History Main / HypeBacklash

This is even more ironic if the disappointment stems from the viewer having seen the work's elements done to death already, when the work itself had [[SeinfeldIsUnfunny originated those clichés.]] Or the inverse can happen; a work that seems incredibly inventive and original to a relatively young target audience may fall flat when seen by an older viewer who has seen past works that it [[FollowTheLeader liberally borrows from]].

This can also show up when, for the person disappointed by the work, something is heavily over-analyzed or praised as being more rebellious, challenging or intellectually "deep" than it is. It's common for people coming to something that has been praised to the moon for its iconoclastic bravery or intellectual complexity to find that what they are watching is neither as revolutionary or deep as they've been led to believe. In some cases, the revolutionary unique show you're watching was only revolutionary [[SeinfeldIsUnfunny when it was made]].

''No examples, please. Examples of this are subjective, not to mention they can lead into both Administrivia/ConversationInTheMainPage and Administrivia/ComplainingAboutShowsYouDontLike.''

Hype Backlash is when a work which ''everyone'' has been bugging you to consume -- your friends, your co-workers, your favourite blogger, the mainstream news -- turns out not to live up to the hype. It's not necessarily ''bad'', and indeed you might have enjoyed it if you discovered it on your own. But because everyone has been bothering you about how you ''have'' to see it, read it, hear it, play it, whatever, your standard is much higher. You dislike the work because it wasn't worth all the trouble you encountered from having not seen it.

In most cases, it's not malicious. Despite the longstanding ideas that ViewersAreMorons and [[SturgeonsLaw 90% of everything is crap]], most people who find something they like will be keen to talk about it. FanMyopia means that they often forget that not everything is to everyone's taste, and their excitement about their enjoyment can inadvertently make their favourite work seem better than it really is.

