{"id":11046,"date":"2007-04-18T19:52:26","date_gmt":"2007-04-19T02:52:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/2007\/04\/18\/critical-thinking.html"},"modified":"2007-04-18T19:52:26","modified_gmt":"2007-04-19T02:52:26","slug":"critical_thinking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2007\/04\/18\/critical_thinking.html","title":{"rendered":"Critical thinking"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kate<\/a> points to an article by a Worried Critic<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n

In a world where no piece of professional media can exist without an accompanying Internet message board, the barrage of commentary, courtesy of You\u2122, may be doing irreparable damage to an intellectual tradition that stretches back thousands of years: that of the cultural critic. The word “critic” itself comes from the Greek kritik\u00f3s <\/em>(one who discerns), and implies a certain level of scholarship, perspective, education, aesthetic\/historical understanding, and calm, considered, reasoned thinking. It’s a concept that seems to be directly at odds with the public’s ability to put 10 or 15 poorly-spelled words into a little box and click “post.” And yet every day, at publications big and small, the public is doing just that… and being celebrated for it.<\/p>\n

So I ask: In light of this trend towards all-user-generated-content-all-the-time, can those of us who get paid to have opinions maintain our dignity, our sanity… and our jobs?<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Egads, I hope not!<\/em><\/p>\n

No, really, this sort of intellectual snobbery — “I am a man of discernment!  I bring a certain level of scholarship, perspective, education, aesthetic\/historical understanding, and calm, considered, reasoned (and, of course, tasteful) thinking to my critiques, unlike you hoi-polloi <\/em>with your LOLs and your ROTFLs and your misspellings and your MySpace picturebooks and execrable web design skills” — is exactly why we should applaud popular communication in this era of the Internet.  Because those are the people who, rather than being put up against the wall by the Revolution, will simply be ignored in the future.<\/p>\n

That having been said, a truly worthwhile critic — one who challenges, discerns, enlightens, entertains, provokes, and informs — is likely to do well.  If I want to know if a given play is worth seeing — or if there’s anything to a movie I just watched beyond the obvious — am I going to hop over to some blog full of “10 or 15 poorly-spelled words” and rely on that?  Probably not.  On the other hand, if I know of someone who writes well, whose taste seems to complement mine, who provides some thought-provocation and rewarding guidance, does it matter if they’re a paid professional or an amateur?  If it’s just some guy with a blog, does that make him less qualified than some hoity-toity NYT columnist with a PhD and complementary front row seats?<\/p>\n

It seems to me that there is a free market of ideas.  It’s not perfect, and it’s not always just — any more than any other free market is — but it is better served by full access by all the buyers and sellers available, and let the meritorious chips fall where they may — than by longingly looking back on a time when only the “qualified” and “special” and “discerning” had seller’s permits, and the rest of us relied on their high priesthood to tell us what was good and true and beautiful.<\/p>\n

There is room for the paid, professional kritik\u00f3s,<\/em> just as there is room for the political commentator, and the author, and the artist,  even though those abound among the part-timers and amateurs on the Net.  There may not just be as much room, and what room there is may be more competitive.  That’s not a bad thing — except for those who can’t make the grade.<\/p>\n

Now, that having been said …<\/p>\n

The full article is more about whether what the public wants from its critics is feel-good “yes, you’re right, that band is the r0xx0r!” plugs.  “Public” here is defined as comment boards for a review website.  And here I have almost the opposite reaction:  if you can’t stand the heat, then choose a kitchen that doesn’t have comments turned on.<\/em><\/p>\n

I mean, really.  What is he thinking?<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. “Those old-time critics in the New Yorker never had to put up with this.”  You’re right — aside from angry actresses throwing their drinks at them, and the occasional outraged letter (written in longhand) to the magazine, critics in those days were insulated.  So?  Are you saying it’s bad that you’re now more “in touch” with the mob?<\/li>\n
  2. “The peasants are revolting!  Their opinions are uninformed and crude and unworthy of consideration!”  So?  Then ignore them. <\/li>\n
  3. “But — but — they don’t like me!”  What?  You expected to be a critic and be liked?<\/li>\n
  4. “But — but — they aren’t listening to me!”  Egads.  Not very discerning, are they?  Do you think they were listening to you before you could hear their comments back at you?  Is their failure to listen their failure?  Or yours?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Why should a critic be any more immune to criticism — good or bad, just or unjust — than, say an actor or writer?  They’ve been lambasted by the critickistas<\/em> for eons.  They’ve learned to be either cranky or thick-skinned, but woe betide any creative talent that pisses and moans about how the critics are being unfair, are being unappreciative of the creative talent, are only looking for performances that match their particular critical aesthetic.  Which is, in fact, sort of where critics are today.<\/p>\n

    Now, in a world where being popular means having a job, the role of a critic is, in fact, a bit dicey.  There may be a temptation to avoid all controversy, to go with the flow, to be a modern-day Gene Shallet.  Of course, there’s always been that temptation — witness Gene Shallet, or any other “critic” who always seems to get quoted in movie ads.  The only difference is that you have to truckle to the vocal comment board types, rather than just the studio execs and publicity agents.<\/p>\n

