Devin Faraci, writing about the difference between “best” versus “favorite”:
So the next time you see a list of someone’s favorite movies, instead of jumping right to why they’re wrong or asking the perennial irritating asshole question “What, no love for ______?”, try instead to have a conversation about why those films got picked. That’s a great discussion to be had, whether it’s directly with the person making the list or whether it’s you trying to understand an artist’s tastes and how they influence his or her work. And it’s always great for you, as a grown up thinking person, to be able to explain why you like stuff – why things are your favorites – beyond “My dad showed it to me when I was 7.”
Amen.