Chagrin over my own mots fortes and other otherities...
So the last post seems pretty harsh.
And some of you have, rightfully so, called me on my opinions.
But I'd like to make a few counterpoints.
One, there is no question that film reviewers, particularly those of the clout of people like A.O. Scott or Roger Ebert are certaily given more heft of their opinion on there film than others. As much as we may laugh, the trailer for Iron Man didn't say....Steve from Poughkeepsie says "This is the finest action Film you'll see all year!", which I would argue does affect ticket sales and the number of people who go to see a movie. I grant that reviewers have more clout and that tends to give some of the more unpleasant people of their ilk a tendency to be holier than thou in their view of their own merits. That is a shame.
HOWEVER, I also find that people who have read Batman's The Killing Joke also feel MORE than entitled to tell me why their opinions are more valid, so maybe I'm just tired of being in the middle (especially when my own views are obviously the right ones). And I know that in our society now we want a definitive word on everything because we don't have the time or desire (at least most of us) to want to understand stuff on a more complex level. There's other things that simply need to get done. So I don't begrudge the concept behind RT in trying to give films a numeric ranking.
I resent that some people tell me one thing based on their perceived superiority whilst simultaneously ignoring other people (whether it's right or wrong, they don't offer an M.F.A in reading The Long Halloween, they do in film criticism), which is the tenet of fascism. Perhaps I painted with to broad a brush using that term. But dismissing people's opinions as invalid without seriously entertaining them and even going so far as threatening them is fascism, right? It's bullying, because we've been calling out Fox News for doing that to guests for years, and we're right on that one.
We're a society of brutes because we are creatures that, at our core are all passion and instinct. And our first instinct when what we care about is threatened is to push back. Some of us are better at repressing those urges than others. They should be commended for that. Some people have a saint-like patience I could never hope to have (see last post). But the reality is that passionate people also tend to be opinionated people, and it's rare to find an opinionated person who will give full respect and credence to the other side of an argument. Because the other person is trying to tell you that what you are passionate about is wrong. Being passionate is a double-edged sword like that.
What I was trying to say, and I feel it got lost in what, I see now, was a deluge of poorly chosen phraseology and examples, is that I don't believe in righteous anger/vindication through perceived superiority, which is the first tool in any good Holier-Than-Thou Man's Utility Belt. Perhaps there are one in a million times (you just watched a devil shoot a baby) where you can be pissed off and feel that the forces of right are on your side, but more often than not it's your opinion of your justness that makes you righteous, which is a term I only accept as a one word adjective immediately followed by a guitar solo.
Long story short, I just want people to be open-minded that The Dark Knight may not be the 2nd coming.
Unless we're talking IMAX.
Also, I want an otter.
And some of you have, rightfully so, called me on my opinions.
But I'd like to make a few counterpoints.
One, there is no question that film reviewers, particularly those of the clout of people like A.O. Scott or Roger Ebert are certaily given more heft of their opinion on there film than others. As much as we may laugh, the trailer for Iron Man didn't say....Steve from Poughkeepsie says "This is the finest action Film you'll see all year!", which I would argue does affect ticket sales and the number of people who go to see a movie. I grant that reviewers have more clout and that tends to give some of the more unpleasant people of their ilk a tendency to be holier than thou in their view of their own merits. That is a shame.
HOWEVER, I also find that people who have read Batman's The Killing Joke also feel MORE than entitled to tell me why their opinions are more valid, so maybe I'm just tired of being in the middle (especially when my own views are obviously the right ones). And I know that in our society now we want a definitive word on everything because we don't have the time or desire (at least most of us) to want to understand stuff on a more complex level. There's other things that simply need to get done. So I don't begrudge the concept behind RT in trying to give films a numeric ranking.
I resent that some people tell me one thing based on their perceived superiority whilst simultaneously ignoring other people (whether it's right or wrong, they don't offer an M.F.A in reading The Long Halloween, they do in film criticism), which is the tenet of fascism. Perhaps I painted with to broad a brush using that term. But dismissing people's opinions as invalid without seriously entertaining them and even going so far as threatening them is fascism, right? It's bullying, because we've been calling out Fox News for doing that to guests for years, and we're right on that one.
We're a society of brutes because we are creatures that, at our core are all passion and instinct. And our first instinct when what we care about is threatened is to push back. Some of us are better at repressing those urges than others. They should be commended for that. Some people have a saint-like patience I could never hope to have (see last post). But the reality is that passionate people also tend to be opinionated people, and it's rare to find an opinionated person who will give full respect and credence to the other side of an argument. Because the other person is trying to tell you that what you are passionate about is wrong. Being passionate is a double-edged sword like that.
What I was trying to say, and I feel it got lost in what, I see now, was a deluge of poorly chosen phraseology and examples, is that I don't believe in righteous anger/vindication through perceived superiority, which is the first tool in any good Holier-Than-Thou Man's Utility Belt. Perhaps there are one in a million times (you just watched a devil shoot a baby) where you can be pissed off and feel that the forces of right are on your side, but more often than not it's your opinion of your justness that makes you righteous, which is a term I only accept as a one word adjective immediately followed by a guitar solo.
Long story short, I just want people to be open-minded that The Dark Knight may not be the 2nd coming.
Unless we're talking IMAX.
Also, I want an otter.
