That Book/Film Was Just “Boring” For Me | Why You Have To Be Critical In Consuming Content Before Passing Judgment

Hello there allies, archenemies and, everyone in between! 

This post is brought to you by my sudden urge to defend all the books and films I loved that garnered distaste from other people without offering any argument except that it is “boring”.

Today I’ll be sharing to you all my two cents on this particular issue. I personally don’t like it when people cannot justify well their dislike for a certain piece. I respect personal preferences and if they have been triggered by some sensitive content, however, “boring” just doesn’t cut it. Here’s a definitive list as to why being critical before judging a work of art is crucial!

Refusal for critical understanding of the content.

Now critical understanding might always be overlooked because most people consume content for their entertainment value. Alongside this, not everybody had access to education on how to be critical of what they consume, so this is more applicable to those who have the privilege but fail to do so.

When confronted with a difficult plot progression or unlikable characters most people will automatically dislike the experience. However, most fail to see the relevance of such and fail to question their existence.

Why does this character have to be perpetually irritating?

Why does the plot have to slow down and speed up in different intervals of the story?

Why does this particular scene be repeated?

What is the purpose of these flat characters?

Why is the build up like this?

Why has the characters developed drastically or minimally?

Where is this dialogue leading to?

Why does this have a disjointed progression?

Questions like these only scratch the surface of fully understanding the context of the content. There are multiple factors in critically reading or watching! What grates on my nerve is that some people just wouldn’t want to dig deeper because it’s either too much work or irrelevant. 

Tell you what, not all forms of art have to cater to what you are used to consuming. Some books and films are deliberately uncomfortable to send a message.

Photo taken from Google.com

If one refuses to engage in this activity, then it simply means that your “boring” comment is just simply another term for your refusal to critically understand what you’re consuming.

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Simplicity Over Complexity

Another misconception is that when a story is predictable or simple it’s automatically shunned. While most of the time predictable plots aren’t desirable, it only becomes like that if it isn’t executed properly!

I have read so many books with a predictable storyline but because it has well-developed characters and checks off most of what I’m looking for in a book, it still garnered my love. It’s important to note that simplicity, when executed perfectly, is so much better than complexity without coherency.

Another thing I noticed is that when people are confronted with characters that have a pure sense of justice or righteousness, they’re then perceived as unconvincing. Does a character have to always have a dark past, deep-seated trauma, or experienced an injustice that needed to be avenged before developing into a well-liked hero? SPOILER ALERT: NO. 

Yes, characters with a tragic past are always more appealing but can’t a character simply have the motivation to do the right thing just because it’s what they believe no matter what their situations are?

This is probably why we just love to hate our villains because they have a lot of motivations as opposed to our heroes. However, this should not always be the case! A well fleshed out character doesn’t have to have a complex background all the time but instead, have clear motivations and belief systems. 

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Constantly breezing through without valuing the pauses.

We now live in a fast-paced world where every content can be instantly accessed, consumed, and spit out! With this in mind, most consumers fail to savor a piece of art, literature, or film in slow and steady bites. 

“We can access a lot of content now so why wait?” Well, darling, most of these content we are about to consume have been painstakingly made and it is by only going through them at the right pace can we appreciate everything that holds it together.

Just like food, if you swallow so fast you won’t get to savor all the layers of flavor bursting in your tounge–you’ll probably just choke. Which is why it is always important to savor any kind of content slowly but surely so you won’t miss out on the crucial pauses that reveal so much more.

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A classic case of special snowflake syndrome.

I hate to say this but some people just generally want to actively dislike something just for the sake of being a devil’s advocate or a special snowflake. While not everybody does this, we can’t deny that people like these exist because they want to feel superior over others. Teehee.

In case some of you have no idea what SSS is

The bottom line here is that one should be able to justify their dislike through critical understanding rather than just spew out the good old lazy “boredom” comment. By critically consuming content we are being mindful rather than just undermine a work of art in an offhand manner due to one’s lack of engagement. That’s quite unfair for the creators right?

This was such a cathartic post and I hope most of you find this helpful as well!