Favorite vs Best

[Kato]

Poorly phrased title is poorly phrased, maybe I'll correct it later if I can think of a better one.

So, something I've often observed is many people, including myself, rarely differentiate between their favorite X and the best X (or even X they like and X that are good, but one thing at a time. I was even think of the negative turn around but that just invites hateful debate). It makes sense, since "I really like this" rather implies "this is really good". And often enough there is a large overlap between the two.

BUT it doesn't have to be the case.
For example my favorite game in the FF franchise is the fifth installment, but I'm totally accepting of nobody agreeing with me and I'd never claim it's the best (please don't start that debate)
My favorite Gundam series is without question G, which is popular enough but I'd never put it at the top of a best Gundam list.
(I'm terrible at choosing favorites (or bests) so I won't go on)

So, I was wondering about cases where you would pick something as your favorite while being (very) aware that there are better choices. I guess there's a certain overlap with guilty pleasures, but I feel like there is enough of a difference, because that's more "liking something that is bad" in general.
So, if you have any thoughts, I'd love to hear them.

[JeenLeen]

Sometimes folk use the words as synonyms. I think it depends on the context as to whether it'd be misleading or not (intentionally or unintentionally), and whether one might easily misunderstand.

For example, I like fried chicken that is dry, a tad over-cooked and hard to chew. My favorite is a leg or wing where I can't really tell if I'm eating bone or meat. So that's my favorite. But I can understand it's not the best, compared to a general consensus of what fried chicken should be. (I realized this after trying to describe to my wife why I didn't care for a really cool restaurant's fried chicken. In the end, I paused and said, "I think I mean I don't like good fried chicken.")

I can see similar things in game design. Using your example: for a while, I loved Final Fantasy 8 more than most any other game, and I declared it both my favorite and the best. Over time, I admitted that the combat system was pretty poor (even if I still liked playing it) and the plot was a bit odd. So it was my favorite but I realized it wasn't the best. Now, a bit more mature myself and no longer really identifying with the main character, it's lost that status as 'favorite'.

So, for any entertainment or media, if there's some sort of standard, I can see preferring stuff that doesn't quite meet the maximum. Like, I might prefer poor cinematography for personal reasons, but can acknowledge it as well-done.

There's also some folk who view things in a Platonic light, thinking there is an objective ideal, and could see their preferences for lesser as true imperfections in themselves. I generally view things Platonically, and I think some of my enjoyment of certain types of humor is a flaw. My favorite entertainment is not the best way to be entertained.
Though, I wouldn't say my liking of a non-Ideal fried chicken is a moral failing. So maybe I'm not fully Platonic in my outlook towards personal taste.

[Kitten Champion]

A "best" movie can be great for tackling serious issues in a sophisticated fashion, using intricate and impressive film-making techniques, having a masterfully woven story with well-developed characters and themes, and doing something novel with the medium of film -- but they can also be very hard to actually sit through.

I think Mulholland Drive is a great movie and a fantastic expression of its craft, but I've only seen it twice. Whereas I've seen something like Grosse Point Blank or Groundhog Day at least a dozen times. I watched Blade Runner 2049 for the first time since theatres yesterday - and I'm probably not going to see it again for a while - whereas I could watch Thor:Ragnarok again tomorrow without complaint.

You also don't get much in the way of those quotable moments with friends and strangers in something like 12 Years a Slave that you'll get with The Princess Bride, so that pop culture reference book is pretty tilted towards more lite fare.

[2D8HP]

If I'm hip to your meaning, of the novels of John Steinbeck that I've read

The Grapes of Wrath (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Grapes_of_Wrath)

may be best, but I'm more likely to re-read his

The Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Acts_of_King_Arthur_and_His_Noble_Knights),

so that'd be a favorite, of movies with Knights that I've seen

The Seventh Seal (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Seventh_Seal)

may be best, but I'm more likely to re-watch

A Knight's Tale (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Knight%27s_Tale),

and of movies about battling Nazi's that Steven Spielberg had a hand in

Saving Private Ryan (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saving_Private_Ryan)

may be best, but I've watched

Raiders of the Lost Ark (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raiders_of_the_Lost_Ark)

so many times that it's clearly a favorite.

[AuthorGirl]

NO, MY FAVOURITE THINGS ARE DEFINITELY THE BEST!!!! :smallfurious:

Obligatory Internet behaviour aside, I get what you mean.

Examples:


I love cheesy, vaguely fantasy-based power metal lyrics. They're fun to get lost in. Still, I recognize that they are far from poetically brilliant.

YA fantasy is fun and I will fight you if you say otherwise.

Cute, huggable, easy-to-make stuffed animals and cozy scarves are just more pleasing than ornate, decorative crochet masterworks.

. . . and so on. Basically, I have simple tastes and quality will just intimidate me :smalltongue:

[JoshL]

I always distinguish between quality and taste. One does not necessarily inform the other. It can; I'm a fan of Frank Zappa BECAUSE he's a great guitarist, but have little taste for Eddie Van Halen despite the same fact.

I love the band Freezepop. They are terrible. Very little expression, half their songs are about being in the band (a usual peeve of mine), basic melodies, inane electronic work, but I love them.

I hate the band Rush. They are all brilliant musicians, writing complicated music with well constructed lyrics, all executed expertly well.

Of course, get a few drinks in me and everything is my favorite and everything is the best, and hyperbole is the greatest thing in the universe!

[tomandtish]

Yeah, that distinguishing is something I do fairly often.

Case in point: I recognize that Empire Strikes back is a better movie than Star Wars (yes, I know they added "A New Hope" to it in re-releases), but Star Wars has always been my favorite.

And to show the opposite, I consider Attack of the Clones to be worse than Phantom Menace, but I dislike PM more.

[rooster707]

Eh. In my opinion, this kind of thing is largely subjective. I just like what I like, and try not to worry too much about whether or not it's an Objectively Good Thing.

[Thrudd]

Yes, it is important to distinguish between preferences that are subjective and things that can be objectively measured. When it comes to art and creative things, people's preferences are not always tied to objective measures, so what is known as "the best" is sometimes just the thing that a majority of people say they prefer. There are objective things that you can look at and judge about a film, for example; like how skillfully it makes transitions and how smooth the camera work is, how carefully framed the shots, if the dialogue is coherent and the actors deliver lines in a believable way, if the special effects are seamlessly integrated. Those things don't automatically make one film more liked than another for any specific person, although more often than not objectively good qualities do result in more people liking something.

[tomandtish]

Agreed that they are totally subjective, but a person can still have their own opinion regarding the two. It appears OP is looking for those examples where you yourself distinguish between favorite and best. A few of us have pointed out that it's more common that OP may realize.

[BeerMug Paladin]

I don't really distinguish between these two categories.

However, as far as me enjoying a movie, I generally further categorize movies into three distinct categories.

1) Things I enjoy.
2) Things (particular other) may like. (Like for genre-buffs.)
3) Things general-other person may like.

In terms of artistic merit, silly fun or whatever other division might distinguish between favorite and best, I don't think these categories really address that. It only really serves to help me make recommendations to people, which is the whole reason why I think of movies I just watched in this particular way.

[Darth Credence]

I have always made this distinction. The Empire Strikes Back is my favorite movie. I firmly believe that The Shawshank Redemption is the best movie. My favorite album is either Pump by Aerosmith or Appetite for Destruction by G'n'R, but the best albums are probably Led Zeppelin IV, Dark Side of the Moon, Abbey Road, or Thriller. My favorite book is The Stand, but it isn't the best. That's a real hard one to narrow down - Huck Finn, maybe?