Hipster Mentality

It happens every now and again that I have a well-meaning person suggest something to me enough that I decide I never want to try it.  As an example, the Final Fantasy series.  The more that something has been touted to me, the less inclined that I am to want to try it.  A trusted source suggests something?  Sure, I'll put it on my list.  The whole world is singing its praises?  I don't want much anything to do with it, thanks.  Football and iPhones are on that list of things I don't really care for and mostly because they're so popular.  (As an aside, I like being with people and going to events, so I will go to a game, but I don't choose to watch a football game on my own.)  At first, I just called this "being stubborn," but my brother has informed me that I have a hipster mentality.  

It's the glasses, isn't it?

The thing is, I cannot decide if this a good thing or a bad thing.  If I finally do try something that has had its praised up and down, there are two ways it can go:  
1.  It's not all that great.  My expectations are set so high at the point because everyone has been talking about it or one person has not stopped talking about it, that it is actually impossible for said thing to meet those expectations.  As an example, Avatar.  It's a pretty movie, I'll give it that, but it's Dances with Smurfs--it's the colonization narrative told in the same way and didn't do anything new to it except get distracted by its own world.  And the ending?  Total cop-out.  Want a well-done story that tackles similar themes?  Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart is really well done.  I'm harsh on this movie for a few reasons, but one of them was because the world was so caught up in it that I couldn't escape hearing about it.
2.  It's actually pretty awesome.  The best example I can think of this one is Firefly.  I had heard about this series from a few people and was not quite to the point of resisting when I finally saw it.  It lived up to the expectations.   

So on the one hand, I can be protected by not suckering in to something just because it's popular, but on the other, I can miss out on something that I might really enjoy.  That is not to say that I don't like things that happen to by popular--in fact, I don't have a really good theory as to what makes some things go one way or the other, but I have narrowed down some commonalities.  

• If I have already happened upon said thing before it becomes a big thing, then it's okay to still like it.
• I have certain sources that I trust because we have similar tastes and their recommendations have proven solid in the past.  The opinion of these sources can cut through some of the hype.  
• Pure exposure--the more I hear about it, the more I push against it.
• The verbage in how something is pushed plays into it, too.  Anything that is touted as the "best thing ever" or something that will "change my life" either directly stated or wholly implied is an instant turn off.  

It has occurred to me more than once that this is not specifically fair, because when you like something, you want to share it, yet some people are just better at persuading than others.  We're bombarded with advertising all of the time that it's tiring, too, to sort through all of the things we should be trying or buying that deciding what I want to spend my money and energy on is difficult enough.  

I have an open mind about many, many things, but I do not have time for everything.  The line has to be drawn somewhere.  I just hadn't put a name to some of my own decision making process.  But hipster is mainstream now anyway so I'm confused enough as it is.