You know, the number of drafts in my pool is supposed to get lower as time goes on, but my numbers keep going up and up… what’s with that?
Recently, I’ve seen comments around the web by people who criticize criticism. They say things like “remember your decorum!” “cut them some slack!” “whatever happened to charity here?”
While I especially agree with the last one, this only goes out to a point. While I’m all for cutting slack for people (again with the love the sinner, hate the sin theme), there is a point when I have to say, “No. The hero has turned into the villain here. This is too far. Disowned!”
After all, these people and companies are in the public eye. They have a higher responsibility than the rest of us for giving scandal; if they give scandal, they tend to give it to millions more people than private persons give it to; even if you have a thousand friends on Facebook. And here, I’m also going to make a call to arms.
It is our responsibility to bash bad literature and poor movies. If we want a high standard in entertainment, we must let the entertainers know that, and an important way of doing that is partially through bashing.
However, it is equally important that we are even-handed and fair in our bashings. We have to keep it all in perspective, or we’ll end up with an enormous mess on our hands. Citizen journalism is a big thing. Thanks to new (and older) technologies, everyone is a critic. Everyone has someone’s ear; if not the “big people”‘s ears, then the ear of someone who has.
As Uncle Ben says, with great power comes great responsibility. (And fyi, Uncle Ben wasn’t actually referring to the fact that his nephew is Spiderman. Was that a spoiler? Whoops… *grins unrepentantly*) With the ability to access the Internet comes the ability (and perhaps the responsibility) to bash. And with this ability to bash comes the responsibility to be honest and fair. Because, if a bad review turns up on some website, it could ruin the writer/creator/filmmaker/owner, and if they don’t really deserve it, they’re hardworking people and nobody–I repeat, nobody–has time for that sort of nonsense.
So bash away, when the book is repulsive! Just be careful of what you bash, and why. 😉
The Upstairs Archives 
Perfect post, Erin! That means, ripios are good to go!
Indeed. I wrote much of it with you in mind. ;-P
*laughing* Every so often, I do feel bad about it.
*shrugs* Well, if the movie is really bad…
True.
😛
Smug me: Well technically, Uncle Ben didn’t say it – the narrator did in the Amazing Spider-Man #1. Now, in the Ultimate Spider-Man, issue 4, Uncle Ben says something similar to that blah blah, etc. 🙂
Aaaaaanyway, I completely agree with what you’re saying here, especially (and only) if the criticism is of the work itself. Everyone is a critic, yes, but the majority of that everyone is a bad critic. We have to hone our critiques rather than just bashing.
Have you ever read a critique of a movie or a book where the critic says something like “the director/author is pandering to kids” or “they really rushed the production of this”? It’s waaaay too easy to fall into the practice of inventing a story about why the author/director did something rather than to critique the work itself. It’s lazy and, especially when it comes to genre pieces, super prevalent.
Look at me critiquing the critics!
I agree… that is far too prevalent. (By the way, in the Hulk movie, there’s a plot hole… there was Blonsky, and then the nutty scientist person who had a sort of transfusion of Bruce Banner’s blood… I mean Blonsky actually had a real transfusion, sanitary and everything, and then the other guy had a cut on his head and the blood from the transfusion dripped into it. So, logically speaking, he should have transformed/developed superpowers/whatever as well… but we didn’t see him for the rest of the movie. If that wasn’t a simple plot hole, then they were probably planning to do a sequel but never finished it because the movie isn’t very good. I mean, it’s well made and it is kind of the missing link to “Captain America: The First Avenger”, but it doesn’t have the heart of “The First Avenger” OR “Iron Man”, for that matter.)
Hulk? Hm. Well, it seems pretty simple. Money, I’d guess. And distribution rights. Marvel has a super tangled web when it comes to Hulk stuff, and thus they have to spend money to distribute it. If the Hulk would have made them tons of cash, they’d probably have gone for it again (and fleshed out the professor/hulk guy maybe – who knows). But since it didn’t do well, it wasn’t pursued.
So it’s not a plot hole as much as it’s a string left dangling for reasons that probably have to do with money. There are no Hulk movies scheduled for Phase Three of the MCU through 2019. I wouldn’t hold my breath.
Ah… I see. 😉 I guess I’ll have to go back to writing Avengers fanfics where Bruce is treating everyone’s PTSD. Dr. Banner was awesome in the Avengers. The other person who played him wasn’t half as good.