Obviously, if everyone's describing a work as the greatest thing ever, very few works are ever going to live up to those words. But there are several more specific reasons for Hype Backlash, such as:
* ''CriticalDissonance''. Critics have long had a different taste in art from the general public, which is only natural when their job requires them to consume much more of it. However, critics are also highly influential in telling the public what's worth consuming. Which, again, is only natural -- the public will often seek an expert's opinion. But the gulf between the work's critical and public perceptions is sometimes too big to overcome. Many times, critics will heap praise on a work because it's not [[SturgeonsLaw the usual crap they consume as part of their job]], while you've avoided all the crap and don't see what the fuss is about.
* ''Using the work as a proxy for good taste''. People believe that if they like good works, it makes them smarter. People also believe that if a work uses the right tropes, it makes it better (even though TropesAreTools, so there's no such thing as the "right" tropes). So they tend to hype up the work as a means of making themselves look smarter, in a way that doesn't actually describe the work in particularly flattering terms. It might [[TrueArtIsIncomprehensible mistake nonsense for depth]], or [[Administrivia/NotASubversion a slight deviation for a brilliant twist]], or [[Administrivia/NotADeconstruction minimal self-reference for deconstruction]] (and deconstruction for depth). They don't even have to have [[PraisingShowsYouDontWatch consumed the work themselves]] to believe it to be awesome and groundbreaking; it's not the work itself they like, but the ''idea'' of the work. Naturally, such works are not required to actually be good. And the odds are [[SturgeonsLaw not in favour of them being good]].
* ''FanDumb''. The work has overenthusiastic fans who [[ComplainingAboutPeopleNotLikingTheShow don't like the idea of someone who won't consume it]]. This means that when they insist that you consume it, it's not because they think you're missing out so much as it's because they think your HypeAversion is an ''indictment'' of their favourite work. This is a great way to convert an antipathetic viewer into a FanHater, which leads them to dislike the underlying work as well.
* ''FanMyopia''. Less confrontational than FanDumb, but just as effective, and it can happen on both sides:
** On your side, you just aren't well-versed enough in the work's tropes to appreciate how well they were used. It all just looks like a WidgetSeries or a MindScrew to you. Or the work might well have been groundbreaking, but you're too familiar with all the works that [[FollowTheLeader followed it]], and you [[SeinfeldIsUnfunny think everything in the original is clichéd]]. It's not always a sign that you have poor taste; sometimes, it's just difficult to see something as groundbreaking when you consume it ''after'' all the things it influenced and which refined its tropes over the years.
** On the other side, they're hyping the work as groundbreaking when it really isn't. Its tropes are OlderThanTheyThink. You've consumed the ''real'' TropeCodifier, from which this work borrowed so much. They're experiencing those tropes for the first time, so it feels bigger to them. It can be combined with FanDumb in the sense that the others might be willfully ignorant that their favourite work is not the TropeCodifier and will insist otherwise.
* ''{{Spoiler}}s''. Sometimes the thing that makes a work great is the TwistEnding, and there's no way to talk about a work's greatness without spoiling it. If you already know the spoilers, it greatly lessens the work's impact. Again, it can be combined with FanMyopia; overenthusiastic fans will assume that ItWasHisSled when it really wasn't.
* ''Compulsion.'' Nobody likes to be forced to consume a work. But sometimes, DontLikeDontRead isn't an option; you ''have'' to finish it, for whatever reason. Sometimes, this leads to not liking a work because of its association with being forced to consume it. And this is especially true if whoever forced you insists that it's really good. Even if you wouldn't have hated it otherwise, few works are so good that it's justifiable to ''make'' someone consume it. Sometimes it ties back into CriticalDissonance; the people like it, but the critic doesn't because he resents that he had to review it and thus sit through it. And sometimes it comes from the education process; your average {{literature}} class will assign the "classics" and make you read them regardless of whether or not you like them.
* ''The HollywoodHypeMachine''. When Hollywood finds a creator who's made a work that's pretty good, it starts to see dollar signs. The publicity machine warms up, and it tells everyone, "Remember that guy who made that movie you liked? Well, he's got another one, and it's likely to be even ''better''!" Same applies for books, video games, comic books, whatever. In many cases, though, it doesn't follow that a creator who made one good work will ''always'' make a good work. Indeed, the public tends to have JadeColoredGlasses about these things; they know that the big content creators are just after their money and will hype bad works as if they were good.
* ''Being a sounding board''. Sometimes you have a friend who wants to talk about a thing they like. They might not talk about it to ''everyone'', but they will talk about it to you. After all, you're their friend, right? And they presume that because you're friends, you'll probably like the same thing they do. So they turn to you in part to get that validation that comes from liking a work that's objectively good. And then you'll go consume that work because you don't even have the option of HypeAversion; they'll keep bugging you to consume it, so you do it just to get them to shut up. And then consuming it becomes a chore.

Hype Backlash can be portrayed in fiction, usually as AnAesop that WantingIsBetterThanHaving.

See also HypeAversion (the hype means you don't consume the work to begin with); IDoNotLikeGreenEggsAndHam (when the work really ''does'' live up to the hype); and CriticalBacklash (when the work isn't as ''bad'' as everyone says it is).

'''[[Administrivia/ExampleSectionectomy No examples, please]].''' All examples will be subjective and amount to Administrivia/ComplainingAboutShowsYouDontLike.

Your friends have been bugging you to watch the latest TV show that everyone's talking about. Every newspaper raves about its originality, well-deserved popularity, and effective mix of comedy and drama, on the front page of the Entertainment section. Critics are rushing to hail it as ''the'' re-definition of its genre. After the thirtieth or so "Just watch it already, geez!" and maybe a HypeAversion stage, you finally give in; you rent the show's first season on [=DVD=], pop it in your player, and lay back to enjoy the latest masterpiece...

