"What flopped but had potential?" –– This was today's burning question from Redditor MansNotHot772 and let's just say that people had thoughts.
Okay, here's mine: Game of Thrones Season 8 is such a colossal disappointment. In fact, it drains the rewatch value of the rest of the series so effectively that you end up hating yourself for investing all that time.
I said what I said. It might not have been very original of me, but I am still horrified that that's what we got.
Other people are just as passionate as I about other things that disappointed the hell out of us, so buckle up.
"I don't think..."
Young adult book to movie adaptions like Percy Jackson and The Mortal Instruments come to mind. I didn't think the movies were terrible but they didn't live up to the hype expected, and weren't as true to the original material which upset fans.
"On top of the fact..."
In the documentary about Enron ("The Smartest Guys in the Room"), they talk about how Enron took on heavy losses as a result of this crazy joint venture with Blockbuster that failed. Enron engaged in fraud to hide those losses, got caught, and went under shortly thereafter.
The joint venture with Blockbuster was streaming movies over the Internet, direct to the home. At the time, high speed Internet was not ubiquitous enough to make the idea commercially viable.
This was true even as of when the documentary was made, as several people roll their eyes about how dumb of an idea it was (ironically, I watched the movie streaming on Amazon).
On top of the fact that this "crazy" idea was a large part of one of the most infamous cases of corporate fraud and led to one of the largest bankruptcies ever (at least at the time), is the fact that Blockbuster was put out of business as a direct result of the streaming movie industry when it was actually an early adopter of the technology.
Given that a new streaming platform launches roughly every 7 minutes, I would say that this idea had major potential. But, despite that potential, the idea flopped spectacularly and put both parties (who were both huge, dominant companies) out of business.
"In 2001..."
I feel like the Segway gets overlooked. In 2001 we saw for the first time a self balancing transporter with autocorrection if it leaned too far one way or the other. The accomplishment is huge, but got laughed at because it was weird. 19 years later and the best thing we have using it is the hoverboard rip off that had an immediate following despite how stupid people looked riding them in public and falling or losing them under cars.
"And to be fair..."
The "Odd Thomas" movie was actually a surprisingly really good adaptation of the novel. Everyone I know who's seen it liked it, but because of some weird marketing (if I remember right, the money for the marketing literally just disappeared) it never got advertised in its main channels. For instance, it never had trailers in the US. No one really knew it existed until long after released.
And to be fair (and also tragic), of course Anton Yelchin also passed away. He was the perfect Odd Thomas and I'm sad he didn't get the credit he deserved for that role.
"We used to be pioneers..."
GiphyOur space program. We used to be pioneers; we went to the moon over 50 years ago. We started all the shuttle missions in the late 20th century - early 21st century. However, it kinda stopped for a while. Now we are talking about going to mars though and hopefully space exploration can get some traction again.
"They had a lot of big artists..."
Frye Festival.
They had a lot of big artists booked and tickets sold. It would have worked if they had simple, but livable conditions as long as the festival itself was Instagramable. One person had suggested renting a cruise ship to house and feed everyone, which would have worked. There were still enough villas on the island to give out to the biggest social influencers to keep the image up. Obviously it was never going to work because the guy was a fraudster, but a lifestyle festival based on image was actually a good idea. And they did a really good job marketing it
"Sure..."
The LaserDisc. Sure, DVD is the superior format for a video disc by using a CD sized disc (which is both practical for storing and takes advantage of existing hardware) but there was a period of time when the superior video, sound, and integrity of the LaserDisc competed against VHS, and VHS ended up winning. LaserDisc was dead before the DVD was commercially available.
"Given its potential..."
The Black Death. Given its potential for mutations, it could even kill plants given the time. It could, literally, wipe out species! Imagine a virus that make stone itself rot! Fascinating, and terrifying.
"As a hardcore fan..."
The Avatar the Last Airbender movie. As a hardcore fan of the cartoon, I was SO disappointed on so many levels while watching the movie. I was cringing 99.9% of the whole duration of the film. They could've at least pronounced the main character's name correctly like how it's pronounced in the cartoon!!!
"I think there's a bit..."
I'm sure someones listed this already, but the Star Wars films under Disney's banner. I think there's a bit more general distaste towards The Force Awakens than it deserves, but almost every other title since has been bland, nonsensical (considering the fantasy), or just an effort to please the vocal minority.
Reddit user _Brunonono_ asked:
"What's something you can't tell your partner for fear of upsetting them?'
No Malice Intended
"The first piece of jewelery I bought my wife was a necklace. We went on holiday and she lost it."
"I said I would replace it but it wasn’t the same, she was upset that she’d lost it for sentimental reasons."
"I emailed the hotel and of course they hadn’t found it. So I bought a replacement and told my wife they found it."
~ EnzokuhleLesedi
"My wife has a beautiful heart."
"I jokingly call her a Disney princess because any animal that she comes across she has to talk to, and greet. She has cried by seeing a dead raccoon on the side of the road before."
"At the time, I was working day shift and she was working a swing shift."
"I had a busy day, but I saw she sent me some pictures of a young doe that was eating in our front yard. She seemed thrilled."
"I came home and saw the same deer!"
