May 7, 2004

Friends and the Cult of Popularity

I was speaking to a few people about Friends today, upon asking if they had seen it, a someone said they had no interest in it. I had no problem with this, but he then goes on to mention that it was too popular and resembled a cult, being me, I couldn't back down from this apparent challenge.



I've seen this before, when something becomes popular, often times there comes a backlash against it. Usually coming from those who think they're too good or above whatever it is that is popular. Mind you, I'm not accusing my friend of any misgiving here, I believe it was just a poor choice of words. There is nothing wrong with liking or disliking something, I just believe it to be silly to discount something due to it being popular.

Just because something is popular just means that the creators have done something right. The only negative thing I can think of with regards to popularity, are the inevitable ripoffs and blatant imitation that takes place on other shows, movies, music, whatever media we're talking about. As for creating something that's popular, it can be a wonderful thing, and does not mean there is any less creativity in the process. Watching something grow with the masses can be an amazing thing to watch, for example the rise of Friends, it started way back in 1994, and something just clicked, it had its ups and downs, but has been able to sustain enormous popularity. Of course popularity isn't everything, once there you must do something to keep them coming back.

Anyway, I think I'm starting to ramble and my point is being lost, so I am going to quit while I am sort of ahead. Let me close by saying if your not going to like something, don't let it's popularity be the determining factor.

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