Scribble #67

Looking at film criticism on the internet, targeted at the biggest, most popular movies:

No one can just enjoy films anymore. Everything either has to be the greatest thing ever or the worst thing ever - no inbetween, no neutrality, no calm, no analysis, no consideration for the filmmakers, no benefit of the doubt, no further or higher thought. It's always looking to the extremes of greatness, and following a potentially toxic general consensus.

(Even though nowadays expecting greatness and originality in blockbuster films is pretty much dead on arrival as long as they keep being made through - and catered to - the straight, white, conservative male gaze.)

Anything is better and more memorable than mediocrity, and it is important to call out a story's problematic content greenlit by ignorant, uncaring or hostile executives, writers, producers and directors. But this "love-it-or-hate-it" attitude is what happens when expectations are risen far too high, nearing the impossible. So the slightest disappointment in a film for not reaching that expectation, blown to childish proportions, is seen as the worst crime that film can make, through no fault of its own.

Why does hype exist though, and why now to such an unrealistic degree? Why do critics and reviewers get so angry at a piece of celluloid? Causing the other side of the coin to get so defensive of it, when no one should have to defend something made for fun and which they enjoyed? No one should be made to feel guilty for liking a movie, just as much as no one should feel ashamed to dislike a movie. We are all different, with different opinions, after all.

Could it be that real life has become so shitty that we have grasped onto fiction to be our salvation? Mediums, stories - they seem new, amazing, hopeful and reassuring when you are a child. So maybe that's one of the reasons why, especially in today's political circumstances, practically everybody wants to look back at the past; to look at things though nostalgia goggles, stubbornly and fixedly stuck in their skulls, since being a grown-up has been made terrible for us. High expectations, fragility, and fear of change follow. Little children also throw temper tantrums when things don't go exactly as they want them too.

But remember, at the end of the day, films are and always have been meant for entertainment; a medium to enjoy, to feel good and informed about, to tell stories with messages, good and bad. For people to escape reality for a short time.

Reality cannot be avoided forever - be responsible, be careful, be observant, be respectful, be empathetic, be kind, be fair. Think before you speak and act. It's time to take off those nostalgia goggles, be an adult, and focus on what is really important.

And I find that the bigger and more popular a franchise is, the more toxic its fanbase. Toxic fanbases, full of hate, vitriol and entitlement, are the one of the reasons - besides old, conservative, safe, privileged and selfish filmmakers and studio execs - why the phrase, "This is why we can't have nice things", has become more prominent than ever before. This is why I tend to avoid talking about popular things and being part of the crowd.

So calm down, take a deep breath, and say:

"It's just a movie."

and,

"It's just my opinion."