Anne Suslak lists the five hypes she just didn’t get. What hypes didn’t you get?

Crazy Bones

These weird, tiny, plastic figurines were really popular in my primary school back in 2001. People sat around in clumps on the playground knocking the little plastic toys into each other, but I never owned any or understood the rules of the game. According to Wikipedia, Crazy Bones were actually based on an Ancient Greek children’s game called ‘Knucklebones’, which was played with actual sheep’s knucklebones. Perhaps in Ancient Greece it would have been more interesting.

Doctor Who

This is definitely an unpopular opinion, but I just don’t really understand the huge popularity of this show. I enjoyed the series of Doctor Who with Catherine Tate, but since then I’ve only had a mild, passing interest. I’ve liked each individual actor, but I think the disjointed storylines and ever-changing cast has left me alienated and confused, like every single character on the show. I love Peter Capaldi, but I’ve long since stopped enjoying the script and plotlines.

Scented Gel Pens

I wasn’t allowed to own any scented gel pens as a child, because my parents thought sniffing pens would encourage solvent abuse. Attracted to anything that I was forbidden to have, I was happy to receive a grape-scented gel pen as a present from one of my friends. The pen was a nice purple colour, but it didn’t smell like any grape I had ever encountered. While the pen wasn’t a gateway into a life of substance abuse, it was a huge disappointment.

Fifty Shades of Grey

I’m probably not the only one, but I just don’t get it. E. L. James (a Kent graduate!) was entitled to write as much BDSM Twilight fanfiction as she likes, but I don’t understand the huge mainstream appeal. The series outsold Harry Potter, which seems odd considering Harry Potter was read by adults and children alike, while Fifty Shades surely had more of a niche market. Having met approximately one person who has actually admitted to reading the book, I still have no idea who bought all those copies.

Myspace

I never had a Myspace. I went straight from Bebo to Facebook. I was probably too young to get much out of social networking, as I saw all my friends at school every day, but I still didn’t really understand the concept. From the extremely limited view I got of other people’s Myspace pages, it seemed like the place to give yourself an edgy, emo nickname and post pictures of yourself with lots of eyeliner and a dramatic side fringe. I didn’t know enough song lyrics to put in an ‘About Me’ paragraph, and I probably just wasn’t cool enough.