I've heard a lot of people say a lot of things about Avatar. Most say they liked it. There are a few here and there that have said it was trash, but they seem to be in the minority. I haven't really had any in-depth discussions about the movie with anyone, and I'll be the first to admit that my knowledge of film criticism is tenuous at best - so my opinions come mostly from my gut, not from lengthy discourse, or a filmmaker's education. That's a disclaimer.
I liked Avatar. I liked it enough that I am more than willing to overlook it's faults. And because of that I've been thinking a lot lately about the nature of criticism. Why do we criticize? Especially when it comes to something like film? Maybe it's for altruistic reasons - to save your buddy that $12 he would have otherwise spent going to see an over-hyped piece of junk. Or maybe it's because we like to prove how much smarter we are than the people who made the movie in question. Or perhaps it's something in the middle: We criticize because it helps create intelligent discussion around the effectiveness of the film, and it teaches us how to improve better.
I like to think it's the latter. And therefore, I think criticism is a good thing. But what I've realized in the last week is that I no longer want criticism to detract from my enjoyment of a film, a book, a game, whatever. I don't think this is new (I'm a die-hard Tolkien fan, and I can remember being upset when I found out Jackson was cutting Tom Bombadil. But, as we all know, it turned out okay. I remember saying, after seeing the film adaptation of the Fellowship of the Ring, that it really wasn't the way Tolkien wrote it - but I don't care. It was Jackson's vision, and he did a fantastic job of interpreting it.), but I can't recall if I've been dissatisfied with anything I've watched/read/played recently because of critical feelings I had towards the work.
I feel like I'm walking a fine line here. I'm sure there must be something out there that I would have a hard time saying I enjoyed. I can only ever remember one book that I started to read that - at the time - disgusted me so much that I couldn't finish it. Sure, there have been many books that I haven't finished, but mostly due to a shift in priorities. I can't recall any video games - at least recently - that I disliked enough not to continue playing.
The point is that I feel there must be something of value in everything. Is that naive? I don't know. I feel like I'm typing myself in circles. In any case, I'm going to try to be more conscious of my state of enjoyment and my level of criticism. Hopefully they can balance one another out.
I strongly recommend getting your hands on the expertly crafted dialogue Oscar Wilde wrote dealing with his comprehensive view on criticism. It's called The True Function and Value of Criticism, and helped along the way with Wilde's humourous insight into Victorian culture, it may very well help you expand or organize your thoughts on criticism.
ReplyDeleteI would like to read that sometime. But for right now, I think I would rather try formulating my ideas on my own, through experience. I feel that if I tried reading what someone else was writing about criticism, I would end up adopting their opinions for my own, which I don't particularly want.
ReplyDeleteI think I'll just try to be more conscious of it for a while and see were that takes me.