Your nostalgia is not my nostalgia.

[rogueslayer452]

Taken from the Crunchy Questions Meme:

Anti-nostalgia! What's something "everyone" in your generation loved that you never got into? Have you seen the light since, or do you still respond with apathy or even dislike?

The first thing that comes to mind is Pokemon. I remember during elementary school that kids would be showing off their cards or trading cards with others, and how it was considered "controversial" to the point where the cards would be taken away by teachers and they were banned from school property. So while I was aware of it, it wasn't something I got into. I never disliked it, I just didn't understand the hype because it wasn't really on my radar. It's one of those things you see in passing and know people are into but you're rather indifferent towards it. Now, of course, I know and understand more about it. I haven't really delved that deeply into it since there's so much out there, but I know more about the different kinds of Pokemon (beyond Pikachu, that is) and obviously from things like Pokemon GO and Detective Pikachu in recent years its popularity hasn't waned since it first entered the scene when I was a kid.

There are some other things, too, to a lesser extent like SpongeBob SquarePants. It was everywhere when I was in junior high/high school and I tried watching a few episodes here and there but I just didn't get it and never understood the appeal, and while it's become more an Internet meme nowadays I still have this indifference towards it. Sailor Moon is another one, where I wasn't even aware of it until I ended up watching the live-action Japanese show, Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon. With that, at least, I'm more aware of now and understand the appeal and the growth of the franchise as a whole.

I'm sure there are things I'm not remembering, but that really shows how indifferent I was towards things that many really enjoyed that I just either didn't care for or didn't pay attention to.

Comments

[valeria-sg-1.livejournal.com]

I hated Sailor Moon when it first came out and I was in the upper grades of elementary school. I got into it a bit later, in middle school I think.

For me it was Beverly Hills 90210, this French tv show that was everywhere, and then Titanic when I was in middle school. Everyone was gushing about it and I made it a point NOT to watch it :P

[author-by-night.livejournal.com]

I forgot that there was a big controversy over Pokemon! But I don't remember the reason? Like you, I was never all that interested, but I never personally knew any adults who thought they were a danger.

Oh, and I never got into Tamagotchis. The fact that they'd run away or die seemed morbid. Although I did get into Petz, where it was apparently possible for animals to run away. I never had that happen, fortunately.

[author-by-night.livejournal.com]

and then Titanic when I was in middle school. Everyone was gushing about it and I made it a point NOT to watch it :P

Same here! :P

[haebin.livejournal.com]

When I was in my Teenager-Years, Techno-Music was a huge thing here in Germany and everyone loved it. But not me. ;D

I know a lot of people who love Pokemon and Sailor Moon, but I guess I was too old to get the hype. :D

[violateraindrop]

Same here! Pokemon wasn't really something my friends at the time were into, so I barely had any contact with it. I'm actually surprised by how popular it is among people my age, especially in Germany. The question "What's you favorite Pokemon?" is something I see asked casually and everyone has an answer while I think "I know Pikachu."

I could never get into SpongeBob SquarePants. My mother actually put it on sometimes to annoy me (it aired right before the weather) when I was a teenager lol
When I was ~20 I watched an episode with a friend and I still didn't get it.

[rogueslayer452.livejournal.com]

The question "What's you favorite Pokemon?" is something I see asked casually and everyone has an answer while I think "I know Pikachu."

I think that's a very common answer from those who know next to nothing about Pokemon, since Pikachu is easily the most recognizable that even the unfamiliar will know who he is. That was essentially me before really doing my research and realizing there was more to Pokemon than just Pikachu.

Yeah, I think my main issue is that SpongeBob SquarePants is just annoying.

[rogueslayer452.livejournal.com]

I assume that it was the usual complaints from religious/conservative folks who like to ban things that they don't agree with for whatever excuse they can give, though when I did a quick search it seemed like schools were also banning them because of the possibility of it promoting gambling? Which, considering that there was a lot of trading of Pokemon cards (aka "gotta collect them all") I can see why schools would want to limit this if it became too much of a distraction, but I don't think it enabled gambling.

Ah, yeah, Tamagotchis. I do remember when they were insanely popular and I did actually want one since it seemed interesting at the time, though my parents, my mom especially, refused to get one. Probably because they were too pricey and also she didn't think we needed one.

[rogueslayer452.livejournal.com]

I saw Titanic when it came out and I was in elementary school at the time, and while I liked it I then later understood why many found it overrated because it was so overhyped. To the point that I did eventually just not like it based on that alone, but then I started really re-appreciating the movie again.

[rogueslayer452.livejournal.com]

There were definitely some things that I kinda feel like, even if I wasn't into it at the time, I couldn't get into now because I'm not in that age demographic that it was targeted towards and it's definitely on the realm of, "you kinda had to be there in that moment to get it" kind of thing. Which is fine, some things are like that. It's not my nostalgia, but I'm certainly not going to knock people who liked it, y'know?

[author-by-night.livejournal.com]

That reminds me of the teacher in seventh grade who didn't want us bringing cellphones into her classroom because cellphones could be used "for drugs." To be fair, this was the late nineties before everyone had a cellphone, but still.

[rogueslayer452.livejournal.com]

lol, it's always kind of hilarious, especially in hindsight, some of the "concerns" were for certain things.

[elizalavelle.livejournal.com]

I was in high school when Titanic was a huge craze and I was so put off by the hype that I didn't see the film until 6 years later. Just wasn't my thing I guess. I didn't hate the movie when I saw it but I never got the full out obsession.

[rogueslayer452.livejournal.com]

I saw it when it came out, so I didn't have much strong opinions either way at the time (I was very young, I didn't pay that close attention to that kind of stuff anyway). It wasn't until I was in my early teens when everyone was still praising it as "the best movie ever" that I started having a dislike for it, why I don't know. I was in that teenage "must hate everything that is popular" moments. I stopped that, of course, and do appreciate the movie and like watching it still. But yeah, it was very overhyped around that time, for sure.

There are certainly a lot of things in media that are like that, of course. Things that clearly are meant to be considered "Oscar-bait" that everyone ends up praising that you just...don't get the hype for, especially when it comes out and it's everywhere.