It’s often said there is no such thing as a guilty pleasure — that we should be proud of enjoying the things we enjoy. But let’s be real here: we all enjoy at least one thing — a TV show, music, a game — that we’re totally embarrassed about. Time to spill your guts people.
Man, I have a ton.
I like professional wrestling. To a ridiculous degree. To the extent that it was the topic of my Master’s Thesis at University.
One of my favourite songs of the last five years is ‘Call Me Maybe’.
I watched Cars with my son the other day there and I thought it was ‘pretty good’.
I think Speed Racer is better than The Matrix. There I said it!
I could go on all day.
What are some of your guilty pleasures?
Comments
121 responses to “Off Topic: Guilty Pleasures”
My Tv Guilty is anything NCIS. Man I love that shit and Live my life the Gibbs way.
Movies well I am a sucker for dodgy JVCD/Segal movies.
As for songs well lets just say I lined up to buy tickets to see the Presidents of the USA…. last year.
I thought the first Triple X movie was lazy and pandering.
…I thought Triple X 2 was ok.
Taylor Swift. At least, early Taylor Swift.
I was about to be a douche and make a snide comment; then I remembered singing to myself on my way to work the other day.
Making my way downtown, walking fast,
Faces pass and I’m home bound
Staring blankly ahead, just making my way,
Making my way through the crowd.
I don’t even…
Vanessa Carlton yes!
You did this exact same article last year…
http://www.kotaku.com.au/2013/10/off-topic-guilty-pleasures/
Now that’s a Kotaku reader. Meanwhile, 1 year on, I’m happy to revisit a fun concept.
Will Smith’s glorious catalog of musical gems. Everything from ‘Boom, Shake the Room’, to ‘Mr. Niceguy’ to ‘Will2K’, ‘Miami’, ‘Summertime’. Ahh Big Willy Style…
On a fun note, I named my character in Pokemon Y ‘Big Willy’. It makes a great game even better. Especially when you come back to it after a few months and have completely forgotten the fact, then some character walks up to you and says things like ‘Good to see you, Big Willy!’. Genius.
Coming back to forgotten Pokemon nicknames is brilliant. I once received a random Ditto with good IVs that had been nicknamed Tom Brady. For some reason I never remember that I have him so when I go to breed a Pokemon and see that name there it instantly cracks me up.
Japanese game shows 😀
Also “If You Are The One” unlike anything I’d usually watch, when they have lines like “he looks like he’s from good stock” when a woman is looking at a prospective dating partner it’s hard not to be entertained.
Silent Library is probably one of my favourite Japanese game shows. It’s just so …. hilarious.
“I’d rather cry in a BMW than laugh on the back of your bike.” Honestly its such a fun show. A culture difference plus insanely hot girls. Why feel guilty?
ha :D, some of the best quotes. I guess because it falls into the category of a dating show that makes me feel weird about watching it, I wouldn’t be caught dead watching a western one.
It only works because its so culturally different. I get the sense that the girls on the show have pretty western values but have to pretend not to. Whereas on any western version the show would be full of fame whores looking for their 15 minutes just like every other reality show on tv.
I’m too old to waste effort feeling guilty about things I like.
There is one TV show I love that others who’ve never seen it think I should see as a guilty pleasure, though: Teen Wolf. I’m kind of addicted to that show.
+1. You’re right though – there’s too much quality here for anyone to have any right to consider it a *guilty* pleasure. Not unless Hemingway is a guilty pleasure… /hyperbole
Paramore…. could [and do] listen to them any day of the week.
PS. @markserrels : You shouldn’t feel guilty liking the movie Cars! If it makes you feel any better, I’ve got the entire generation 1 series of model Cars from the movie, and most of gen 2. Those things were $8 each when I started collecting them…. I don’t tell my wife how much I have spent on those ‘little cars with faces in boxes’ :p
A work mate has
“It’s not faith if you use your eyes” tattooed on his forearm. I make fun of it but i secretly think its awesome.
Wow, that’s commitment, haha. But yeah, their lyrics are absolutely fantastic. At the very least for a band with such a ‘pop’ image.
I own all of taylor swifts albums and enjoy the bejesus out of singing every song
i watched the anime “Free” and really enjoyed it (for you who dont know it has semi naked guys swimming constantly)
I played farmville for a while and liked it
I like the following films a lot: The Sound of Music, Oliver!, The Wizard of OZ and Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (not so guilty about this one.)
Music wise, probably quite a lot too, but a main one I lay claim to is Fall Out Boy.
