Let’s be clear about one thing, I love cataloging media. I’ve done it for music, I’ve done it for movies, and I’ve done it for almost anything I can obsess over. I am, admittedly, a RYM-fag (and a Discogs one too). But here’s the part where it goes wrong. How often do we pretend to like an album, just because it's collectively considered a "good" album? I know a lot of us are guilty of that at some point or another. It might seem like some harmless fun, but if you ask me, this BS is slowly killing our own enjoyment for what we enjoy. And those Letterboxd idiots? They’re doing it too, only with movies.
Letterboxd users are unbearable, sure. They obsess over ratings, turn every review into a philosophy lecture, and they treat film-watching like an audition for cultural relevance. But let’s not kid ourselves, RYM users are just as guilty, and I HAVE to say that else I get called out for hypocrisy and RYM-bias. How often have you seen someone argue endlessly over whether a 1978 prog record deserves 4.5 or 4.6 stars, or whether a band “really counts” as indie? How often do we reduce music to checklists, micro-genres, and numeric hierarchies? The moment personal taste becomes a scoreboard, the music or the film ceases to exist as art, becoming fuel for the flames of self-validation.
On Letterboxd, a mediocre thriller is automatically “bad” if you didn’t stuff your review with some pointless philosophy. On RYM, a catchy pop album is automatically “bad” if it hasn’t been dissected in some obscure subreddit or cited in some decade-old forgotten zine. In both cases, we’ve allowed enjoyment itself to become a distorted image of what it should be. We obsess over being right, looking cultured, and proving we “understand” better than just about anyone else. And in doing so, we strip the joy from the media itself.
The worst part? This behavior is self-destructive. The more you obsess over ratings, rankings, and obscure references, the less you actually experience music or film. You start chasing validation instead of true enjoyment. A track isn’t just a song and a movie isn’t just entertainment, it’s practically become a statement about your taste. One for everyone to judge. And then you wonder why you feel numb, why your playlists and watchlists feel more like homework than passion. That's because you're making it that way.
I’m not saying tracking, rating, or reviewing is inherently bad. I’m saying letting it replace actual engagement is toxic behaviour. The best listening and watching sessions don’t need likes, lists, or perfectly balanced scores. They need attention, curiosity, and a willingness to just feel something without worrying about how it’ll be judged.
So the fact is, I hate most Letterboxd users for how they elevate pretension over enjoyment. And I hate a lot of RYM users too for doing exactly the same thing to music. We’re all part of a self-perpetuating cycle of over-analysis, over-curation, and self-congratulatory obsession. And quite frankly, it’s killing the things we claim to love.
And to be honest, I'm not at all exempt from this behaviour, as it has become a habit I find myself falling into one too many times. I get that curation and analysis is something people find enjoyable when it comes to media, but there's always a line you should draw before the entire thing turns into a toxic habit.
You like what you like, but don't pretend to like something just because someone else said so. Form your own opinions instead of becoming a casualty of herd mentality and peer pressure.
- Aid's