I feel like it's not uncommon for people from a particular generation to not watch movies made prior to their generation. This can often but something that is changed through their teens or univerity/early 20's as our minds naturally begin to expand with more experiences. But the opinion of your friends is not unusual. When I was growing up it was black and white movies. Anything black and white was a no go for many people myself included. I feel like it was the movie Clerks that changed this for me. It being a contemporary movie got me to watch it and it totally changed my idea on black and white and then I began exploring older movies.