Sales=Quality

[vlad321]

DeadNotSleeping said:

@Vlad321: porn as a genre may be highly successful, but individual films do not generate much revenue in comparison to films released in mainstream theaters, or even indie titles for that matter.  But someone already pointed that out.

As for the other things you have mentioned, the TARDIS cookie jar needs not a response but it shall get one anyway.  The purpose of a cookie jar is to hold cookies, it is not a form of entertainment.  Doctor Who is a form of entertainment however, and sales of its merchandise contribute to the success of the franchise and series.  If someone hated Doctor Who they likely wouldn't buy it, perhaps preferring an R2-D2 cookie jar instead, contributing to the success of Star Wars.  Formula works.

Then your acceptance of quality referring to Heart of Darkness and Shakespearean sonnets, while also admitting enjoyment of RA Salvatore's work.  It is entertaining enough for you even though it isn't the most entertaining.  It lacks all the qualities you seek but possesses enough.  If you were only alone.  Many love his work, many hate it, including my friends who have an irrational hatred towards Drow.  Or perhaps a rational hatred now that I remember what Drow are like.  Anyway. 

Since your opinion is just one among many, its quality is measured by its cumulative success in sales.  Weighed against other books, say, Lord of the Rings, which is far more successful, it is easy to say it is of less quality than Tolkien's masterpiece.  Your personal, individual opinion is irrelevant against cumulative data.  If his stories managed to somehow outsell Harry Potter, what you recognize as quality would not be aligned with what the masses consider quality, and that's a more definitive verdict, weighed by how much the population is willing to spend.

Were you willing to spend money on Shakespeare or Heart of Darkness?  If so, you have already supported its financial success and have voted with your wallet.  If not, you have already acknowledged that your personal tastes do not reflect the quality of the work, quality determined by the masses' spending habits.  I recognize that it is quality even though I do not enjoy it.  But if it didn't have that selling power, then it would not have been quality.  I would have simply believed it so by judging it on certain traits, traits that are not enough to be considered objectively good, my opinion drowned out by the many.

Your opinion of Transformers is exactly that: your opinion.  A droplet in a sea of people who continue to spend money on it.  Your opinion is inconsequential in the grand scheme of things, as is mine when I choose to spend money on things I like.  I think Firefly is one of the greatest tv shows of all time.  Many people do.  But not enough for some piece of goh seh at Fox to greenlight a second season.

The test of time is the most accurate assessment, that much I can agree.  But that's because it has far, far more data than works of recent years. 

Nice way to dodge the porn question, because I already replied to the exact same thing you brought up. Porn as entertainment sells more than any other entertainment. Answer me how it is of higher quality than the other entertainment media.

The rest of what you wrote is fairly nonsensical. I also paid for Transformers, and it still remains the bucket of shit it is. Because I paid and was entertained by Salvatore, it doesn't mean his books weren't shitty as hell. It is beyond idiotic to measure Shakespeare or Salvatore or Transformers or Heart of Darkness by sales because they can get sales while being incredibly bad, or not get sales while being extremely good. Since those 2 options exist, your whole argument crumbles and becomes pointless.