I don't disagree, but there's a lot more entertainment available than there is time to watch it. It's perfectly reasonable to say "I don't like the premise of X so I will not watch it." It's wrong to say "X is bad although I haven't watched it."

This. Although I would phrase the first one "The premise of X does not sound appealing. I will not make the effort to seek it out." It may end up in my sights anyway, through friends or other means... In which case, I'll try to give it a chance.

But they, too, would need to be interested in the premise or be able to see quality past a premise that brings many discomfort.

That moment when you realize that there is a psychological science behind advertising...and it's actually interesting.

Fair enough, but without that critical "watch it anyway" I'm not likely to give it a whirl. You've got to have something actively overcome that initial "meh."

Agreed.

As an alternative approach to the prompt, I think that My Little Pony is a perfect example of what happens when people find something that they don't think is going to be good simply based on its appearance and premise, and find that it's so good that it resonates with people enough that we have entire conventions around it. In fact, it changed a lot of people's ideas about what "television for kids" meant, and even the concept of gender identity. However, if enough people say "I don't like the premise, so I won't seek it out", then some of the less controversial and more interesting shows don't get a chance. So, if its success relies on its ability to interest you, the first episode should be able to do just that. If someone says "It gets really good after episode 20", that doesn't make it sound like it has a good hook for the viewer. Just as a good book should be able to make you want to turn its pages long into the night, so too does a good television show need to make you want to say, "Okay, just one more episode." And that, I think, gives the hard working developers and animators and publishers of all kinds of entertainment, throughout all media, enough respect to give their work a chance to really shine and the chance to get the popularity that those hidden gems actually deserve. The world would be so stale without the ability to bring difficult topics into the spotlight, so that we can have a discussion about them and grow as people.

It's one thing to base judgement solely as you said. Off the title alone. Are you over simplifying it? A little? However, that is both a good and bad thing if that's truly your view of the world. As it allows you to stay true to your own designs with out compromising. While the acting is fine in say game of thrones. I honestly prefer the books. If I'm going to watch something with such heavy and violent actions that involve sex. It might as well be an anime, since I know it's breaking the laws of physics

I think for some people, myself included, being able to remove the need of a moral compass and view/read/play things without that muddling up our interest in looking into it can indeed work, as we are at that point where we have a line fully carved out separating the 'Fantasy' from 'Reality'. Yet I do feel like saying 'this should work for everyone' oversimplify the matter as well. Not everyone IS at that state yet, not everyone has their own compass figured out yet, more less are still trying to figure out how THEY even work at times. Trying to remove a barrier like that from a still developing person I think would cause more harm then good, as they sorta need that 'one step at a time' take on things to better adjust and learn where they really lay before they can really be out there in full force. Allowing them the option t take in things at their own pace as they see fit tends to do people better then enforcing them watching/reading things for the sake of a wider scope, you need to let people figure out what they really and truly like, before they can take in things that sits uneasy with them and adjust understanding that at the end of the day what goes on in that media isn't real and is exploring those themes.

you´re right there, i approve that people need to figure out for themselves what they like to watch and read.
that little toastlog concentrated only on the stories though, not on the people who experience stories. i do not want to say that everyone should watch everything at every point of his or her own development, just because it´s there to watch. it can be really bad to see something too early if you don´t yet are able to make a clear seperation between reality and fiction.

I don't think it is wrong I watch lots of anime like this. It's like saying wolf children is wrong cause it is basically. Borderline bestiality.

There's a similar anime 'i watch which was a high schoolboy falling in love with his teacher.
I say it was a wonderful story, it's just going to be a whole lot of woman for him to handle. But sadly they did not stay together because of the age gap. Unlike the reverse rolls with the male teacher and female student. I was saddened by this. It was the first love story I watch without a happy ending compared to many in similar rolls like this. It basically tells the sufuring of not being together.

Ideally, we should be able to give stories and fiction a chance, but that sense of discomfort is why we find it illegal. A relationship of that kind would be considered a crime in most places, and crimes are supposed to be something that a reasonable person would consider acting outside the norm enough to be harmful to others. So, while I agree with you, there is a reason why to do the opposite. Arguably, if we, as a species, found ourselves enjoying stories about crimes and gained exposure to it, many among the human species could easily become desensitized to them as crimes, and find ways to actually justify those actions. I approve of disapproval solely for the reason that it is difficult to trust people to treat it with the respect it actually deserves when so many of us lack the self control to not bring it in to real life.

when someone justifies an illegal or violent act from watching a work of fiction that inspired or further pushed the person to that action it´s not the work of fiction that is to blame, but a whole lot of other possible reasons, far more complex and less easy to grasp, like the mental disposition of that person, his or her socialisation, parents and other experiences...
it was always a permanent challenge for people of the past decades to get accostumed to the way all sorts of media and fiction is there for us to consume. media management, being able to seperate fiction from reality, that should be part of the schedule in schools, and carefully teached by parents. friends should talk with each other if they found something to watch that disturbed them, and so on... at least, let´s not forget how many of us at some point watched stuff we really had to process until we hopefully managed to stand above it. it´s a complex theme, with many challenges and no clearly defined rules to solve it, but many possible ways to move toward a better fiction-management.
the only solution i always disapprove of is to restrict the world of fiction.

