Is the critic always right?

The critic ain't always right. Especially when they outright miss the point of something.

Cuties was well received in its native France. Once it came overseas, people attacked the movie, those involved with the movie, and those who liked the movie. I am very confused.

What about the people who found quality regardless of the subject matter? Clearly they’re all pedophiles.

Edited by ChicoTheParakeet on Apr 11th 2024 at 12:51:33 PM

I feel like treating critics as always being right contributes to a lot of problems with how people view media, especially in the case of Caustic Critics.

I mean, the critics gave (insert one of my least favorite video games of all time here) nearly a 10/10.

Critics more often than not, are people like you and me who have been elevated to authority on a topic through viewing enough movies or games. Anyone can be a critic if they’ve seen enough of a topic (or think they have).

Taking reviews with a grain of salt is mandatory for understanding critics. Reviews Are the Gospel is always gonna be a problem in this situation because it’s easier to go with the flow of criticism, especially if you’re out of the loop.

Edited by CanuckMcDuck1 on Apr 12th 2024 at 10:39:14 AM

Not necessarily. While critics can point out valid issues, like a legitimate Plot Hole, they're going to have their own tastes and biases.

Things like aesthetics are largely subjective. Say a critic claims a character's dress should be changed from pink to blue, so you give her a blue dress. Then another critic says the pink dress looked much better. There's no way to please everyone in that situation.

Creators should definitely take constructive criticism into account, but not treat it as the gospel.

I noticed that Common Sense Media has one-star reviews of The Transformers: The Movie and Problem Child, which are typical of the critic reviews those movies got when first released but not reflective of the positive reception from general audiences.

I mean, I can see where they're coming from for both of those since it's a site about families. Transformers has a lot of death very early on and Problem Child basically encourages bad behavior in children.

Edited by Weirdguy149 on Apr 13th 2024 at 9:48:55 AM

Common Sense Media is meant for parents who want to know if a movie is appropriate for their kids to watch. Their reviews are going to be tailored to that audience. Similarly, a review written for a major magazine will be different from a vlog by a guy who just got watched a movie, because both are trying to reach different audiences.

I agree that critics shouldn't be treated as people who are always right about movies and products in general. Everyone has a different opinion on how they feel about the various movies being released and just because a couple of critics say that a movie is bad, doesn't necessarily mean that it's actually bad. That's just coming from their personal opinions about the movie. At the end of the day, it really comes down to you on whether or not you should give a movie a chance, regardless of what the critics say.