Do Our Movie Tastes Define Us?

I don't know how many Wavers saw DONNIE DARKO, but the Wave-inatrix loved that movie. And I loved ACROSS THE UNIVERSE and of course I could go on and on. But I can fully appreciate someone who didn't go nuts over either movie. Maybe you're not a Beatles fan. Or maybe you are and ATU was sacrilege. I don't care, I loved it. Maybe DD was just too weird. Okay, I'll grant you that - it was pretty weird. But oh so damn cool.

But when somebody I had newly met said to me that they hate Woody Allen, time slowed down for a few seconds and I thought - oh - okay, I don't think I can be friends with this person. I mean, if you don't get Woody, if you don't get the particularity of his humor, intelligence and world view, then...well...it's over between us. BROADWAY DANNY ROSE - really? This is not brilliance? THE PURPLE ROSE OF CAIRO? How can you not love that movie? ZELIG? Okay I own the entire Woody Allen library, from BANANAS to HANNAH AND HER SISTERS. Later stuff, admittedly not so much.

But to not like Woody - to not get him - what kind of world are you living in??

I was talking to a friend yesterday who admitted to losing a potential friendship over SIDEWAYS. If you loved ATONEMENT, can you be friends with someone who hated that but loved HOSTEL?

Don't get me wrong, I have a lot of friends, god knows, and we don't all share the exact taste in movies, but my friends can always appreciate something I loved - they may not be the biggest Julie Taymor fan, for example, but they see how I could be. I have friends who adored movies like DIE HARD and LETHAL WEAPON - movies I appreciate but that most certainly did not change my life or stick with me in any way. But that's okay. Whatever.

What would you do if a friend said they hated Alfred Hitchcock? For me - this is heresy and ultimately, a deal-breaker. For me, off the top of my head, I think the deal breaker list would have to include:

Woody Allen
Martin Scorsese
Alfred Hitchcock
Billy Wilder

Whereas, I am a huge fan of but would TRY to understand if someone wasn't as into:

PT Anderson
Wes Anderson
Jim Jarmusch

I mean, of course, I would try to convert them and show them the error of their ways, but I get it; those are film makers who are quirky and are not for everyone to adore the way I do.

Am I being shallow (okay yeah, probably) or can you draw conclusions about people from their movie tastes?

Have any Rouge Wavers ever faltered in a relationship because of disparate movie tastes? How important is that ephemeral, intellectual-entertainment quotient to you?

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