your choices or your interests. And very possibly doesn't respect their own choices or interests either. Which is just fucking sad.