"How can you NOT like [movie/band/book]???"

[s_stabeler]

To be honest, Game of Thrones is surprisingly realistic for books/a tv show centered around a medieval country. (various magical abilities are really the sole exception) since that level of infighting is about right for a land where there is not a strong King ( or Queen, though in some ways, they had to be even stronger)

[Dreamstalker]

It's been assumed that I'm into Game of Thrones because I have a few of the direwolf plushies...no. The show/books just isn't the sort of thing that interests me in general but I think the direwolves are cool.

[Tanasi]

MY wife and kids love GoT and never miss an episode, I never really cared for it, that is until I was laid up for 18 months recovering and during that time I got sick of just about everything on TV. One day my wife suggested GoT so I watched a few and became somewhat hooked. I haven't seen the current season but from what I've heard it sounds pretty good.
I also dislike all those vampire/werewolf movies and shows but I especially like LOTR and Hobbit movies and books. My wife and kids think it's a contradiction. Those Twilight and True Blood shows seem like a a bunch of teenage angst and having teenagers in the house I get enough of that without seeking out more.
I also dislike bananas, I don't like the looks, smell, taste, feel or sound of them. I don't allow them in the house. If someone just has to have one then they can eat it outside in the street off of my property. My sisters tortured me with them when they were kids right up to the point I busted their hind-ends one day and made believers out of them. There's lots of things I don't and won't eat but unless whatever it is just smells awful and is obnoxious then I generally don't care.
Now I'm not totally adverse against trying new things, but I don't want whatever it is shoved in my face nor down my throat. In those situations I tend to balk and clam up, I guess it seems childish but does anyone like those situations???

[NecCat]

Here's a conversation I often have:
Person: This is great, would you like some?
Me: What's in it?
Person: Ingredient, ingredient, bacon, ingredient
Me: No thanks, I don't like bacon.
Person: Really? I didn't know you were a vegetarian!

That is the only reason way too many people think someone would not want bacon. I don't like most pork is completely unthinkable to most people I meet for some reason. (N.B. I'm not even a little bit vegetarian.)

[TheHuckster]

A variant I've had to deal with:

Me: Please hold the tomato on my burger
Them: But, you like ketchup
Me: ...yes, so? Ketchup tastes completely different than raw tomato.
Them: But ketchup has tomatoes in them!
Me: I know. Like I said, ketchup has a completely different taste and texture than just a sliced tomato.
Them: That's so weird!
Me: Well, let me ask you, would you like it if I put a slice of orange on your burger?
Them: What? No, that would taste weird.
Me: But you like orange juice?
Them: Yes, I do... oooh, I see.

Same goes for a lot of similar things. I like certain foods, but only if they're on certain things. I don't like chicken and waffles together, even though I like both of them separately. I can't stand lemon meringue but I'll gladly eat lemon tart or lemonade. It's all about the context for me.

[Rageaholic]

I also dislike bananas, I don't like the looks, smell, taste, feel or sound of them. I don't allow them in the house. If someone just has to have one then they can eat it outside in the street off of my property. My sisters tortured me with them when they were kids right up to the point I busted their hind-ends one day and made believers out of them. There's lots of things I don't and won't eat but unless whatever it is just smells awful and is obnoxious then I generally don't care.
Now I'm not totally adverse against trying new things, but I don't want whatever it is shoved in my face nor down my throat. In those situations I tend to balk and clam up, I guess it seems childish but does anyone like those situations???

Yeah. A lot of food just triggers the gag reflex in me (particularly green, leafy veggies). Just being near them can be bad enough, and I often have to excuse myself from the table. I know some may find it rude, but I don't give a shit anymore. It's not like I'm demanding they not eat those veggies.

A variant I've had to deal with:

Me: Please hold the tomato on my burger
Them: But, you like ketchup
Me: ...yes, so? Ketchup tastes completely different than raw tomato.
Them: But ketchup has tomatoes in them!
Me: I know. Like I said, ketchup has a completely different taste and texture than just a sliced tomato.
Them: That's so weird!
Me: Well, let me ask you, would you like it if I put a slice of orange on your burger?
Them: What? No, that would taste weird.
Me: But you like orange juice?
Them: Yes, I do... oooh, I see.