Reading celebrity magazines…and so on.
Don’t forget murdering prostitutes, ya rascal!
Ahh you got me.
But you will never catch me.Willy Wonka the classic, or the
butcheredremake?El classico!
Only jackasses need to pretend that they thought the Sound of Music was lame!
I never deny it! Although, I realise that it would not be most people’s cup of tea.
How do you solve a problem like Maria…
Dead or Alive Xtreme series. A well balanced and compelling sports game that series was! 8D
Doctor Who! I have a square Tardis mug at work that everyone comments on. It’s actually bloody hard drinking from a square cup but it’s the Tardis… it’s bigger on the inside so i don’t have to go the kitchen to fill it as often.
I assume you’re talking about nu Who – Yep It’s embarrassing. Classic Who though – be proud! Greatest show ever!
God dammit Dad
TV: Top Model, Project Runway, Total Divas.
Music: ABBA, Grease soundtrack.
Movies: Grease, Bridget Jones’ Diary.
ABBA isnt even a guilty pleasure, ABBA is fantastic.
I love Gossip Girl.
I love Sex and the City.
I love movies that make me cry.
I love a large degree of pop songs.
I love chocolate to the point where I eat it almost every far.
I love Krispy Kreme.
gossip girl is good, the music in that show is crazy good.
oh god, i like things as non guilty pleasures that people think are 😛
I had an Original Glazed last week when I was hungover, goddamn I forgot how good this stuff is
Sorry, the concept of a guilty pleasure is ridiculous. I like what I like and I don’t care what others think about it. If I like some seemingly juvenile entertainment or generic by-the-numbers pop song then stiff shit, that’s what I like and I’ll tell you to your face. Being embarrassed by these things is indicative of a deeper problem than actually liking them.
Yeah, many of these things I’m reading and think, hey that’s actually pretty good. I don’t understand why it’s a guilty pleasure.
I agree with you, but at the same time I’ve copped some serious flak for admitting I like some things. Examples would be Britney Spears: Toxic, certain chick flicks where I have a little happy cry, terrible food that as someone who can cook I should have no place enjoying etc etc. As @piratepete said below, your mind is telling you you’re a fool for enjoying something yet you just can’t help it anyway 😉
I think a guilty pleasure is when your brain is telling you that the thing you like is trash and throwing up tons of reasons why its bad but you enjoy it anyway.
Its not so much what is popular to other people.
But how can something you enjoy be trash? Why does your brain tell you it’s trash/bad unless it’s been learned, probably with the help of external influences, that it’s trash?
As I understand it you can eat pizza or chocolate, knowing it’s bad for you and thinking the whole time that you shouldn’t, and that would be considered a guilty pleasure. I would just say it’s a choice you make weighing up risk vs reward, or an urge you find too hard to control.
I’m not certain how things like enjoying pop songs could be a guilty pleasure though. It’s not like when you listen to it a kitten dies somewhere in the world. Unless you feel guilty for buying a single from the likes of Rihanna who apparently shamed a fan of hers on Twitter. I know I’d feel guilty boosting the career of someone who does that.
Armageddon (the Michael Bay movie).
Man, it feels good to let that out…
T-Pain
Also the T-Pain autotune app
I only used that app to say “Shorty”.
Old cartoons, preferably from the 80s and early (pretty obvious given my post history).
Point and click adventure games.
Listing to music on vinyl and reading books in hard cover.
Your guilty pleasure is hipsterism? 😛
Nah, I think I’m just a retro-vert, 😛
Anime intro sequences. I know the music is terrible and the lyrics are always beyond stupid but I just love them.
The X Factor and The Voice are the only TV shows I watch on commercial TV. I would say K-pop and J-pop, but I genuinely like those without feeling an ounce of guilt or shame. I’m one of those who don’t really have guilty pleasures, because everything I like, I honestly like 🙂
Grown Ups 2!
I’m a lover of B movies which for some reason contain Nic Cage movies. Don’t know why. Everything Cage has ever done is amazing. Screaming head on fire amazing.
Haha, I thought the Wicker Man remake was the funniest movie of the year. We’re not the weird ones, people just need to learn how to take some Nic Cage lovin’. I always imagine him in his snake skin suit from Wild At Heart.
I liked the Transformers movies and was bummed that I never got around to seeing the fourth. Or TMNT, yet. Not all that guilty about it though 😛
More guilty pleasure would be singing along to the stereo in the car, I think. Wouldn’t do it while someone else was there, though don’t really have much of a problem admitting it.
