Breinthewild

(Side note: Do people still use the word ‘cool’?)

It seems I am perpetually late to the party when it comes to what’s exciting/up-and-coming/interesting/new/etc.. I’m not sure why or how. All I know is I have a penchant for showing up 15 minutes late to the fandom with Starbucks long after everyone who was once a part of it has already moved on.

I barely knew Star Wars existed until a classmate mentioned to me that the final movie in the prequel trilogy was about to be released. I started reading Harry Potter the year the last movie was released. (Which made it nigh impossible to get the books from the library by the way–since everyone was nostalgically re-reading the series at the time). I caught up with Community years after it aired and just finished I’ll Be Gone in the Dark recently–two years after it came out.

I’m not sure whether I’m simply not in the spheres to notice new things or whether I avoid them on purpose until I’m convinced something will be good. (Though I’m leaning towards the latter). One of my least favorite things is putting a lot of time into something only to have it disappoint in the end. (Divergent series, I’m looking at you).

My suspicion is, in order to avoid that disappointment, I end up being very picky about the media I choose. Because once I get invested there’s no going back. I’ll pour hours of my life into a thing before realizing on the back end that it’s kind of… not good. And that’s never fun.

(Side, side note: The curious exception to this rule, interestingly enough, is bad stuff. Terrible books or movies (that are earnestly bad, not bad on purpose) are hilarious to me for some reason. The Room is an incredible experience.)

The other side of this, of course, is being pleasantly surprised by something you never expected to like. I remember going to see Clash of the Titans and How to Train Your Dragon as part of a double feature at a local theater. I was way more excited for Clash but now I barely remember what happened, aside from a vague sense of disappointment. Dragon on the other hand, remains one of my favorite movies and I was blown away by how heartfelt it was.

There’s a balance, as with everything in life. But I think for me it could err more on the side of trying rather than not. But of course, when I try the things will probably be about 10-20 years after everyone else…

Oh well.