To find this so cringeworthy?

[Bpuss]

(I realise using the word cringeworthy is a bit cringeworthy in itself, but here we are...)

Literally posting this so I don't end up telling him what I'm thinking!

I've been seeing a guy off and on for a year and he's a lovely person, but keeps coming out with things that just make me die a little inside.

The latest one is he went to the cinema with his friends last night to see Wicked.
He has this habit of messaging me after he's seen a film to let me know how he found it and the message last night read "It had greatest showman vibes, and the hallmarks of a classic". I almost, almost... replied with a bunch of laughy faces and told him to stop talking like a dick but I thought I should try and be kind so I just said something about being glad he likes it.

But I've never heard anyone in real life use the phrase "hallmarks of a classic" to describe a film, let alone something like Wicked?!

He also uses the word belly for his stomach...

I like him, but omg I cringe so hard sometimes at his choice of words!

This is a classic piece of irony, @pluvia , that you'd choose Animal Farm to compare to Wicked. And indeed 1984 is even more apt. Wicked has a very Orwellian set of themes. As others have said, Wicked deals with how one should react under a populist autocracy.

It is about the seduction of image and how groups and people are stereotyped. It is about the choice we all must face when it comes to moral decisions - keep our heads down, pretend to be like everyone else, be satisfied with the status quo, or stand out for what we believe. And it's about the mass media and how you create an image of wickedness by misinformation and twist the public's view.

It even has perfect Orwellian animal metaphors - its plot is basically "first they came for the talking animals and I did not speak up because I was not a talking animal". I had noted the Orwell nod when seeing the stage play years ago, as had probably everyone else.

It's about racism in the biggest and most obvious way possible, I can't imagine anyone wouldn't know that simply from looking at the poster.

More depressingly, there's a lot of hidden misogyny in people rolling their eyes at Wicked. The film and musical play both absolutely smash the Bechtel test into oblivion. In fact I don't think there is a single conversation between MALE characters which isnt about one of the female characters. I'm not even sure if 2 male characters speak to each other at all!

But because it has two girls on the logo and they look girly and friendly, it's obviously not about anything important and it's going to be terrible for serious minded adults especially MEN.

Or at least not having too many serious insecurities about what his mates will think.

I don't think this is true. It wasn't at all pretentious. I don't think he was pretending to be someone above his station; I think the problem is that he's not a great communicator - well, verbally - and the clunkiness of his words - or him reaching for cliches - is off-putting to the OP.

I

Was ambivalent until “belly”.

Hard pass.

To be fair, Disney have a reputation for taking a story, stripping out all the serious pain of real conflicts, coating it with sugar, and making it trivially digestible.

No, it really isn’t. Have you read it/watched it?
And even if it were a bit simplistic (it’s not), are you unable to enjoy that sort of thing? How sad.

He’s too manly…

Couldn't agree more – this thread is woeful.

OP, perhaps you should date an AI man on your phone for all the character you seem to be able to tolerate.

Your interpretation of manly is eluding me. Could you describe what a manly man wears, does and likes, please?

I do know what Wicked is about. You're not going to convince me that a WofOz-based fairytale about good and bad, where the heroine's reward is to be rescued by a man and everything is all right in the end is up there with Animal Farm as a philosophical discourse on the nature of totalitarianism.

Please elaborate. I say tummy or belly or stomach pretty interchangeably.

Am I using an ick word without realising 😂

Not even to have a nice day with his kids? My DD is at an age now where she’d rather do thing like the cinema with mates, such is preteen/teens, I’d love it if she asked me to go to the cinema with her. As parents we have to have a few hours doing something we wouldn’t normally do now and again and if you’re not up for that then what exactly are you for when it comes to parenting?

He walked out of CATCF?? Did he drag his kids out of it with him or was he watching it alone?

I let go many a good man by getting the ick all the time over the silliest things. I ended up with a 'cool guy' who turned out to be an abusive wanker and that's the father of my children!
I know that sounds slightly drastic but I really wish I had just been a bit more mature and accepted that we're all different and if someone is kind, funny and supportive etc, this is what matters.
My current boyfriend is a classic 'nerd' and says all sorts of cringy things but he's kind and loving and I find it endearing now.

I bow to his superiority

This is an interesting post. You have inspired me to go and see it now.

Now, anyone admitting they were with Jeremy Clarkson on anything would put me right off.
People do indeed like different things, which is why it’s odd to denigrate people for their likes, call things you don’t like ‘crap’ etc. I know you haven’t done this, but others have.

Why?

I suppose it’s predictable in that it takes places in the wizard of Oz time so you know what’s gonna happen in the end 😂 but it’s a stage musical with 20 strong and popular (pop-youuu-LAR - if you get it you get it) run, the characters and storylines are very complex and political, it’s not some Disney fluff

@Oreyt
So he can't put himself out for anyone else's enjoyment?

That's not masculine. That's just selfish. Come on, sitting through a couple of hours of musical is surely the least a loving father or partner would do for someone they loved.

You do t know what Wicked is about, quite obviously. Or, you know what it’s about in the same way someone could say ‘I know want Animal Farm is about - a bunch of talking animals who take over a farm and can’t run it properly. You’re not going to convince me that a children’s story like that has anything to add to the philosophical discourse on the nature of totalitarianism’.

And I’m not even going to go and see the film as I object to the ridiculous capitalism on steroids approach of making it into 2 films.

When you say “stomach” do you mean the actual muscular organ shaped like a J into which your food goes or do you mean your abdomen ie the front part of your torso between your chest and pelvis- aka belly, tummy etc?

He sounds too harmless for you.

Careful what you wish for though..

This! If you are getting the ick over this then you just aren't into him. He hasn't said anything wrong.
It's like most of us when we get approached by someone ugly, we think it's creepy. But good if it's someone we fancy.

Oh, yes. His answer is always that there's nothing because he loves me so much...

I would never have guessed!

I get it OP, my ex thought of himself as a film critic, always telling me/posting on social media his thoughts on a film. He used to say things like 'an unusually dialled-in performance from such and such' ewww can't explain why but it was just so offputting. He'd say things like Hallmarks of a classic. I'm glad he's my ex.