Do you finish/stick with awful, awful books/films/etc?

[the_tortoise]

If you start reading a book, or watching a movie/TV show, or listening to song/album and, in your view, it's absolutely terrible in some way (insufferably boring or stupid or upsetting) do you force yourself to finish it? (I'm talking about in the case where you are readingwatching/listening for your own personal reasons rather than for the benefit of someone else or because you are being required to for school or work or some similar thing.)

If you do force yourself to finish these things, why do you do it? It seems pretty common for people to see these things through to the end, and I don't understand the point of it. Is it just that you have to finish what you start?

I will skip around (within the chapter/section, within a song, within an album, within an episode or a film) and see if it gets any better, but if it doesn't I just abandon it. I see no reason to torture myself and waste my time forcing myself to watch/read/listen to something that is supposed to be enjoyable or useful, but isn't.

I am not bothered about finishing things just for the sake of finishing them; I am only bothered about finishing things where there is some other specific, and meaningful/pragmatic reason to finish them, or when others are counting on me in some significant way (if a friend had written a book I hated and it meant a lot to them that I read it through, I would read it through, for one example.)

 

[Tom]

The worse the ship the faster one should abandon it.

 

[Mia]

Do something similar Tortoise, if it's something I begin to dislike I have been know to page through it a bit and then I give it up. If it's a book that is a regurgitation of someone else's thinking or a plot that has been copied over and over and reiterated once again. I'm usually annoyed.

There's very little out there that isn't similar to something I've already read. Although at one point when I had access to a university library I haunted the stacks for translated works from many countries in the world. And the plots were not familiar.

Have been know to startle my husband with an epithet and the throwing of a half finished book against the wall. At one point, there was a pile of several which I donated to a local charity.

Non-fiction is much more interesting to me now. As long as the writer can actually write well.

 

[SparklAng]

Films: I dislike films anyway. So unless it really interests me, it is getting switched off.

Music: I listen to music that gives me this indescribable feeling. If the music doesnt touch me in any way, I probably will switch it off.
Listening to bad music that I cannot switch off (on the radio in a social setting, in a shop etc) really annoys me.

Books: This is the more tricky one for me. It depends how far I have git through a book, and why I do not want to finish it. Recently I have been reading a book that was unexpectedly disturbing, but elements of it do interest me. I 'clicked' with some of the characters. But if I read the first page and I am bored to the point where I am dragging my eyes across the page, I would stop. I love reading- it shouldn't be a chore!

 

[Nervous Rex]

Not any more.

I gritted my teeth through so many TV shows that I had to watch every episode of because it was "my show" and so I couldn't change my loyalty. When one particularly bad TV series finally ended (Star Trek Voyager - Trekkies, forgive me for I have sinned), I felt such palpable relief that I realized that I had been forcing myself to like it for a few years.

Now when a show jumps the shark or drops in quality, I drop it like a rock. I can't even count the number of TV shows I've dropped in the last 15 years. There's always another show, so it's not like I'm losing out on anything.

To get myself to detach from a show that I've been loyal to, I sometimes have to tell myself, "It's just a story someone made up." Sometimes when a book or movie story is bad enough, I'll make up my own ending, just to get some semblance of satisfaction out of the time I put into it.

 

[Gracey]

I suppose I keep on hoping something different will start to happen.
Especially with books.

Films that are crawling along with unconvincing actors I have to abandon and quite quickly.

Books I will give a fair chance.

Hoping the writer has something they’ll surprise me with, or pick up pace or a twist or sting in the tale.

 

[tducey]

I have, to see if things will get better.

 

[GrownupGirl]

I'm lucky if I can sit through a movie or focus on a book that's good, so unless I have some kind of "bile fascination" with how bad it is, I will refuse to have anything to do with it.

 

[Gracey]

With music,
I generally like most things.

It has to be really awful in some way,
(Too ‘shouty’, chaotic, aggressive, screechy or just noise that’s hurting my ears or feels unsettling)

 

[onlything]

I always give a book at least 100 pages of 'doubt'. If the book is still terrible/boring/forgettable afterwards, I just abandon it. No point in reading/watching thing that doesn't give you anything but frustration.

Movies? Rarely watching and skipping boring moments.

From music - dubstep. Can't stand it for the most part.

 

[Nervous Rex]

I always give a book at least 100 pages of 'doubt'. If the book is still terrible/boring/forgettable afterwards, I just abandon it.

It seems like most authors are good at writing grab-yer-attention beginnings - I want to see if the writing quality is sustained. So, if I'm considering reading a book by an author I don't know, I'll open the book to some random page about a half to two thirds of the way through the book and read half a page. If I don't like the writing style, I won't read the book.

 

[kay]

Sometimes I only give a book 4 pages. Life is too short for bad writing.

 

[Major Tom]

I have to finish books and movies, only on rare cases do I abandon them. I don't know why I do it, but that's what I do..

 

[Thinx]

I can't see how to fill in the question at the top because it says do you finish or stick with the awful books etc and then offers yes no etc but if I say yes meaning yes I finish which is definitely my habit, I seem to be saying Yes I stick with it too?

I would switch off an awful film and give up on a book. But I remember deciding I had to give Thomas Hardy a hundred pages before I felt engaged in the story and persevered because the description was so good.

Music I d only listen to something I enjoy although recently was at an early music festival and the singing group decided to throw in a modern piece oooooeeeeoooo. Really that's what it consisted of. Oooooeeeeoooo. We were trapped so had to endure

 

[SusanLR]

I'm really picky with music and it can easily be turned off unless at a concert when they put in some stuff I don't care for.
Books can be like a what's around the bend type pull for me, even if I am not really into what I'm seeing. Especially fiction. So I've started it and I'll finish it, maybe not very quickly though.
Movies are the sometimes.
If I am really bored it goes off.
If I think there may be some redeeming quality I'll finish it.
Often just to find a bad ending.

 

[onlything]

It seems like most authors are good at writing grab-yer-attention beginnings - I want to see if the writing quality is sustained. So, if I'm considering reading a book by an author I don't know, I'll open the book to some random page about a half to two thirds of the way through the book and read half a page. If I don't like the writing style, I won't read the book.

Sometimes good books have a specific writing style that you need to get used to truly appreciate the story/contents. That's why I give the 'doubt' time. 100 pages is not many, so it doesn't take too long either. One page can be completely different than the rest of the book, for example as an interlude etc. You can't really judge the quality of the book by this, I'd say. But it's still a good initial look.

 

[Progster]

No, I don't force myself to finish reading/watching something unless I really have to for some reason, although books and movies can sometimes start off slow, and get better as you get into them.

 

[Smiley]

I've never walked out of a theater mid-movie, but I have often left the room when a family member was watching a really bad movie. If I've chosen the movie, I've always liked it.

I usually finish books, but if they're really boring or badly written I won't. Usually I only start ones that are at least decent. I recently finished two not that great books just because they were short.

 

[the_tortoise]

I can't see how to fill in the question at the top because it says do you finish or stick with the awful books etc and then offers yes no etc but if I say yes meaning yes I finish which is definitely my habit, I seem to be saying Yes I stick with it too?

If you have finished a book that you hate, then you have "stuck with it" until the end of the book.

100 pages is not many, so it doesn't take too long either

100 pages would be a huge amount for me, and would take a long time -- especially with something awful/boring as I wouldn't be able to maintain focus at all and would get extremely frustrated and upset.

 

[Mr Allen]

5 months ago I had to leave before the end of the new Star Wars and missed the end, but only because having just drunk a large coke, I was in dire need of the Khazi.