    The other thing to bear in mind is that, well, who’s the voice criticizing you?  <\/em>For the most part it’s either (a) a fan of the artist\/work, in which case, duh, they’re going to dislike you saying anything but something positive, or (b) a troll, looking for trouble, in which case if you’re not being criticized (ha!) as a talentless hack you’ll be criticized as an ass-kissing hack.  Such are the dangers of being able to hear the vox populi<\/em>.<\/p>\n

    Really — if your criticism is your profession, you shouldn’t be worried about what others think, be they bad-spelling yahoos or that guy at another prestigious.  If your job depends on whether folks in the comment gallery like you — you may be at the wrong job.<\/p>\n

    But don’t throw your pretentiousness out at us, either bragging (or whining) about the value of your considered opinion.<\/p>\n

    \n

    Now: Am I a Frank Rich or a Pauline Kael? HELL to the no. But I consider myself a proud part of that tradition. I’ve spent the better part of my adult life educating myself, cultivating opinions, learning about the journey of art through the ages. I take in almost-inconceivable amounts of music, movies, books, television, and media so that I can report on pop culture with an eye on its place in history. I also take time to craft that reporting, to shape my opinions. I take time to present them in a compelling way. I worry over commas, I fret over em-dashes. I use spell-check. I’m inspired by all those amazing voices that came before me, and, as with any craft, I aspire to be excellent at mine. And I believe that, if used properly and responsibly, it is a craft that has great value. I do not know that our society would be a better place if everyone was allowed to perform surgery or build skyscrapers or drive big-rig trucks just because technology came along that made those activities available to the masses at the click of a button. I don’t see what makes cultural criticism any different.<\/em> Just because you can type into the little box and press “post” doesn’t mean you should.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

    And just because you’ve educated yourself, cultivated your opinions, and learned to use a spell-checker doesn’t mean that anyone should pay any attention to you because of it.  The value of criticism — in this context, at least — is how it affects the audience.  If you make me want to come back and reread what you have to say about something (which doesn’t necessarily mean being a “yes-man”), then more power to you.  If you can’t, I don’t care if you have a wall of diplomas and can quote Pauline Kael at length, any more than a particular writer or actor or artist is made any better by their diplomas and academic knowledge.<\/p>\n

    Criticism is not a science.  It is an art form.  That it’s now subject to a much broader feedback loop isn’t a problem, it’s a solution.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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We get it. You don't like it when people take your act.","rel":"","context":"In "~Tweets"","block_context":{"text":"~Tweets","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/tweets"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9200,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2006\/01\/26\/more_waiter_ran.html","url_meta":{"origin":11046,"position":1},"title":"More waiter rants","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 26-Jan-06 12:58pm","format":false,"excerpt":"A restaurant critic spends a week as a waiter, and learns a lot about the other side of the table, including (as stated by a regular waitstaffer), \"Some people are...","rel":"","context":"In "Food & Drink"","block_context":{"text":"Food & Drink","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/food-drink"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":51958,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2015\/07\/27\/the-comedic-masterstroke-that-really-truly-wasnt.html","url_meta":{"origin":11046,"position":2},"title":"The "comedic masterstroke" that really, truly wasn't","author":"***Dave","date":"Mon 27-Jul-15 1:21pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Indeed, the actual words used were in no way intended to even hint that it was.Maybe movie ad pull quotes need a source URL to go with them, so you can actually see what the quoted critic thought. Critic Publicly Calls Out Movie Company For Editing His Negative Review Into\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2757,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2002\/09\/25\/everybodys_a_cr.html","url_meta":{"origin":11046,"position":3},"title":"Everybody’s a critic","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 25-Sep-02 9:07am","format":false,"excerpt":"Or can be, if you sign up with Blogcritics.org, where whatever you want to cover in the music, video, or book world can be published somewhere other than on...","rel":"","context":"In "Blogging & Internet"","block_context":{"text":"Blogging & Internet","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging"},"img":{"alt_text":"Blogcritics.org","src":"\/blog\/images\/button_blogcrit.gif","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":28712,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2012\/07\/31\/olympics-stuff-from-2012-07-30.html","url_meta":{"origin":11046,"position":4},"title":"Olympics stuff from 2012-07-30","author":"***Dave","date":"Tue 31-Jul-12 8:54am","format":false,"excerpt":"Some G+ posts I made on Olympics topics yesterday: NBC is getting a wee bit sensitive to Olympic coverage criticism\u00a0- Including getting a journalist critic bumped from Twitter. Looking back at the Games of 1912\u00a0- The look of the competitors has changed in a century. A lot. Premature Olympian ruins\u00a0-\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "History"","block_context":{"text":"History","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/history"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/london-2012-olympics-logo.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":33080,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2013\/04\/04\/and-another-review-from-roger-ebert.html","url_meta":{"origin":11046,"position":5},"title":"And another review from Roger Ebert","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 4-Apr-13 7:31pm","format":false,"excerpt":"This one from +The Onion. \u00a0Cool.Reshared post from +Shannon TurlingtonThis made me tear up a little, and it's from +The Onion . Roger Ebert Hails Human Existence As 'A Triumph' CHICAGO\u2014Calling the overall human experience \u201cpoignant,\u201d \u201cthought-provoking,\u201d and a \u201ccomplete tour de force,\u201d film critic Roger Ebert praised existence Thursday\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11046","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11046"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11046\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11046"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11046"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11046"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}