An Overture For Sanity

My favorite film criticism has always been about revealing something not only about whether something worked or not, but in how it made people feel. And we are at our best, multitudes. We can also blame the classic thumbs up/down concept. It eschews any potential nuance. Which is why I grew up such a fan of Pauline Kael's work even though I rarely if ever agreed with her views; it was a window into another person's worldview. And it was often done with such rich language, and imagery that it helped me occasionally understand how someone with her attachment to cinema would perceive certain works.

But what tends to happen on social media tends to be the polar opposite. It becomes a means by which camps are fashioned.

Which can also be traced back to a culture weaned on concepts like Consumer Reports. Breaking everything down to a product, and whether or not it has any value. Then attaching personal identity to said product. The discourse gets rerouted into being solely about identity. So many years seeing gaming message board users blow a fuse whenever a new title would receive less than a 10 on their review score. As if somehow the number determined the way they themselves were perceived. It is a profound dearth of not only self value in the real world, but a devaluation of what it takes to make art and entertainment that connects.

And the inability to see the fun in recognizing the value of human work, and how it can at times simply not speak to your sensibilities. Which is why I often remark that even when something can be impeccably made, it can leave one feeling empty or upset. It's okay to not walk out of something completely satisfied.

But the worst thing to feel is absolute null and void with any work.

Which is to say that anything that reduces film to a horserace, or simply a bumper sticker for your personal cause is a pox to all of film discussion, and should be avoided at all costs.

Not unlike how our current political landscape requires that more and more of us simply stop taking certain political figures at their word, and establish that substantive issues are where the table is, and not whatever culture war nonsense they abuse for clicks. The trolls only set the agenda when we allow them to.

Don’t do their job for them. Bad faith is bad faith in any medium.