...Except you come away with a very different opinion than your friends; to you, it's at best a mediocre show with average plots and few laughs or an [[MindScrew utterly confusing one]] with more than enough twists to boggle the mind, a show that definitely isn't the seminal classic everyone's touting it as. What on earth did everybody see in this?

Looks like you've just suffered [[TitleDrop Hype Backlash]].

This usually occurs when QualityByPopularVote fails. Most often, the work isn't ''bad'' in itself, and would easily have been accepted as a solid and enjoyable work by the same person under different circumstances. But few things can live up to being praised as perfect works of pure genius by lots of people for long. To someone who was expecting nothing short of a flawless masterpiece, the disappointment of ''anything'' less can be bitter indeed.

This is even more ironic if the disappointment stems from the viewer having seen the work's elements done to death already, when the work itself had [[SeinfeldIsUnfunny originated those clichés.]] Or the inverse can happen; a work that seems incredibly inventive and original to a relatively young target audience may fall flat when seen by an older viewer who has seen past works that it [[FollowTheLeader liberally borrows from]].

This is often the root of the [[CriticalDissonance gulf that can exist between the critical praise a show receives and the public reaction to it]]. Critics have a loud voice in influencing people about what they think is worth seeing, but it's not uncommon for them and the public to have different tastes, expectations, and demands.

This can also show up when, for the person disappointed by the work, something is heavily over-analyzed or praised as being more rebellious, challenging or intellectually "deep" than it is. It's common for people coming to something that has been praised to the moon for its iconoclastic bravery or intellectual complexity to find that what they are watching is neither as revolutionary or deep as they've been led to believe. In some cases, the revolutionary unique show you're watching was only revolutionary [[SeinfeldIsUnfunny when it was made]].

If the people who are praising the work are also [[{{Spoiler}} spoiling it]] in their praise, this becomes ''very'' likely. Almost guaranteed to occur if fans claim the work is a TropeCodifier, and/or that it's the inspiration of ''everything'', including your beloved [[NoExportForYou obscure]] work that [[OlderThanYouThink was released years before it]] but [[SugarWiki/NeedsMoreLove is not as popular]].

Over-enthusiastic fans can also provoke this reaction, of course; a fan of something is always going to be particularly committed and convinced of its quality, but they can let their enthusiasm get out of hand. Often, this results when a person initially only had a mild dislike, or even just a passive disinterest, in a particular work - until over-enthusiastic fans of the work start [[FanDumb harping on and/or berating]] the person for [[ComplainingAboutPeopleNotLikingTheShow not enjoying]] the work as much as they do. This can often have the effect of making the person suddenly ''[[ReversePsychology hate]]'' the work that he or she previously had no strong antipathy towards.

Common with {{literature}} that school assignments force you to read and analyze; if you decide that you don't like it, you can't just put the book down and pick up another one because you ''must'' read it from beginning to end, adding to the difficulty in reading the novel.

The true backlash comes when the person who "doesn't get it" becomes so irritated at others' tendency to see that work as absolutely perfect that they put as much energy into downplaying or nitpicking it to show that it isn't as wonderful as everybody seems to think it is, forming a {{hatedom}}. If pitted against a fanbase [[SeriousBusiness so utterly enthralled with the work]] that they consider the slightest criticism to be an act of war, it will draw the two camps into a FlameWar that causes some to wonder if nobody is allowed to like popular movies anymore.

This, as well as HypeAversion, is often a result of someone who may have been burned one too many times with "Try it, you'll like it!" promises in {{real life}}. Let's face it, ''everyone'' has had one of those experiences. You probably remember as a kid being told to try something that looks and smells absolutely unappetizing at all, with the assurance that "you'll like it" by your parents/guardians, that you actually thought tasted horrible. Naturally, this happens with entertainment too. This is especially annoying since some people can be quite overzealous about recommending a show to a friend. There is nothing bad about recommending a work to a friend, but if they don't show an interest in it, then it's generally a good idea to ''back off''. Sometimes, they might actually see it not because they think it might be good, but to ''shut you up'', meaning they're already viewing it through JadeColoredGlasses.

