TNMC
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Psychotic Reactions
-- John Shea
21 August, 2003
Do critics ever piss you off? Me too. Actually, a bad critic can send me right over the deep end. Before I get into this let's talk about types of critics. For me, the best type of critic is someone with a deep love of the medium they review and an open mind. I don't have to agree with them to respect them. In fact, I often enjoy reading the reviews of critics I flat out disagree with because it tends to help crystallize my own thoughts. What I don't like are the critics who are just doing a job. You've come across them. It's a chore for them to review anything. They dump on movies because they'd rather be anywhere else. Those critics need to be hunted down and eliminated from the field immediately. They aren't helping anyone. These critics are clearly miserable in their jobs and by extension making misery for their readers and those responsible for the material they review. Just get them the hell out of there and make way for someone who actually wants the job. Also on my hit list are critics who won't consider seriously anything that isn't in lock step with their world view. If they aren't open to new ideas they have no business judging the work of others.
What brought this out you ask? Yesterday I reviewed IFC's A Decade Under the Influence, a great documentary about the filmmakers of the 1970s. Later in the day I picked up the New York Post and NY Daily News. Understand please that I read these newspapers as a rabid fan of the NY Giants/Mets/Rangers and not for the news. Bastions of journalistic integrity they are not. But for ridiculous levels of detail on New York sports teams, they excel. I did flip through their entertainment sections to see what they though of Decade. The News had a nice write up by David Bianculli, a guy who clearly enjoyed himself and enjoyed looking back at an extraordinary period in film history. Good job, likes what he's doing and listens to what he reviews. On the other hand, Linda Stasi of the Post writes a review in which she barely seems to talk about what she's reviewing. She dedicates a good chunk of the review to complaining about the absence of women from directing in that period. That may be true and is something that even today exists as a major problem for Hollywood, but how is it relevant to a discussion of the filmmakers of the period? This is a critic who so clings to her own politics that she can barely be bothered to listen. Further more, she practically sneers at the topic itself, closing with the comment "Watch it if you really, really like movies. Since I've now become a big movie windbag myself, I better quit while I still have breath." She should have quit before she started. Critics like that are just wasting my time and presumably yours.
One of the things that really helped this site along in its earliest days was the feedback from readers who appreciated our attitude. They complimented us on not being too serious or pretentious. We'll still call crap when we see it but we're also not afraid to admit liking crap. I'm guessing Ms. Stasi would have trouble admitting to liking much of anything. In this column I'm going to start taking critics to task. It's tough for readers to fire back at critics because they tend to hide behind the theory that they are better trained to appreciate film or TV and thus their word carries weight that yours does not. I could make the same argument but instead I'm going to use my weight to expose the blowhards and cranks for what they are.
I grew up watching Siskel & Ebert argue over films, often seeming just the tiniest provocation from coming to blows. I always admired that passion for film. Living in a small town, I often had no chance to see the films they reviewed but I watched and listened and became infected with their passion. With Siskel gone I miss those debates but the passion he and his partner helped instill is very much alive. Now it's time to open up a can of whup ass on those who don't share it and dare to call themselves critics. Hell hath no fury like a movie fan scorned.
Have a favorite critic to hate? Email Me
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