or “Why J and Dina should not be allowed to rate movies on Netflix”

So I’m thinking about HD DVD purchases – specifically from Netflix where I’ve acquired a number of cheap used DVDs in the past (and have been extremely happy with the purchases). I go to the store page but I can’t find any listings of Blu-ray or HD DVDs anywhere. I call customer service (after poking around the FAQs) and they tell me that you can select that after you select the disc to buy. What? That makes no sense. So you have to want to buy the movie and then they’ll tell you what formats they have available? Hey, there are plenty of movies that I might consider picking up on HD DVD that I either don’t want (or already have) on DVD. Whatever. They’ll figure it out or I’ll just purchase elsewhere.

Of course, this leads me to check out what my friends are renting and rating.

As I’m flipping through J and Dina’s list I come to an epiphany – They are not rating on movie quality. I’m not sure what evaluation criteria they are using but it isn’t acting, writing, cinematography, or coherency or uniqueness of story that’s for sure. Whether they are counting up the number of Macs in the movie and giving it that many stars, reacting to some sort of psycho-emotional resonance, or just rolling a die… I have no idea. But from someone that not only loves movies but has a background in the dramatic arts I sure can’t seem to identify any unifying thread that links together all their ratings. It just seems random to me.

Which got me thinking – people aren’t always interesting in judging something on the intrinsic merits of that item or on how well it performs compared to the rest of the items in that category. Sometimes people just like a thing regardless of performance, price, or utility. They just like it. They like that thing so much that they are blind to its faults and deaf to reviews. The thing seems to be that not only are they enamored with this thing but they don’t know why they are. Don’t ask them to explain it because they can’t (and likely they won’t want to analyze it too much for fear of recognizing flaws in their product or logic).

I walked into a person’s house and saw that they were watching AVP (Aliens vs. Predator). I made a disparaging remark about the movie (because it SUCKS) and they looked at me like I had kicked their dog and peed on the carpet. Dude, you can like the movie, I don’t care, but the movie sucks. You know it does. It’s derivative and formulaic. There was so much potential for a great flick and they just flushed it all away. It was complete drivel. Look inside yourself, you know it to be true.

These are the same people that lampoon me (and other reviewers) when we say anything bad about their AV gear. If we even hint that there might be a better product on the market, they go crazy. Why? Is it because their gear is so great or because we are being so unfair? No. It is because they LOOOOVVVE their gear. They LOOOOOVVVE it. Well, not every woman is Adriana Lima and not every man is Brad Pitt so there is some variation in the world. Get over it. Your TV is not the best and even if it is the best today, by next week someone will release something better.

These people are only reacting to their gear on an emotional level. They are not looking for an objective evaluation any more than your wife is when she asks you if that dress makes her look fat. But, unlike you, we can’t say, “Well, I don’t think that’s your color,” we’ve got to say, “Hey, stop blaming the dress!” That’s our job and the fact that none of this equipment is ours makes a huge difference. It’s going back and we know it and we don’t feel any ego involvement with the outcome of the review.

Honestly, I don’t even care that people fall in love with their gear. You’ll never have as much joy with your setup as you do when you think it is the very best in the world. The minute you realize that there is something better out there the spell is broken. The honeymoon is over so to speak. So LOVE your gear. Cherish it. Make it its own koozie for all I care. Just stay off the Internet. Because you’ll eventually run into someone that thinks your equipment is junk (and they’ll probably be right).

So why do such people seek out reviews and reviewers to send hate mail to? Validation of course. They’re looking for others that agree with them. And on the Internet, they’ll find them. Other owners of the product, forum trolls, and mediocre reviewers are everywhere. Hell, I practically trip over them on the way to the bathroom. But if you’re looking for validation for your purchase, you had better have made a good one if you want it from me or Audioholics. Hey, if you love that DVD player so much, why don’t you marry it already?!

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