I don’t think such a movie exists.
Audiences don’t care if the movie is good or bad, they care whether they like it or not. Those two things are independent of each other.
Liking or not liking a movie, or ascertaining the ‘entertainment quotient’ of a movie, is entirely subjective. That’s what audiences do.
Now, determining whether a movie is good or not is a bit more complex.
Of course, no critic can be altogether objective, that’s not feasible.
But more often than not, they try to look at a movie through an analytic lens – something the vast majority of audiences don’t do.
Because they're not equipped to, don't want to, or have to.
Captain Marvel and Venom
So when your average John or Jane Doe calls a movie ‘good,’ more often than not, they mean that they liked the movie.
You, me and a lot of the people around you fall into that category.
Our unqualified, unsolicited opinions cannot be correlated to those of someone who watches movies for a living – that is what they do, that is their craft, their profession.
They have a far stronger comprehension of the subtleties and technicalities of what makes a movie tick than we do.
I’m honestly baffled by the ‘critics suck’ rhetoric that I have identified is far more ubiquitous than I had previously assumed. I don’t get it.
It doesn’t have to be this way.
Nobody is forcing their opinion down anyone’s throat. It’s there if you are so inclined.
But to me, it is an undeniable truth that the opinion of a well-informed critic will be exceedingly more nuanced, comprehensive and carry more significance than that of the average Joe.
I’m not especially concerned with a film’s Rotten Tomatoes score, whether it is the critic or audience score.
They have limited bearing on the films I choose to watch.
But on the odd occasion that they do, I invariably assign more emphasis to the critics’ score, because over a period of time, I have observed that my tastes are more aligned in that general direction.
“Hmm, only 56% on RT. Pass”
Now, that could be true for others as well. And yet for another section, the audience score may prove to be the number that caters more to their tastes.
And that’s the beauty of cinema. It’s for everyone. And it’s deeply subjective.
Everyone should watch what they want to watch and like what they want to like. Cinema should forever be a realm free of judgement.
All the other examples that supposedly illustrate that critics can’t be ‘trusted,’ essentially boil down to “Why didn’t critics love/hate this movie as strongly as I did?”
The Last Jedi
The answer is experience, subjectivity and taste. It’s their opinion. It’s not infallible.
On a closing note, I’m not a believer in reducing movies to numbers. I never understood it.
And if there is a qualm I have with the Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritics of the world, it’s that these services have turned the craft of critiquing movies to a numbers game.
Like what you want to like. Cinema is for everyone. But know that much like you are free to like a film, a critic is free to dislike it.
And when both are asked “Why?”, more often than not, the critic will be able to present a more substantial and compelling argument.
Picture Source Wikipedia
Thanks for Reading
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