The role of the critic is not necessarily easy and fun. While always eating at the newest restaurants, seeing the latest films early or getting advanced copies of CDs may seem like the charmed life, it is much more meaningful than that. As Aunt May said in Spiderman, “with great power comes great responsibility.”
The power of criticism comes with the ability to make or break someone’s livelihood. The power of a review is not just a random opinion of some know-it-all journalist, it can also become the opinion of hundreds who not necessarily even experienced what the critic was reviewing but merely adopt this viewpoint for mere conversation.
Thoughtlessly bashing a book or restaurant can steer customers away before they were even able to give it a chance, forcing immediate loss of revenue. The critic must necessarily consider the possible repercussions of their review and throw biases to the wind. The critic must take the responsibility to ensure a fair and accurate viewpoint without mindlessly crushing an artist or entrepreneur’s work. Importantly to remember, the critic is the opinion of one.
Regardless of their experience or reputation, one review is not more correct than another’s. The critic creates discussion, other’s opinions and can create or break hype about new events and things. While the critic may not be a superhero, they certainly possess important powers of persuasion and conversation that are essential to continuing cultural dialogue throughout society.
No comments:
Post a Comment