Absolutely, I totally agree with you. And I won't disagree with the fact that it's good to have shows like these, but I also won't tell people they're wrong if they choose not to watch it because they can't grasp the story past their own personal issues or so easily find themselves saying "If I love this, then why is it illegal?" and actually start protesting it to others and trying to get them to admit that pedophilia is okay IRL. Which...is an unfortunate reality. But what you're saying is something I agree with; censorship of topics only stagnates us, and not giving something a chance is absolutely a form of self-enforced censorship. However, it's definitely not something everyone can do, in my opinion.

And then... there's the Last Jedi...
Everything that could go wrong with Star War (in-universe and outside of it) went wrong.

I believe the James Bond franchise should be allowed to have a chance.

I admit that I tend to be guilty of the "Complaining about shows I don't watch" trope. Particularly when I was more foolish and younger. I remember when I first learned about "Fritz the Cat" when I was younger, I didn't want to watch because I used to be too uptight over adult content back then. Since then, when I got older enough to watch or read R-rated or adult material on my own, I began to watch "Fritz the Cat" since then and I liked the movie, seeing that it was dark while having some funny moments. Since then I have been a fan of Ralph Bakshi cartoons since then.

yeah, we can make several evolving steps until getting to appreciate some work of fiction.

By the way, Robert Crumb, creator of Fritz the Cat, complained about the movie himself if I remember correct. To compare them or just to have some fun I recommend reading some of his Fritz the Cat-comics. He got annoyed with that chars popularity or what others made of him, that he wove his frustration in real life into the world of Fritz.
His other comics are also very funny, most of the stuff I like even more, like "Mr Natural" or "Dirty Laundry".

Yeah, indeed Mr. Crumb did hate the movie. He didn't like it so much that he made a comic where Fritz was some self-asorbed Hollywood movie star and he got the character killed off by a lady ostrich with an ice pick. (Of course it didn't stop the producer of the original "Fritz the cat" movie to make a sequel without Crumb and Bakshi.)

I did have a peek into some of the original "Fritz" comics that wee drawn by Crumb. I did find the first comic to be finny, even though it didn't have any much dialogue to it as I recall.

There's an argument to be made that "I feel discomfort or anger at the premise, therefore I will not invest time" is valid. I, better than you or some talking head pop evo psych guru, know the content and day-to-day function inside my head. I can make rational determinations regarding my personal preferences and how I will invest time, which is a non-trival limited resource that cannot be recovered. Time is worth more than any money or good or service. Investing that is the ultimate act of acceptance. Consequently, what gets it must be worthy of it, IN ADVANCE. I'll give things chances... if they seem like they actually should have that. Two Girls One Cup could make lofty claims about being a philosophical powerhouse of discussions and illustrations of the philosophy of life, but the basic idea is eating sh-t. And I find nothing appealing about eating sh-t, in fantasy or reality. But that's just me.

i´m ok with you having another opinion than me.
i just like to point out that i´m referring to fictional stories here. two girls one cup isn´t a story but a fetish video-clip, and in that way a flawed example to illustrate your point. i still think i understand what you mean, though. time is prescious, and we always have to make decisions about what we watch with all the possible options that are out for us nowadays.

an aspect about this all is the presumptions we make about a story if we hear it´s premise. presumptions about how the theme will be handled, and that it´s gonna be handled in a way we we don´t like. a story can surprise us with dealing with the theme in another way than we expected.
if i know a video is about people eating shit that´s pretty much all there is to it, and it´s true, there´s no need to still give it a watch.

but in the end, i don´t want people to force themselves to watch things they dont want to. everyone makes those decision for himself, and it´s fine to only watch the things you like. for me as a creative person it´s maybe a bit more important to keep broadening my horizon sometimes, so i try to give unusual stories apart from my usual favourites a chance.

I take your point and yes, I should have used a better example, though I thought that was just a hoax video, making it something of a fictional thing. But no matter. The thing is, I was more saying, I don't care how a premise is executed, if the thing itself isn't what I want. I've watched thing I didn't like, and , unsurprisingly, didn't like it. I admire you greatly, and hope that things go very well.