AITA for refusing to watch the sound of music with my girlfriendand her sister?

A Redditor (22M) recounts a disagreement with his girlfriend (22F) during Christmas at her family’s home. When she and her sister (17F) invited him to join their annual viewing of The Sound of Music, he declined, explaining that he doesn’t enjoy musicals. Despite their insistence, he opted out, which upset his girlfriend, who felt he was dismissive and rude for not giving the movie a chance. Now, he’s wondering if he was wrong for sticking to his preferences. Read the full story below to see if he handled it fairly.

‘ AITA for refusing to watch the sound of music with my girlfriendand her sister?’

I 22m am spending Christmas with my girlfriend 22f and her family. A few nights ago my girlfriend wanted me to watch The sound of music with her and her sister 17f cuz they love it and watch it every year on Christmas. The problem is I really can’t stand musicals, no offense to anybody who likes them, I just can’t stand them, the whole thing is just so silly and unrealistic and I just can’t bring myself to suspend my disbelief enough to enjoy it.

So I said ” no you can watch it we with your sister I’ll watch something else ” she said ” oh come on give it a try I bet you’ll ove it ” to which I said ” no I’m fine you guys enjoy it Im not into musicals”. She pressured me a bit more to watch it with them but I insisted would jurst do something else and left.

The next day she was kinda upset and not wanting to talk to me, I asked her what was wrong and she said it was rude if me to just dismiss The sound of music and say I don’t like it without ever having seen it. I told her she knew I didn’t like musicals and she should’ve known I wouldn’t want to watch it, but she said I should’ve at least given it a chance instead of dismissing it like I did.. AITA?

Here’s the comments of Reddit users:

Any_Comedian2468 −  YTA. My husband HATES musicals but every year for Christmas he takes me to see Les Miserables in the theater  (and pay about $200 for tickets) because he loves me. And he doesn’t complain even though I know he isn’t a fan. He also watches musicals with me if I want to watch them. I also ran a marathon with him even though I hate running because I love him.

I did a mud run in the mountains with him and crawled under barbed wire. It was terrible. I go camping with him in the back country without showers or toilets. Sometimes we s**k it up and do things we don’t like for the people we love because it matters to THEM, not because it is important to you. 

pcnauta −  One of the necessary skills to learn in order to have a loving and successful long term relationship is ‘compromise’. And, get this, when you actually LOVE the other person, it’s actually fun to ‘compromise’ with them, especially if it’s about doing something that they love. You do it because there will be times when you want her to do something with you (that she’s not fond of doing). You do it because you want to make her happy.

You do it because you want to learn all you can about her and what she likes. Mostly, though, you do it simply because you love them. BTW – The Sound of Music is (adjusted for inflation) the highest grossing musical of all time (Wicked won’t even come close) and one of the (adjusted for inflation) top 5 grossing films of all time! It’s really good (take it from someone who doesn’t necessarily like musicals).

Connect_Ad9835 −  Yes and no-while you may not enjoy musicals it’s something your gf is very enthusiastic about plus it’s family tradition for them so to her inviting you to watch it with them was also an indicator that “hey we see you as part of the family”. I’m sure your girlfriend has tried new things/watched that she’s not a big fan of for you so why wouldn’t you do the same for her?

StAlvis −  YTA. You’re *staying* with this family. I just can’t stand them, the whole thing is just so silly and unrealistic. I’ll spare you a quiz on all of your favorite types of media and how realistic all of those are. I just can’t bring myself to suspend my disbelief enough to enjoy it. Well then don’t. Instead, you can enjoy how much your girlfriend and her sister are enjoying it.

IntelligentDot4794 −  YTA You can’t sit through a couple hours of a movie to please someone you love? I’ll bet she does stuff she doesn’t really like to please you all the time. I’d rather be with someone generous than with you.

Fayebie17 −  YTA. Sometimes being in a relationship means showing an interest in things that you don’t care for but the other person really enjoys or wants to do. It’s a holiday tradition, you’re staying with her family, this is something she loves, she wanted to involve you in it. Your girlfriend is upset that you won’t give up a couple of hours of your time to do something with her that doesn’t benefit you, even when it’s clear it’s really important to her.

Careless-Ad-6328 −  YTA. It’s a movie. It’s 3hrs of your life and something that’s important to your girlfriend. You don’t have to love it. Just don’t be a j**k about it. It’s the smallest compromise possible. Get over yourself.

This-Elk-6837 −  YTA. Climb every mountain. Search high and low. Follow every highway. Every path you know.. ….. When the dog bites. When the bee stings. When I’m feeling sad. I simply remember my favorite things. And then I don’t feel so bad. You missed out. Don’t be surprised when you aren’t invited back.

kyoshi1118 −  NTA. My husband hates musicals and I love them but I would hate to know that I’m forcing him to watch something I know he wouldn’t enjoy. There’s plenty of shoot em up movies he loves that I’m not a huge fan of and he doesn’t force me to watch them knowing I don’t like them lol it’s not like you told her not to watch it you just respectfully said no thank you not my thing.

venturebirdday −  Presumably you do not play video games, watch actions movies, nor follow super hero stories either as they are so silly and unrealistic? Are you honestly so pressed for time that you cannot spare two hours of your life doing something that makes your SO so happy?. YTA.