Same goes for a lot of similar things. I like certain foods, but only if they're on certain things. I don't like chicken and waffles together, even though I like both of them separately. I can't stand lemon meringue but I'll gladly eat lemon tart or lemonade. It's all about the context for me.

I used to get that with potatoes (I like french fries and potato chips). Though later on, I started to like potatoes (mashed and baked).

[KabeRinnaul]

Me: Please hold the tomato on my burger
Them: But, you like ketchup
Me: ...yes, so? Ketchup tastes completely different than raw tomato.
Them: But ketchup has tomatoes in them!

I have a stranger one. I have a very slight tomato allergy. Raw tomato makes my throat itch and hurt, but I don't get that from tomato-based sauces. I can (and do) eat ketchup to excess, and I have no problem with spaghetti/pizza/chili (salsa seems to trigger it, but I haven't figured out if that's the tomato or the heat). I just can't have raw tomato on sandwiches. Which is unfortunate, because I actually rather like it.

[EricKei]

Not that unusual, Kabe. Tomato is one of those foods whose composition changes significantly when it's cooked. Plenty of folks are allergic to raw and just fine with cooked 'maters, and vice versa. As TheHuckster said, the taste and flavor are totally different, as well; I'm on board with him -- Ketchup? Marinara? Red sauce? All day long, sign me up! Sliced? Diced? Polluting my sammich? Hell no.

As for salsa -- Especially if it's freshly made, it's often done with raw tomatoes; as long as it's pure veggie salsa, it doesn't really NEED to be cooked. If they're still in "tiny cube form" and not soggy/mushy, chances are that they're raw. If it's in "chunky liquid" form (e.g., if it came out of a jar), it's likely to have been cooked.

[jackfaire]

I think the other side of this is the "How can you not have a strong opinion?" thing. There are some people that will accept you hate Star Wars while they love it, or vice versa. But if you're response is "I watched the movies once they were fun. I will watch the next one once." and you move on with your life as if they are just movies and you aren't invested in either side of the debate.

That's where I stand. I get labeled "geek" or "nerd" because I enjoy sci-fi, fantasy, comic books etc. But the thing is I am not even close to being a FanBoy. These are things that I enjoy but with a few exceptions they aren't the things I constantly revisit or re-read or wear the merch for. It's like people have developed this "love or hate" idea of these things where there's no such thing in their minds as the casual fan.

That's me. Hell even my soccer team I catch the matches when I can but am not heartbroken when I miss one. There are things I care strongly about and things I FanBoy about but they are things like Boy Meets World/Girl Meets World and ravenously hunting down and collecting books I read in my youth. So when people try to suck me into "their side/my side" debates both sides turn on me when I am like "I like em both but not as much as either of you"

P.S. I realized my interests sound weird so some explanation. I grew up watching the show BMW when I didn't have any friends and was an angry kid the show kept me from a dark road so it means a lot to me and the sequel is like revisiting with old friends. The books I am not talking like children's books. I was reading at a college level in the sixth grade. So I am talking mostly adult books that I read so long ago I have forgotten the titles and authors of some of the ones I wish to re-read.

[Rageaholic]

Two related rants.

1. The idea that we have to like something just because it has a positive message. I got this when I expressed my annoyance with "all about that bass" a couple of years ago. "But it's about body positivity! How can you be against that?". I'm not against body positivity, I'm against crappy auto-tune. The song could be about world peace for all I care, but it would still make me want to stab my eardrums out every time it comes on.

2. The people who just won't accept that you're not interested in trying their food/movie/music/book/tv show. You could say no 40 times and they'd still be trying to convince you. They'll demand an explanation for why you don't want to try it, but they'll take any explanation you give as an invitation to debate you on it. Then when you blow up at them in frustration, they'll act all hurt. To which I say, GOOD. If you're too stupid to realize that no means no, then you deserve to be yelled at until you cry.