I wouldn’t really know what counts as a “guilty” pleasure anymore but I guess there are probably some things that people would raise eyebrows at:
– I have a thing for any female in full body armour or plate/chain mail.
– I like shows and movies that punch me in the feels.
– I look at “icanhascheezburger.com” every day.
– I like cute things.
– Sometimes, I watch anime dubbed, and like it.
– Sparkling vampires are all right by me.
…
Ok, that last one was an outright lie. I will never, ever accept sparkling vampires.
cmon some anime is just as good or better dubbed. Eva, bebob, berserk, black lagoon, desert punk, GitS are a few that come to mind. Although most dubs are pure crap.
I’m a sucker for romantic comedies…..I’m sure it’s my wife’s fault.
C’mon…..most are pretty funny!
I’m right into The Bold and the Beautiful at the moment. My girlfriend watches it religiously and I used to give her shit. Now I get pissed if I miss it.
An old family friend moved to Byron from California decades ago, and his guilty pleasure whilst shaping surfboards (his job) is to watch all the dodgy soaps and also the cricket in summer. He is such a card hahaha.
Sounds like the perfect life. I’m a bit jealous.
Alanis Morissette and the Star Wars prequel trilogy. Both are awesome.
Midsommer Murders….
That area of the UK has such a high attrition rate….
I love that show. I also love that the ways people die and the plots get more and more extravagant as the seasons wore on.
Me too! It’s so charming for all the death. Have you ever watch Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries? You might enjoy that too 😀
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang! It started out with screening it for my then 3 year old daughter. She loved it. We have watched it about 8 times in the last year, we saw the theatre production of it last December at QPAC.
I bought her the soundtrack at the concert and we regularly sing along to it in the car. We love it and I suppose it’s a good bonding experience for us. I suppose I wouldn’t have been into it that much without my daughter (yeah sure).
Also: B-movies and Roxette.
Gilmore girls! I blame the missus for brainwashing me into liking it… Oh and every Godzilla movie ever… I like cheesy monster movies apparently
Edit – not really a guilty pleasure but Frozen is pretty amazing
I was just wondering why there hadn’t been any mention of Gilmore Girls…
Pen me down for that one too 😛
Gilmore Girls shouldn’t be a guilty pleasure. That show is pure nirvana, and features some pretty tight writing, acting and production.
Honestly, I feel guiltier for liking Die Hard. 😛
Agreed, my wife loves it and she’s made me a fan too.
Yup. I cannonballed the entire series run of Gilmore Girls over a month laid up in bed with illness.
It may have done irreparable damage to my psyche.
Gilmore girls fan here too.
Baking. I love baking.
I bring my baked goods into work to share so I can spread the love.
The first question is “What is it?” to which I explain (i.e. Banana Cake this morning).
The second question is “Wow, does your wife bake like this all the time?”
…….
Now I sometimes keep cakes to myself. Assholes.
I know this feeling sooo well. “wow your Mum bakes well” I’m 28 ffs, what’s wrong with cooking XD
You lost me at Speed Racer is better than The Matrix.
At least you made it to the end then.
Im a straight male who likes musical theatre…………..I also force the kids to watch icarly and good luck charlie with me so I dont get teased by the wife.
It’s funny that you mention the straight part, because my brother and his boyfriend LOVE musicals and play the damn music in the car all the freakin’ time (which I can’t stand because the music isn’t that good on its own, and I didn’t have any feels associated with the musical either, because I spent the entire time wishing they’d get the singing over with so the plot could advance). Given that in our circle of friends, a love/hatred of musicals is pretty much split among gay/straight lines, we all pretty much assumed it was likely a side-effect of those preferences.
MYTH: BUSTED!
Yup, I am partial to a good musical as well as a straight male, I cried after having my feels hit in Love Never Dies 2 and had hairs on the back of neck at attention when watching Wicked earlier this year.
I’ll also put my hands up for the “straight male who likes musicals” category. Went to see Las Mix about 3 times at the movies and I’m also a big fan od Seeny Todd and Repo! The Genetic Opera. Also keen to see The Lion King at the end of the year.
I don’t have guilty pleasures because I just accept and understand that some things I like in particular are kind of strange for someone like me to enjoy, and just laugh with people about it rather than getting embarrassed. I guess what most would consider a “guilty pleasure” in my position is the fact that I thoroughly enjoy k-pop/j-pop. In particular (at least for right now), Girls’ Generation. Holy hell, that’s some good shit. I’m a 19 year old male, for the record.
Bad movies. Mockbusters particularly.
