A lot of discourse online would probably cease if people recognized that the following feelings are entirely different:
“I love this and I’m critical of it.” (I’m aware of this thing’s flaws and am willing to discuss them in spaces where everyone else also enjoys it and isn’t engaging with critique in bad faith.)
“I enjoy this, but I’m critical of it.” (This is something I really enjoy but it frustrates me in ways that make me indistinguishable from a hater.)
“I dislike this and I’m critical of it.” (There are aspects of this thing that I feel are worth bringing up in discussion because I find them distasteful, but have nothing to do with you, a person who likes that thing, unless you try to argue they’re not distasteful and double down. You’ll get a lot farther if you accept every piece of media will have someone going hmmm don’t like that. See the first bullet point.)
“I dislike this because it’s not to my taste.” (There is nothing objectively wrong with this, but it’s not for me personally.)
“I dislike this and I think everyone who likes it is a [insert insult of choice here that ultimately amounts to calling people a Cocomelon smooth brain baby]” (how about you stop that.)
