Why People Hate Film Critics
At a press screening of Clint Eastwood's Changeling earlier this evening, as the publicist was taking statements from the critics in attendance, the fellow sitting to the left of my mother, an Eastwood fan who was my guest for the screening, began trashing the movie in some of the most harsh words I have ever heard directed at a film of this caliber. "You won't see a worse film this year!" he declared "It's dreadful on every conceivable level."
I wanted to tell him that he obviously hadn't seen Prom Night, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, or The Happening, but I held my tongue. I'm not really supposed to say much about it yet but suffice it to say that the man's words were unwarranted. There is no way you can call this the worst film of the year with any credibility. He went on to say that he thought Angelina wouldn't be nominated for an Oscar for this because she was too over the top, but that he was glad she was nominated last year for A Mighty Heart, where she was much more subtle.
Uh...hello? She wasn't nominated for A Mighty Heart. Remember the uproar? Or were you too busy only seeing three movies so you could call No Country for Old Men the most atrocious film of the year?
This is why people hate film critics, that kind of arrogant hyperbole just can't be taken seriously. If you don't like Changeling, fine. But to call it the worst film of the year while ignoring dreck like the three films mentioned above, then you obviously know nothing about film. Period. Opinions are one thing, outlandish, knee jerk reactions like the one this guy had are another, and it's why people view critics as being arrogant and irrelevant. That is not intelligent discourse or scholarly criticism, it's tabloid journalism meant to catch the eye with ignorant hyperbole.
I got up and left before giving my statement as I had no desire to sit and listen to the man's ignorance any longer. It didn't bother me that he didn't like the film and I did...what bothered me was the stubborn absolution of his words, putting a film like Changeling beneath the likes of Babylon A.D. and Beverly Hills Chihuahua.
If this is the worst film this critic has seen this year...one has to wonder just how many 2008 films he has seen...
I wanted to tell him that he obviously hadn't seen Prom Night, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, or The Happening, but I held my tongue. I'm not really supposed to say much about it yet but suffice it to say that the man's words were unwarranted. There is no way you can call this the worst film of the year with any credibility. He went on to say that he thought Angelina wouldn't be nominated for an Oscar for this because she was too over the top, but that he was glad she was nominated last year for A Mighty Heart, where she was much more subtle.
Uh...hello? She wasn't nominated for A Mighty Heart. Remember the uproar? Or were you too busy only seeing three movies so you could call No Country for Old Men the most atrocious film of the year?
This is why people hate film critics, that kind of arrogant hyperbole just can't be taken seriously. If you don't like Changeling, fine. But to call it the worst film of the year while ignoring dreck like the three films mentioned above, then you obviously know nothing about film. Period. Opinions are one thing, outlandish, knee jerk reactions like the one this guy had are another, and it's why people view critics as being arrogant and irrelevant. That is not intelligent discourse or scholarly criticism, it's tabloid journalism meant to catch the eye with ignorant hyperbole.
I got up and left before giving my statement as I had no desire to sit and listen to the man's ignorance any longer. It didn't bother me that he didn't like the film and I did...what bothered me was the stubborn absolution of his words, putting a film like Changeling beneath the likes of Babylon A.D. and Beverly Hills Chihuahua.
If this is the worst film this critic has seen this year...one has to wonder just how many 2008 films he has seen...
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