Why does everyone hate this?

I loved the film but that is just me. To the poster who started this thread, no, not everyone hates this film. It isn't you against the world. Interestingly, if you look at the IMDB data, it appears that the older you are, the more probable it is that you didn't like the film.

For me, the film got me thinking and was quirky/funny along the way. That's a combination of factors in a film that I am particularly attracted to. For the ones that didn't like it, that's fine. It's not necessarily that you're stupid/uneducated as some defenders of the film are saying. You just didn't like it and the reasons are different for different people.

Now, to call it pretentious is another thing. It is POSSIBLE that you didn't get it, but that may not be the whole story because I didn't get every aspect of the film either, but that isn't going to make me call it pretentious. What was pretentious about it? The subject matter? The characters in general? Well, I found that the characters were very true to life. They were all reaching out to feel connected. Even the therapists themselves, had their own conflict brewing (between the different ideologies). They weren't immune to needing to feel connected. Notice how aggresively the existentialists would pursue their subjects, especially when they disagreed with their methods. It seems a trifle against their philosophy to do so.

Also, notice how the french therapist was possessive about Albert when he expressed a desire to combine her methods with those of the existentialists. If anything, IMO, I don't see pretentiousness in any of the characters. Quirkiness, and riddled with human flaws, yes. Pretentiousness, no.

I also do tend to think of life as a modern comedy of manners, and that aspect was brought out effectively by the film. We say what we need to say to get ahead, not necessarily what we ought to say.

Another reason I liked the film so much is that I see that boards/topics like these reflect the content and the discussion that the film was trying to promote. IMO, the reason why we defend what we like or hate so much is because we want to be accepted/connected. We're just like Brad Stan in this way. Putting on fake (i.e. online) personas to put ourselves out there. We seek a connection by attaching our existence/individualism to things, like the I love this/I hate this debate. And when someone disagrees, the natural reaction is defensiveness because the other's opinion makes one feel less connected and more isolated and alone. In short, it's all about the ego.

But IMO, the film was just telling us to let all of that go. We're connected already by the mere fact that we all want to feel connected. The struggle is the same yet different for everybody because we're all human. Or, it's that life is meaningless/cruel/disconnected so why care SO MUCH about attaching ourselves to things when attachment itself does not exist.

And I'm not about to pretend that I'm above all of this. I'm human too. I wrote on this forum to attach myself to this debate. I'll also be back to check if anyone responded because I'm riddled with flaws as well. Just lending my two cents.

PROFANITY! The example in the quotes section is enough to keep me from it.