Adventure time it’s weird…I like it
I’m not really 1 to have guilty pleasures, I like what I like and people can learn to deal with it, but when I really self analysed, I realised I seem to keep it very quiet that I actually really like the Vampire Diaries and the song “When Love takes over” – By David Guetta & Kelly Rowland. Oh and I’ve never watched any of the Godfather movies.
I’m a pretty big Taylor Swift fan, I went to my first concert of hers at 34 alone. Loved it, the only reason I have only seen heer twice is she’s only played in my city twice. I also listen to LeAnn Rimes fairly often. And I took time off work, travelled to another city to see Britney Spears.
At some point in my twenties I realised that sometimes you have to say ‘fuck it’ and do what you enjoy.
Also @markserrels – speaking of wrestling, I’m reading “Spandex, Screw Jobs and Cheap Pops – Inside the business of British Pro Wrestling” by Carrie Dunn of http://www.theonlywayissuplex.co.uk/ at the moment and it’s a great read.
(Declaration – she’s a friend of mine but it’s still a great read) .
I think I’ve heard of this book. Keen to check it out.
1. 2 soapies I enjoyed: eastenders ( to quote dr karl ” to be a character on this soap means that you are going to die soon, as this show has a high mortality rate, way more than f1 racing) & days of our lives (the show that ganon can live perfectly in since the main baddie was created the same decade as him)
2. Samzel (yuri shipping of samus & zelda)
3. I secretly wanted there to be a transformers 5 so as to see what bay’s answer to the creator of the transformers
4. I liked watching tron legacy
5. I am also a fan of other m, possibly because team ninja added moe of mother brain, thus the pun: moether brain
6. I watch tmz, both versions on go
Tron Legacy was great fun!
Tron Legacy cost me like $86 ;_;
Station carpark was packed, crammed myself into a non-marked space out of the way of everyone but came back to find a ticket. Blah.
Totally worth it though. And not just because it was kind of a date… which I probably screwed up completely but enjoyed anyway >_>
How to Train your Dragon 1 & 2. Holy damn, they crush any recent Disney/Pixar film in terms of story, cinematography and soundtrack IMO (and this coming from someone who effing loves Tangled). But I get murderous looks for suggesting as much.
I’m heaps cool so everything I like is also cool…just maybe not necessarily for my demographic…
Like others, I don’t really feel “guilty” about these things, but moreso find that they are things I like to enjoy, on my own. Not because I’m hiding them, but because I can fully engulf myself in them without having to explain my enjoyment to anyone else.
– Shows like Grey’s Anatomy and Private Practice
– Movies with Sarah Jessica Parker (even I don’t understand this. She’s pretty terrible, hahah)
– Big bag of potato chips for dinner
– Spending an inordinate amount of time in front of the mirror, studying my fine lines, removing stray eyebrow hairs and using face masks
Just dumb stuff.
Paramore. Fucking love Paramore.
I’m very hit-and-miss with them. An ex introduced me to them during our early-dating car ‘chats’ (and my first exclamation was, “Their name is spelled wrong,”), and I liked maybe two or three of the songs. Bought an album, hated most of it apart from those two or three songs. Dammit, historical music-purchasing paradigm!
Every time this comes up, I can’t help but be reminded of Dara.
As for me… my only guilty pleasure would be buying new pens. I know I don’t need more pens, and I thought I’d got over it, but had a relapse a month or so ago. Curse you, TWSBI! Curse your amazing design, your smooth nibs, and your vast ink capacity!
Oh, and I guess according to “people” I should feel guilty for liking Paramore and Avenged Sevenfold. Hint: I don’t.
Guilty pleasure is musicals, working in Health and Fitness people are completely shocked and demand an explanation when I let them know my plans for the weekend involved seeing a stage show or a play.
Freak!
I’m going to see The Lion King later this month. It’ll be my third time. I’m going to see Wicked in February. I saw The Phantom of the Opera in New York. DON’T JUDGE ME.
You’re not alone. 🙂
If there’s any excuse to have a Rocky Horror sing along, i’m there!
I’m pretty obsessed with Doctor Who.
I also enjoy growing vegetables. I’ve just moved into a house with a boring paved backyard so I am buying a lot of large pots to continue my growing adventures.
English dubbed One Piece. 350 episodes and 4 movies into my addiction/guilty pleasure and if the missus didn’t put a stop to it I would still be watching Luffy and his wacky adventures. Also a sucker for the Pokemon anime and have watched through Dragonball Z and Dragonball Z Kai.
I still like the first two Limp Bizkit albums – that isn’t very fashionable.
