Didn't Go In Expecting Much...So It Was Fine

psychological defense mechanism. People don't want to be a sucker for wasting their money. So they decide they didn't expect much, therefore they didn't waste their money.

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I see this exact line or some variant in so many posts on this board. I'm just confused as to the logic behind this.

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I'll be glad to enlighten you.

Generally what is meant is that they did not have particularly high expectations for the film.

The suggestion is that many people will not enjoy a film, because they expected the film to be something more than it is.

The derivative here, in relation to some movies (such as "That's My Boy" "MacGruber", and "Ladies Man"), are that they are not going to be oscar winners or even smart humor. You aren't going to see smart or high brow humor.

Going to see a "That's My Boy", you can reasonably expect to see a Billy Madison or Happy Gilmore level of film. Stupid humor and Sandler using the stupid voice.

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If you saw "That's My Boy" and thought it sucked then what about any of the previews had you hopeful? You saw a shite film. Not, I didn't expect much so I'm okay with that.

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That is not what is meant by that.

Have you really thought that was what was meant, all this time?

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I see this exact line or some variant in so many posts on this board. I'm just confused as to the logic behind this. What a cop out. Why would you even purchase a ticket to a movie which you have no expectations of? It appears to be used on here as a defense mechanism for viewing bad movies. If you saw "That's My Boy" and thought it sucked then what about any of the previews had you hopeful? You saw a shite film. Not, I didn't expect much so I'm okay with that.

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Roaad's post handled this well but I'll just add one thing.

Not every movie is The Dark Knight or Gone With the Wind. Some movies can not be in my top 50 or even 100 but I still enjoy them. Just as some movies, no matter what you expected going in, are shite. Plain and simple.

It's not some big conspiracy as the op is implying.

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I see this exact line or some variant in so many posts on this board. I'm just confused as to the logic behind this. What a cop out. Why would you even purchase a ticket to a movie which you have no expectations of? It appears to be used on here as a defense mechanism for viewing bad movies.

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Defense mechanism? Now THAT'S ridiculous.

I don't think most people here would have a problem with saying (or in your case "admitting") that a movie they saw was bad. Why would they...what would be the benefit from that? I don't think people are so attached to nine bucks that they are afraid to admit that they spent it on something that sucked.

I've used similar statements on here many times before, and my point was that there are basically two kinds of movies to me: ones that I think I'd like and ones that I think I wouldn't. And the vast majority of the time, it's pretty clear which movies will fall into which category. However, just because I think I will enjoy a movie doesn't mean that I think it's gonna be great or some masterpiece...I can enjoy just regular, generic, run-of-the-mill movies. However, there are times when I'll watch a movie expecting to like it, but not expecting it to be great...those are cool times. However, when I see a movie that I think will be just okay, then I'll use a line like in your title. "I wasn't expecting much, so it was okay.." But it certainly isn't because I'm scared to say that I wasted my time on a movie.

I'll go back to my tride and true example of Transformers 2. I went into that expecting two things, lots of shite blowing up and cool looking transformers. And it was FULL of that. So I thought the movie was good. Not great obviously, and some of the parts were laughable, but I was entertained for two hours, which is all I ask for from a movie like that. However, tons of people were LIVID about the plot holes and how ridiculous the movie was. And I just don't get it...you knew exactly what to expect before you walked into the theater. So TF2 is a good example of a) me not expecting much from a movie and it meeting those low expectations, and b) people not being afraid to admit they thought a movie they all saw sucked.

don't know about movies, but i use it all the time with sex