Being Une Critique
I think that film critics are elitists. They arrogantly feel that they have superior knowledge of films and a better taste in films than everyone else. They only have one purpose, one which maybe they forget sometimes, to provide a justified opinion on what the reader should and shouldn’t see. Which leads me to one question, am I a critic? I criticize films, but so do you don’t you? Aren’t we all film critics in the end? We advise people on which films to steer clear from and what recent films we have enjoyed. I find it odd that proper “film critics” don’t exactly do the opposite, but something rather different: they don’t criticize; they simplify and exaggerate, like any journalist. The only difference here is that they take into account all possible angles of a film and come to an opinion ranging between one and five. I don’t think I’d very much like to be a critic, I know I’d love the idea of being paid to watch 8-10 films a week and writing about them, but I much prefer just saying my personal opinion, did I or didn’t I enjoy it as opposed to writing more about other things than the film itself, something I’ve noticed a lot in recent reviews I’ve read.
I really don’t like the idea of listing films in order of greatness. It’s very egotistical. But that’s all being a critic is about, ego. Truly, if they believe that the film they’ve seen is poor, then it’d be better if they made one themselves. They aren’t being paid to and it’s not their job, so in the end why complain when you don’t enjoy a movie yet you come up with lists of excuses why you won’t have a shot at it yourself? I think the best critics are the moviemakers themselves, directors, writers, even the grips. They know more about the movie industry than any critic could tell you. They have a firsthand experience in making the magic on screen, these are the real critics. And yet there seems to be such a distinct lack of what I call “real critics” around, unless it’s big Hollywood stars asked by a fledging journalist generically “what’s your top 5 movies of all time?” And yet this is a conundrum, a paradox of the literature sort: I’m criticizing the critics; quite hypocritically I’m sure some of you are thinking. But then again, it’s just a blog.