They were rad when i was 15 and they are rad now.
In my young, single days I played 50 hours worth of Dead of Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball on the original Xbox.
I might have to take it out and “check” to see a more accurate time. Ahem.
Much to the horror of my housemate, I enjoy musicals (Rock of Ages, Rocky Horror Picture Show etc).
I also have in my DVD collection (and quite enjoy) Wing Commander, Judge Dredd (the Stallone one), The Phantom and the crowning glory that is Dolph Lundgren’s Masters of the Universe.
And I’m with Serrels on the “Call Me Maybe” bandwagon…shit that song had me hooked…it’s still in my playlists today lol
Janet? Dr Scott! Janet? Brad!! … ROCKY! …
I’m a grown man with no kids but I find myself watching kids cartoons an embarrassing amount. Shows like Almost Naked Animals, Kaeloo, the Super Hero Squad Show, that ridiculous Ben10 show and Batman Brave and the Bold… *sigh* I also like DBZ, One Piece, Naruto, Avatar and Pokemon to the point where I have a rather substantial collection of DVDs carefully hidden away from the girlfriend.
I know I should have grown up and grown out of these sorts of shows about 25 years ago but I must have missed that particular memo.
A lot of those animated series on ABC3 are surprisingly good. SlugTerra, the series they show after the evening Good Game Spawn Point episodes is the one I tune into most. The art direction is far, far better than it has any right to be.
Tsundare Sharks
Son of the Mask and Kangaroo Jack 2003. I just think the concept of trekking around the country to pay for your own assassin is an hilarious idea.
I still play Guitar Hero and Rock Band.
“Call me Maybe?”
Unforgivable! >:(
I watch a lot of Rom Coms.
Also, peanut butter and mayonnaise (not combined).
I’ve been known to eat whole jars on my own in less than a week.
Sonic Boom Boy and Ba-Na-Na-Bam-Boo!
I remember having the hugest crush on Elizabeth Westwood 🙂
Justin Bieber, during his inception. T____T
Once a belieber, always a belieber, they say. Somebody PLEASE save me somehow… My sins will never be absolved, even if experience every form of atonement possible.
Back then, when he was only 16, I truly believed I was looking at a young singer with potential. Now he’s turned into an utter brat, a deplorable mess and just a sad excuse of a celebrity; I saw him live for the first time and the last time at Bieber’s Melbourne concert, where I remember him saying “Tonight, I’m looking for a girl to share my life with. Tonight, I’m looking for one of you to fill that role.”
At his deposition: “I don’t think I’ve ever been to Australia.”
Just disgusting now. As a celebrity, his behavior is doesn’t even equal that of the worst teenagers in history… and he calls himself a “Christian”; just a mere label for him to hide behind to preserve whatever perceived “morality” he believes he is promoting.
Gangnam style… wait i don’t feel guilty about that.
I quite like that Anaconda song. I feel pretty guilty about that.
Baby Got Back? 😛
I watched the most recent season of the batchelor with my girlfriend… and kinda enjoyed it.
.. lol
I don’t get why we call them “guilty pleasures” (I mean, I use the term as well…)
Am I more guilty having these pleasures? or would I be more guilty if I spent my life being “normal” wishing I had the confidence to indulge on these pleasures?
Ghost hunting shows like Ghost Adventures and whatnot. I don’t believe in ghosts whatsoever, but I like to think something might convince me one day ;P
…
…
Sonic 06
I guess I’m very similar to those discussing The Sound of Music. While I do not deny that I enjoy things that are not most people’s cup of tea, it doesn’t mean it’s a guilty pleasure. There are things that amuse me that are perceived generally not so good, such as when old people in normal conversation obliviously say something racist, whether it be minor or horribly racist, as long as it’s not said to anyone who gets offended, I often find myself in stitches. I generally spark it by asking one of my grandparents (Either Mediterranean or Aussie, not just Aussie) a question about a particular place. I then laugh for what is most definitely not a socially accepted amount of time.
Kyary Pamyu Pamyu and Perfume.
so much so I am going to see Perfume live in a few weeks…
REWATCHING naruto/bleach anime fights online streamed – whether its youtube or host-site but it always has to be English subbed for me; yes I am one of those people who hates English dub except for dragonball z haha!
listen to yellowcard paramore the script the getaway plan blink 182 sum 41 snow patrol
and also reading comics 😛 im currently reading marvel and indie comics, dc doesn’t interest me atm but injustice is right up my alley; everything is so dark and gritty when it comes to dc for me