Giphy"Dead."
"On my god damned porch."
"I felt like I started to hear 'the first 48' theme playing as I realized I have six hours to get rid of this thing before my wife gets home and her world is shattered.
"I call my local city authorities thinking they wouldn’t want a dead animal in the middle of town. Turns out, they couldn’t care less."
"I called some local raptor shelters to see if they could take a stat donation but it turns out the dead deer business is booming and they didn’t have a need for donations at this time, especially in the next 6 hours."
"Frustrated, I call my dad to vent and get advice on what to do."
"His response is only a 'Hold on bud, I’ll be there in 15 minutes'.”
"I go back inside to take care of the dogs and within the next 15 minutes I see me dad back his huge truck into my back yard, has the tail gait down and is knocking on my door with a pair of nitrile gloves on and another pair in hand for me."
"It was starting to get dark out, but we had that thing loaded up and found a special place to, uh... dispose' of it. We made it back with 20 minutes to spare before my wife got home."
"I haven’t told my wife because I think it would either break her heart, or creep her out at how efficiently my dad can dump a body."
"Anyway, wifey thinks her deer friend is alive and well, and totally not at the bottom of a ravine."
~ EliseoJan
Oops!
"The remote didn't disappear."
"I accidentally put it through the washing machine and destoreyed it and threw it out in a panic."
~ NinaBen63
"It was me who cooked with oil and didn’t clean the spatters off the stovetop… not the cat."
~ Poorly-Drawn-Beagle
"I'm impressed your cat can cook."
~ Antillaa
"Well, nothing fancy, not what you'd call a feast."
~ Poorly-Drawn-Beagle
"Just a meowdest meal then."
~ Grunthos_Flatulent
GiphyBetter Left Unsaid
"That she is wayyy more like her mom and sisters than she likes to think."
~ Famannot34
"Could be worse ... my partner is becoming more and more like MY mother than she would like to think!"
~ DeeDee_Z
"That’s definitely one to keep to yourself."
"Forever."
~ msjammies73
"I hate your mom and I'm a little afraid you're going to turn into her, both physically and personality wise."
"Especially since your dad keeps talking about how you have your mom's whole face and personality from back when they first got together."
~ midnightsonofabitch
Giphy"I would like to go somewhere and be alone for a few weeks."
"I love them so much but I have never been on my own in my life and I would like to try it for a minute."
~ PeacefulWarCat
"I daydream/wonder what it would be like to live completely alone."
"How I wouldn’t have to compromise."
~ TA_MHGal
"Lord. I always thought when I met the right one I wouldn’t mind sharing my space."
"I’m a loner by nature."
~ illustriousocelot_
"I only put spiders outside when she sees them."
"If they're only noticed by me I let them continue hunting bugs, sometimes with a few soft words of encouragement."
"You're doing a great job, little guy."
~ c7hu1hu
Giphy"She is using words incorrectly."
"She has a half dozen she routinely misuses and does not want to hear it. Example: The middle of the road is the median, not the medium."
"Drives me insane."
"Married 20+ years. Some things you let go."
"I even tried repeating it back to her in the conversation properly to avoid the conflict. Still doesn't work."
"What is surprising is she easily reads a couple of books per month and is super bright. She just has words that somehow got stuck in her vocabulary along the way."
~ Caspers_Shadow
Is Manipulation So Bad?
"I wanted my husband to quit wearing denim shorts because they made him look old. He had gained a bit of weight, so I kept buying his jorts in his old size 34 and I bought khaki shorts in a 38."
"He will never read a label for any reason. He would put on the jorts and then lay on the bed and lift and spread his legs to stretch out the shorts a bit."
"He blew out the back seam of two pairs in the same day, then ended up putting on the khaki shorts."
"Since then, almost 20 years, he has insisted that khaki shorts are made better and fit more comfortably than denim shorts of the same size."
~ fire_thorn
Hiding In Plain Sight
"Not me but my parents. If my mom wants to hide literally anything from my dad, no matter what it is, she just puts it somewhere where he would have to bend over to see it."
"Doesn't matter if it's something like a package of oreos, if my dad has to bend over to find it he's never going to find it. I've tested it with my own snacks when I was still living with them to confirm it works.
"He'd be mad if he knew how many snacks we'd hidden from him simply because he doesn't bend over low enough to see it in the cabinet."
~ WonderfulFennels
"This is rather hilarious. Not quite what I was thinking of, but hilarious."
~ OP _Brunonono_
"Headline: Man Starves To Death In Home: Couldn't Find Food at Knee Height"
~ Papancasudani
GiphyMight Be Time To Speak Up
"I am tired in my soul."
"I carry the mental load, do 99% of the domestic chores, do the meal planning, grocery shopping, and cooking. I’m the breadwinner and also the one responsible for our finances."
"I’m tired in my heart and soul. You agree when we talk about our future but there’s no execution on your end."
"You see my frustrations and you think it’s postpartum depression but it’s you, not the kiddos. I’ve been doing the therapy and the Zoloft. Why aren’t you?"
~ Beagle_Gal
In almost every case, Redditors' biggest concern was their partner's feelings.
Except for those snacks.
Hopefully they put a few snacks in dad's line of sight.
