The Golden Rule

By Emily Yocco


The critic’s secret is that he follows the golden rule.

Yes, the one you learned in kindergarten – “treat others as you would want to be treated.” For the successful critic, this rule reminds him that he is but one voice in a crowd, equal to the readers he writes for as well as those he critiques.

The role of each individual critic can differ depending on his or her interpretation of the golden rule. But ideally, it’s about putting himself in the shoes of others – it’s a little like those “What Would Jesus Do?” bracelets. If the critic was the reader, would he enjoy deciphering overly fancy sentence structures and looking up inane words like “eschew?” Probably not. If the critic was the chef of a newly opened restaurant, would he be pleased to know his pizza margherita had been compared to moist cardboard? Obviously not.

This is not to say the critic’s role is to make everyone happy or to dumb down his writing. It’s just that he should never have a “high horse” to get off in the first place, and his nose should have never been stuck in the air. He should constantly be asking more questions of himself than he does of others – is this a story I would want to read? How can I support my negative opinion of this work fairly?

By continually considering himself a reader, an actor, a filmmaker, a chef, a novelist etc., the critic will earn the trust and respect of those he serves. He doesn’t necessarily want to be a friend – but according to his golden rule, he does want to be treated fairly and accurately. So that is the role the critic will take on: Just another considerate human being.