Any time people hate on Perl but like Javascript, I get confused. Perl has some weaknesses vs Javascript (doesn't run in the browser, can't be parsed by anything other than perl so you don't get interesting new interpreters) but also some considerable strengths (uninsane OO, considerably better tooling, string handling, runs on every server by default).

But the nice things about JS - the effortless ability to go all higher-order, the flexibility, the power, the /fun/ - and much of the bad parts - the difficulty with writing clear and maintainable code, no support for strong types; if you like Javascript, you will love Perl when you get to know it.