(Note: Wanted to avoid words like media and slop in the title but went with "content" because of how derogatory/soulless that word is, so it might be fitting).

Do you think that something like a recent movie or game sucks?

And you wonder why do people like it? Or if they even really like it?

And do you ever wonder if people would like something once universally despised if it came earlier?

Well, I have at least 6 potential reasons why people like/defend/promote lame movies, games, shows and so on.

Because an obvious one is "most people have shit taste" (Hence "Animation is Cinema" being more about basic 3D animated movies and boring cartoons than actual interesting examples like anything out of Ralph Bakshi or Peter Chung) but I think there's more than that.

SOCIAL MEDIA PRESENCE

Basically, when people working on something spend some time on social media and can be reached by anyone.

In some cases, an animator working on a show making a fool out of himself can sabotage a show and give it bad PR (Like the "smug latina" tweet from that DuckTales reboot guy).

But what happens more is that people humanize something because of the people behind it being easy to interact.

And something specific is people working on someone else's work.

Like a Japanese game series with a new game or something done by Westerners, like a comic.

And an American guy working on a comic based off said series is easier to reach than Japanese game devs that have been present since the start.

So the rather new/outside guy is seen as the authority and closer to the "fandom" than even the "creators".

Basically, Sonic might come to mind.

ASPIRING INDUSTRY WORK

I assume there's a case of "my friend works at the industry and someday, I will to".

This one kinda overlaps with the first but I think it can also be different.

It even occurs in indie animators and gamedevs, when in reality, they should strive to be different from the big industries.

An example that comes to mind is fans of dead franchises (Like Ape Escape) who are upset that something they like isn't getting a new game.

My theory is that deep down, they want to work at the industry in the chance they get to make the games they always wanted.

So the same people that get PTSD over not having a new Jak or Parappa are suddenly glad these games got referenced in Astro Bot.

Like the equivalent of an abusive relationship where a battered wife plans to escape from the house but then the husband offers her some beautiful flowers and she's like "well I guess my purple eye is because I slipped up and fell to his fist by accident, like he told me to tell the neighbors lol".

(Not sure where to put this part but one can also assume some writers aspire to make new things but failed, to they land jobs on adaptations of stuff people like and that explains shit like that Halo show or almost everything by Adi Shankar; Was going to mention Ring of Powers or whatever that LOTR show is called then I recall a rumor that it was originally a Dragon Age show but it's probably better you research this on your own than taking my word for it lol).

MEMES

Because what are internet memes if not a good reason to think people are "sheeple"?

Ever felt tired of seeing people talk the same way?

Or notice how your dad hates seeing the Whilhem scream in any movie?

You think it's a government psyop but no, PEOPLE are like that and the internet makes it clear.

The closest to people being "anti-meme" was probably in 2012 when everyone complained about "meme culture" (Rage comic faces and 9gag memes) before they joined the trends of Shrek jokes and MLG montage parodies.

Everyone does memes that they don't even know where they come from.

People copy terms and attitudes that don't even suit their real (If any) personality.

And only stop doing them if corporations on Twitter kill them (As if people don't kill memes on their own).

Because even if something new seems shit and everyone agrees so, there's always a case when people make memes out of stuff they hate just because "it's so bad it's good", instead of talking about stuff they think is good.

This section about memes also correlates with the part about bad/basic taste: Most people have no curiousity to look into older things.

All that matters is what's trending or shown by the algorithm.

Even if a mangaka talks about his influences like some older mangas, most people don't look into it.

Maybe you'll have Youtubers talk about an old series, even if describing it with modern meme vocabolary or getting basic shit wrong.

Even worse is when people focus so much on something they acknowledge being shit, they suddenly go "maybe it's not that bad".

When in that time, you could've watched something good instead.

FANDOM

It's probably not a shocker that fandom is less about "liking thing" and more about "socalization".

Lot of people only care about things for the sake of fandom than actually engaging with art as it is (Hence creating interactions based on lies).

A side effect is everyone having the same opinions and prespective, even before actually interacting with something.

Basically, if you convince someone that a shitty cartoon has "fandom", they'll join the fandom just because and conform to it.

