Gots to See it Thru My Boy

One thing about the current screen culture is that we love discourse. Oh, it’s our favourite thing. In a saturated market, when something sparks discussion, it is seen as more of a success. The common saying “there’s no such thing as bad publicity” comes to mind when I think about movies and series that may not have been very good, but spark disagreements, memes and even rewatches. The hate-watching phenomenon continues to rise and to be honest, still perplexes me a bit. Hate-watching is when someone watches content just to hate, mock and/or criticise it. This seems strange to me because I wonder why people would spend their time engaging in content that they do not enjoy, but it seems that watching things that you dislike has become an acceptable pastime, and can bring people together to share in the loathing.

I want to highlight that guilty pleasure is not the same as hate watching. Guilty pleasures are things that you are scared to admit that you watch, while hate watching is something that you will happily share that you watch because it’s bad, laughable and/or there’s no love there. You’re not tuning in every week to hate watch, but you would for a guilty pleasure; so you people that are binge watching ‘Glee’ and saying it’s hate watching – just say that you’re a gleek and move on, it’s okay! Then there are those that claim that their fandom is forcing them to hate-watch. In a conversation with someone, they told me:

“But with the amount of films and shows I have to get through now, it’s not worth sticking around if I don’t enjoy it. Unless it’s Marvel or DC.”

Okay.

The issue of loyalty is gripping fans into watching whatever their brand or actor releases. And even if it’s not liked by the masses, there seems to be a comfort in the communal dislike and you could get FOMO if you’re not participating.

I remember when ‘Riverdale’ took a turn for the worst. It started off as a normal show and it evolved into… I don’t know what. I stopped watching. However, people continued watching so that they could revel in the chaos and social ribbing. They wanted to scoff in disbelief, squint in confusion and/or laugh at the storyline. People are speaking about “powering through” shows – as if they’re a hero and this is an act of resilience. There is almost this ‘force’ that a film or series must be completed. Me, I’ll leave a show or a movie QUICKLY (maybe too quickly…) but others will fight to the finish. For some viewers, hate-watching has to occur as its their source of comedy. Comedy is so different compared to what the media was doing the last few decades (you can read more about that here). We are more nuanced, we enjoy satire and we like to ridicule.

Hate-watching is in the eye of the beholder. While some hate-watch ‘Gossip Girl’ (2007-12) for instance, logical people like myself see it as a beacon of serious entertainment – a cultural reset if you will. But to be honest, it doesn’t matter the reason behind us watching content because it’s still a view, a comment, a like, a tenner that contributes to the content success. Hate-watching has become a way for companies to benefit in today’s twisted culture. If the audience tunes in to hate-watch a show, the show is considered popular. ‘The Big Bang Theory’ was apparently fuelled by haters who were joyful that it ended; only for it to have 2 spinoff shows. The media goes off of numbers and loves extremes. At this point, you need to have an extreme feeling about content for it to continue, and it doesn’t have to be love. There have actually been studies that prove that when the word “hate” is shared on social media concerning content, there is a larger rise in the viewership compared to the word “love”. We are intrigued by car crashes, society feels that we must slow down and view it and this creates more traffic.

I think creating hate-watch content is almost masterful. But, for a hate-watch to be a true hate-watch, the content has to have the intention of being really good, and then we are shocked at how bad it is and love to hate on it. I would argue that content where there is an art to the awfulness should not be hated on, but in fact, preserved for future generations. ‘The Room’ (2003) for instance, is a beloved film that has a massive following. Is it bad? Technically, yes. But it’s so bad that it’s good and must be protected. There is a fine line between making something mediocre with limited resources and stakes, and a blockbuster with good budget/talent/visuals that falls short in dialogue or storyline, which hate-watched content is usually the result of. Maybe we like that people are putting so much effort into something and it has gone terribly wrong? Or we laugh to stop ourselves from crying because your franchise has been ruined by a poor new entry? I think part of the reason for hate-watching is because we want to feel more superior than what we are watching. We enjoy feeling smarter than the characters or that we can do a better job than the scriptwriter. Hate-watching is an art that plays on our curiosity, judgement, and sometimes, even our pride. 

So I ask, are we masochists? Is it cool to hate? In a world that is largely divided, is it okay to bond on mocking ‘He’s All That’? I think that hate-watching needs to be monitored. It is a way to find common interests and laugh, but, as things do, it can escalate. While mostly lighthearted, hate-speech could develop. I’m not sure I have a clear opinion on it, but all I can say for now is, check what you’re watching, why you’re watching it, and be careful what you say – always.