I cannot describe the visceral level of aversion I have to mainstream shit. It doesn’t matter if the show is the best thing on earth, if the general public knows about it (And I don’t mean the internet I mean the general public) then I refuse to watch or partake in it. I have no idea why and it genuinely kills me to be like this and I have no idea why.
It prevents me from joining most fandoms nowadays unless the fandom is super niche. Things like Hotel Hazbin, Star Wars, The Office, K-pop (in general), Kpop Demon Hunters, most popular anime… WHY. WHY AM I LIKE THIS?? Is anyone else like this? Even people just mentioning “Oh yeah I love One Piece, you should watch it sometimes” makes me go “Oh fuck nah I’m good” as if the damn show was a personal insult. I feel like a stuck-up prick when I do this but I genuinely can’t control it, why???
Are Hazbin Hotel and K-Pop Demon Hunters “mainstream”? I’m vaguely aware of them but I feel like I’ve only heard about them in nerd-adjacent spaces. Maybe I’m too out of touch to know what counts as mainstream.
All of the people I know who still like Star Wars are fanfiction writers who are obsessed with the prequel era, do normal people still actually watch the new content?
At least kpop demon hunters is everywhere, go to a grocery store and you’ll see big displays of products themed around kpop demon hunters. The song Golden gets played a lot.
Netflix has a strong marketing push.
I think it’s a generational thing.