A specific example that comes to mind is the Radar section on Tumblr, when they show fanart of shit like the Trollz movie or even Adi Shankar's Devil May Cry show.

Always shit that you don't believe actual humans are attached to.

Another thing to mention is probably game remakes, because most people refuse to touch older things unless they're modernized.

Another thing to happen is "fandom canon" like recurring opinions and how they change.

With these 2 points, think of how RE4 was seen as a game that stood the test of time and needed no remake; How many people still hold that opinion now?

This isn't even a matter of whether or not the remake is good, moreso if people treat opinions like a biblical canon then change like testing a frog in slowly heating water.

Maybe there's also something to be said about how fandom is treated like religion to young people.

"WHINY NERD" STIGMA

Let's say: Everyone likes anything for different reasons and because of that, you'll always have some parts of something you like that you don't like.

Sometimes, you complain about a new movie of a series because of how much you like that series.

But it seems nobody wants to point out any flaw or issue with something.

Mainly because they think they're being too mean or in the wrong, even if people making a product don't have a better attitude and might as well do their work out of spite.

There's also the reverse: Something most people hate but you can't shake the feeling that it's not that bad, even if you still see flaws.

And whenever it gets acknowledged in later material of a series, you don't think it's given justice because of the reputation it has.

Example of this is Doom 3 because even at the time it divided fans, but even critics learned to appreciate some parts about it.

But going back to people refusing to point out problems and being obedient customers or afraid to look like heretics:

A specific case that comes to mind is people complaining about AAA games and posting that Sonic "I WANT SHORTER GAMES WITH WORSE GRAPHICS" image, but then they stop when some guy puts a Wojak in a YT thumbnail and talks about how games used to be good in 2012 (Wrong date, btw, pick 2007 next time).

Basically, even if these people want to complain, they revert their positions like cowards because suddenly, one guy made it cringe.

And not wanting to look cringy is more important than what you actually believe in.

Could also be cases of troll's remorse and people wanting to seperate themselves from "mean 4chan people".

I feel like saying the Chris Chan Sonic blue arms thing made people afraid to be "whiny nerds" but it's ironic considering the amount/type of people that defend CWC nowadays.

You could tell yourself "I bet if 4Kidz dubs were a thing now, people would defend it" but no need to think about it: You can look up people already defending it.

I also see it as a case of irony poison and this goes back to the "so bad it's good" part.

CULTURE WARS

Kind of an obvious one.

Because in an age where everyone uses the interent, everyone wants to be an activist even though they don't work on actual causes.

(And combine that with a black-or-white, binary mindset where "you're either with us or against us" because nerds that feitshize the idea of "morally ambiguous characters" in fiction have it backwards with the real world).

A good example is people that supposedly hate Capitalism but then defend the mere products of Capitalism, sometimes because they think a game has genuine Socialist themes or because they're told the "haters" of the game are evil racist Nazi chuds.

This doesn't have to be a inherently leftwing thing, because I'm sure someone will point out Chinese spyware gacha games as an example (Only more reason why other games should have sexy stuff in it, so it's not exclusive to gacha) or Kingdom Come Deliverance.

Even the shit around AI art falls into this because people will support anything as long as it doesn't use AI, as if mankind hasn't product shit without AI for ages (And if anything, AI art is a side effect of manmade garbage).

Wanna save art? Get better standards.

(Also, they associate AI art with stuff they hate, so if an artist does the wrong move, they'll be accused of using AI).

My honest take on culture wars is that it all makes sense when you realize Millenials are failed/insecure/struggling adults, hence the term "adulting".

This is why "Media Literacy" is a thing: It's them justifying their unhealthy pop culture obsession by bringing up how much they care about "big boy topics" like politics.

It had to happen in the mid 2010's because no fucking way you'd find a Gundam "WOW COOL ROBOT" comic in 2007 when nerds weren't neurotics about politics.

Media Literacy nerds are from the same place as the MCU Funko Pop guys.

Honestly don't know what else to add or fix here.

Maybe someone can pick up on this and make a better, more nuanced take.

Or not.