Yesterday, on my train ride to work, a man sat down next to me, opened his portable DVD player, and proceeded to watch one of the most horrific murder scenes I have ever witnessed. The dying woman was probably in her twenties, with blue eyes and blonde hair. The guy caught me gaping at his DVD player. Did I mention that I’m in my twenties and that I have blue eyes and blonde hair? ”Isn’t this movie the best?” he said to me, sighing with deep, unwavering appreciation for graphic violence, fake blood, and extended close-ups of mangled limbs and internal organs. He grinned. ”It’s my favorite,” he added. He grinned wider.
At least, I think that’s what he said. It’s also very possible that he whispered, ”You’re next, blondie.”
Enjoying violent movies doesn’t make someone a murderer. I get that. But when we reached our destination, I ran with wild abandon from wacko train guy, lest he hunt me down and push me head first onto the subway tracks. He’d grin from above and cackle, ”What’s your favorite scary movie?” because Scream (pictured) is probably his second favorite movie. After I died, he’d go home to cut up magazines for the ”I know what you did last summer” note he drops Jennifer Love Hewitt every Halloween.
I realize I have an overactive imagination, but tell me you’ve never made snap judgment about someone based on their favorite movies or television shows. Not just violent flicks. When my friend revealed that his favorite movie of all time is Hitch, it nearly ended our relationship. Nothing against Hitch, but really, best movie of all time? Does Will Smith even believe that? Try acknowledging that you watch X-Files or Star Trek. Non-fans will want to know if you spend thousands of dollars on eBay for autographed headshots and spend weekend nights alone in your bedroom, holding episode marathons while dusting your still-packaged collector’s figurines and alphabetizing your trading cards. I once told a guy that I think Runaway Bride is a good movie, and after that, swear to God, I never saw him again. It was like he knew I’d be finicky and unable to commit, or that he’d be forced to watch every Julia Roberts movie in which love conquers all. (So, every Julia Roberts movie.)
PopWatchers, what does your favorite show say about you? Can a person be judged by his or her DVD collection? Is it normal to watch graphic, ultraviolent horror films during a 6:30 a.m. train commute?
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I like The X-Files, Battlestar Galactica, Doctor Who, and Firefly- people assume that I write fan fic and enjoy online gaming (I’ve never even done either) because that’s what “sci-fi geeks” do.
Me and this girl on MySpace were going to go out, we had talked to each other on the phone a few times, and all seemed to be going well, until I asked her what movie she would like to see. She picked Daddy Day Camp, she said it looked really funny. I never answered another call from her again, and I removed her from my friends list. I know it sounds harsh, but should either of us waste our time.
I am the worst at judging people by the movies they like. I can’t help it.
If you ever see that guy on the train again, you should sit down next to him and start watching Terms of Endearment. That’ll teach him.
I own a lot of horror movies, which is fine because I own a lot of different kinds of movies. And a lot of these horror movies are sort of obscure and not many people who aren’t fans of horror would know anything about them. I try to keep it that way because no one should know that I own and watch movies like Last House on the Left…my friends and family would disown me.
It could have been worse. He could have been *making* a graphic, ultraviolent horror film during a 6:30 a.m. train commute. He was probably just a school teacher or something benign. It could have been worse…he could have been watching “Attack of the Killer Tomatoes” and singing along with the theme song. My DVD collection says I am a guy and a nerd. Big deal…so I am.
When I met my husband, I worked at Blockbuster and he was a customer. Thank goodness that he rented a Monty Python movie to balance out the Steven Segal rental or we may not have ever had a chance.
To Rick:
That’s NOT harsh. She deserves worse. Daddy Day Camp?!
Kevin… I wouldn’t tell a lot of people that you own Last House on the Left… especially young ladies.
I have that reaction to judge whenever I look at a person’s DVD collection. At least three of my old roommates owned How To Lose a Guy in Seven Days, Hitch, A Walk to Remember, and/or My Best Friend’s Wedding. I never really clicked with them. I was talking to my mother about my last roommate’s movies, complaining about their blatant mediocrity, and she said, “Kelsey, you are a movie snob.”
Guess so.
Lots of action (Arnold, Steven, Jean Claude) balanced with lots of silly comedy (Happy Gilmore, Dumb & Dumber, Caddyshack).
I have confused many a person when I told them my favorite all time movie is Heathers. Second fave – Election. I have a squeaky clean rep and people never can put that together with my movie and book choices.
A guy I was seeing once asked me if Lord of the Rings was in my top 5 fav movies, I told him I’d never seen it, he said he wouldn’t see me again until I did. Although I actually did see the movie and liked it a lot – I never saw him again – I think he would’ve rather date Peter Jackson anyway!