In the rare event, hype backlash may be portrayed in fiction, as AnAesop about getting ones hopes up impossibly high.

See IDoNotLikeGreenEggsAndHam for when the subject really ''does'' live up to the hype. When the opposite to this occurs, and something is condemned and criticized in such a way as to make it impossible that the work is as bad as it is made out to be, that's CriticalBacklash.

Related to HollywoodHypeMachine, along with healthy doses of OpinionMyopia and FanMyopia. See also WantingIsBetterThanHaving for when this is used as AnAesop or to refer to the psychology behind it.

''No examples, please. Examples of this are subjective, not to mention they can lead into both Administrivia/ConversationInTheMainPage and Administrivia/ComplainingAboutShowsYouDontLike.''

The true backlash comes when the person who "doesn't get it" becomes so irritated at others' tendency to see that work as absolutely perfect that they put as much energy into downplaying or nitpicking it to show that it isn't as wonderful as everybody seems to think it is, forming a {{hatedom}}. If pitted against a fanbase [[SeriousBusiness so utterly enthralled with the work]] that they consider the slightest criticism to be an act of war, it can cause an InternetBackdraft. If it continues, it will draw the two camps into a FlameWar that causes some to wonder if nobody is allowed to like popular movies anymore.

...Except you come away with a very different opinion than your friends; to you, it's at best a mediocre show with average plots and few laughs or an [[MindScrew utterly confusing one]] with more than enough {{shocking swerve}}s to boggle the mind, a show that definitely isn't the seminal classic everyone's touting it as. What on earth did everybody see in this?

Common with {{literature}} that school assignments force you to read; if you decide that you don't like it, you can't just put the book down and pick up another one because you ''must'' read it from beginning to end, adding to the difficulty in reading the novel.

Looks like you've just suffered Hype Backlash.

This is often the root of the gulf that can exist between the critical praise a show receives and the public reaction to it. Critics have a loud voice in influencing people about what they think is worth seeing, but it's not uncommon for them and the public to have different tastes, expectations, and demands.

'''Topper Harley:''' [[MeaningfulName It's not what I'd hoped for.]]

'''Topper Harley:''' It's not what I'd hoped for.

'''''No examples, please.''' Examples of this are subjective, not to mention they can lead into both Administrivia/ConversationInTheMainPage and Administrivia/ComplainingAboutShowsYouDontLike.''

Your friends have been bugging you to watch the latest TV show that everyone's talking about. Every newspaper raves about its originality, well-deserved popularity, and effective mix of comedy and drama, on the front page of the Entertainment section. Critics are rushing to hail it as ''the'' re-definition of its genre. After the thirtieth or so "Just watch it already, geez!" and maybe a HypeAversion stage, you finally give in, pop the DVD in your player, and lay back to enjoy the latest masterpiece...

Usually occurs when QualityByPopularVote fails. Most often, the work isn't ''bad'' in itself, and would easily have been accepted as a solid and enjoyable work by the same person under different circumstances. But few things can live up to being praised as perfect works of pure genius by lots of people for long. To someone who was expecting nothing short of a flawless masterpiece, the disappointment of ''anything'' less can be bitter indeed.

The true backlash comes when the person who "doesn't get it" becomes so irritated at others' tendency to see that work as absolutely perfect that they put as much energy into downplaying or nitpicking it to show that it isn't as wonderful as everybody seems to think it is, forming a {{hatedom}}. If pitted against a fanbase [[SeriousBusiness so utterly enthralled with the work]] that they consider the slightest criticism to be an act of war, it can cause an InternetBackdraft. If it continues, it will draws the two camps into a FlameWar that causes some to wonder if nobody is allowed to like popular movies anymore.

Of course, sometimes the thing really ''does'' suck according to general consensus and it becomes DeaderThanDisco.