Does popular = good?

[Ghoulish Delight]

At dinner the other night with the in-laws, we were talking movies, as we often do. In trying to convince us to see The Green Mile, CP's brother pointed out that it's directed by the same director as The Shawshank Redemption. I said, well, that doesn't help much because CP's not really a fan of Shawshank. To which he responded, "But it's the #2 rated movie on imdb."

First off, that surprises the heck outta me. I mean, I enjoy the movie, it's certainly entertaining. But the number 2 rated movie? Seriously? I can't even begin to express how wrong that is. With the number of truly excellent movies out there, for Shawshank to be rated #2? Yikes.

That got us into a short discussion as her brother basically said, "How can you say it's not a good movie if it's rated #2?" He flat out equated popularity with quality. That attitude baffles me. Popularity is such a transitory thing, just because a lot of people like something doesn't mean it's the best. It doesn't even mean it's good. It means it's popular. I just can't wrap my brain around the idea that because the masses like it, it must be good and that I'm just being a stubborn snob if I don't like it (whatever it is).