My litmus test for dates is: Did you like Pulp Fiction? or The Departed? If they say no….then there is no date #2.
As a rule, I don’t like war movies, mob movies or musicals. But, three of my favorite movies are Saving Private Ryan,The Departed, and Chicago. It’s not the genre, it’s the movie.
I like action films, querky romances and a lot of silly humor mixed with dark humor. Fargo remains to be one of my favorite films.
I stopped seeing this guy because I thought he was cheating on me based on his book and DVD collection. I mean he had typical guy movies like south park, family guy boxed sets, and The Departed. I just noticed that he also has the notebook, a walk to remember, the charlies angles trilogy along with other uber-chick flicks. So I figured it had to be one of these three things
1)this guy is way too in touch with his feminine side
2) He has a girlfriend and not doing a good job of hiding it.
3) Hey gay, and using the south park dvd’s as a beard.
I also went out on a date with a guy that said his favorite movie “of all time” was Armagedeon. He then went on to tell me Crash sucked and he didn’t understand why I liked it so much. I said to myself “never ever ever go to a movie with this guy.” I chalked him up to being an idiot. After that I lost his number and we never went out again.
If somebody likes the Meryl Streep/Goldie Hawn movie DEATH BCOMES HER, I know we share a sense of humour — good taste, campy taste, they’re in!
Anybody who thought Transformers was good, must have at the very least a minor case of ADD.
I’m a girl, and among my favorite movies are: One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Escape from Sorbibor (TV Movie), The Usual Suspects, Wedding Crashers, The Departed, Cars, Finding Nemo, The Illusionist, Little Miss Sunshine, The Virgin Suicides, American History X, To Kill A Mockingbird, Ratatouille, Annie Hall, Children of Men, The Professional, Love Actually, Office Space, Queens Boulevard (if it were ever to get made, because I am after all, queens boulevard), Coming to America, Fight Club. I also watch Entourage, Flight of the Conchords, and whole bunch of other shows that might be geared more towards men. I wonder what that says about me.
Oh come on. Everyone knows the trading cards are sorted numerically, not alphabetically.
I’d like to start off by saying, my ex is a great person and a huge movie buff. I am not so much (a huge movie buff)…but I tend to like the Hotel Rawanda, Motorcycle Diaries etc….His favorite movie–Lord of the Rings. Fine. One of the other movies he thought was really good…the Lakehouse.
Really?
my ex-best friend though I was weird because I like what she called “dumb comedies”. her collection included nothing but chick-flicks. I think that’s why we’re not friends anymore.
New Yorker-It says you’re a well rounded individual who isn’t easily stereotyped. Judging from some of the posts so far, we can’t have that.
To new yorker….I think your list of movies says you have good taste and a sharp mind.
Honestly I don’t judge whether or not I can be friends with someone based on their DVD collection alone, but it does help me get an idea of what we have in common. I mean, I’ve struck up multiple conversations with near strangers about Firefly or Heros or Supernatural. If someone likes the same types of shows and movies you do (especially if they’re a little genre specific) you can learn a lot about them. I probably wouldn’t be as close friends with someone who loves Adam Sandler’s Water Boy as I would with someone who is all about Christian Bale’s Batman Begins. (Especially if she’s another girl, it’s hard to find good geek girl friends!) Of course I don’t think that means that all guys who like action movies are adeneline junkies, or all women who watch sappy romances are girly and old fashioned. It’s just a preference.
That being said… Guy on the train? Creepy. I’d start carrying mace if I were you Gretchen.
to charlene:
i am gay and have all of those movies in my collection so it sounds like you were right……and gay guys like south park and family guy too!!
for some reason when a guy see’s that i have drop dead gorgeous in my dvd collection, they are instantly interested (lol)
oops….i meant christine….not charlene
you don’t like “Office Space”. A guy I dated didn’t understand the movie. “Why does Peter hate his boss?” was his question. Needless to say, there was no nookie and I left.
And that goes for tv shows as well as video games. As a personal decision, I would not be watching a horror flick that early in the morning, as well as on a train. Trains to me, are for happy movies lol. Movies that don’t necessarily get you intrigued to where you feel you need to finish it. Granted non horror movies do that as well but it’s still something I would stay away from. Not meaning everyone has to and if that is what he wants to sit there and watch, it is his right to do so. Although, as a girl, perhaps alone on a train, I would infact find this man very peculiar and question his motive behind such a movie that early in the morning. Although, to him, that could be his train ride home, so it could seem like late at night as apose to a goodmorning ride.