Jack Clayton
Lantern Staff
Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. At least, that’s what we are made to believe. Now, there’s no doubt that everyone is free to have their own opinion. The main issue is how that opinion is voiced.
As a part of this newspaper, I can tell you that everyone wants to do a review at some point. That’s fine, as long as we know how to write a proper review. The problem is that not everyone knows how to do it well.
That’s not necessarily their fault, however. There are plenty of professional critics out there. However, there are just as many, if not more, amateur critics. And while most seem to have a common grasp of the basics of review writing, there are some big problems that amateur critics are guilty of that have started to leak into the professionals.
One of the biggest issues that even professional critics have seemed to start doing is a method called bandwagon critique. Bandwagon, of course, is a persuasive technique used in writing where to persuade someone, the argument is made that everyone else supports this claim. Normally this is fine for other persuasive writing, but when doing a review, it is a method that people should try and stay away from due to the amount of bias that comes with it. Otherwise, it can cause what is being reviewed to get the improper critique.
The biggest and most recent example of bandwagon critique comes from the reviews of the new Marvel show on Netflix, Iron Fist. Before the show was even released, there was a lot of backlash for the show because of whitewashing, but that’s for another time. The issue here is that the show was all but boycotted after that incident, which led to negative reviews before it was released, and trying to ruin the show’s reputation. Then the show actually came out and was not that bad, leading those who gave the negative reviews to have their credibility questioned.
It is fine to make an assumption that a movie or show will be bad before it comes out, but to make the bad review before the show comes out is incredibly risky, especially when the end product is not as bad as it was made out to be.
This also brings into question how much bias is brought into the review. A little bit of bias is fine, as a review is an opinion. But as seen with what happened with Iron Fist, when too much of the review is what you personally think of the problems around it, then a critic’s credibility is put in even more jeopardy. This came into the light especially when Rotten Tomatoes gave the show a whopping 14 percent on their website.
We live in a time where everyone wants the world to be in their image. Most of the time, that’s fine, but when someone is a professional critic, and what is being reviewed doesn’t match their quota, then that’s when the personal attacks begin.
Critics need to remember that a sense of professionalism needs to go into their work, which means examining both sides of the review. One critic who is guilty of this is Armond White, who is known to give even the best movie a negative review. If this is done more often, it can ruin not only something that others look forward to, but a critic’s career as well.
