Skip to main content

In criticism of criticism.

How many of your ideas are actually yours?



        And, to that point, how many of them do you even agree with? In the age we currently live, countless writers, critics, and general snobs make their living by giving an opinion on things that most of us have never experienced. If I read a (beautifully written, I might add) movie review by Roger Ebert, I still haven't seen the film. I may have some idea of what it was like to have seen it, but only from the perspective of Mr. Ebert himself. If I then decide to watch the movie, who could say how much different my experience will be for having these ideas preloaded into my head--ideas about whether it is a two or three star worthy film, if I had ought to believe in the characters as written and portrayed, or pointing out the holes in the plot that might otherwise have passed clear over my head. Will I enjoy the film any more or less for having this external knowledge of it? Is it possible that I'll never watch what would have been my favorite movie because I heard someone say that it was bad once?



        Personally, I don't know that I care to have my opinions on things distilled by others, targeted to me by Google/Facebook/etc., and then fed to me for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I find that recently, when I experience new things, I am often unconsciously trying to mold my personal perception of them to match the "professional" perceptions that I have seen and read in the past. If the new boots I just bought don't feel as comfortable as the busted-up old boots I am trying to replace, surely I must be wearing them wrong (I tell myself) because the boot reviewers on YouTube said that this is the most comfortable pair of boots in all the land! That, of course, doesn't change the fact that my feet are simply killing me when I wear the new boots.

        These ideas, brought to you by your local opinion-based blog, may be a classic case of me shooting myself in the foot. If you cannot now trust my writing on the basis that these ideas, having been created inside my mind and therefore outside of yours, are not organic to yourself, you may be able to trust them on the basis that I clearly value some form of supposed intellectual honesty over my own self-interests. The combined prosecution/defense rests, your honor.

        Don't get me wrong, reviews certainly have their place: I want to know which restaurants are edible and which are foul without having to eat every dish from every single one. The point is that you shouldn't get so caught-up in reading and processing the opinions of other people, especially those opinions that are put on a pedestal (i.e. the "professionals"), that you forget to form your own.

        p.s. watch Ratatouille
Labels:

Comments

  1. gaiababeMarch 5, 2022 at 9:49 AM

    Gaggia Titanium & Stainless Steel -Tianium-Art-Anze -Tianium
    Gaggia Titanium titanium watch & Stainless Steel titanium easy flux 125 -Tianium-Art-Anze -Tianium-Art-Anze -Tianium-Art-Anze -Tianium-Art-Anze titanium bars -Tianium-Art-Anze titanium i phone case -Tianium-Art-Anze -Tianium-Art-Anze -Tianium-Art-Anze -Tianium-Art -Tianium-Art how to get titanium white octane -Tianium-Art  Rating: 4 · ‎1 review

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The design of anti-design.

 This article brought to you by (brand name).  Or maybe by No Name™. That's what you're seeing there in the yellow: a brand whose whole identity is based on having no brand name. You won't find any Eggo, they only make "original waffles". No Charmin either, just "bathroom tissue".  Make no mistake, this campaign of anti-design isn't concerned with actually destroying brand image (they'll happily sell you all the bright yellow merchandise you can carry), they're more so trying to convince you that not having a design somehow puts them on the moral high ground. That, by spending a single cent on marketing or packaging design, all the other companies have duped you and you'd really be a fool not to buy all this plain yellow goodness.  It is, of course, just another way to market a brand.  To stray from consumer goods and into other areas of anti-design, this is a problem that I've often had with some works of minimalist architecture. I...
1 comment
Read more

In defense of luxury.

 Allow me to introduce you to my first car: a Mercedes S-Class If only.  My actual first car was a clapped-out Chevy Lumina (though she was good to me). But what my car did have were airbags and ABS brakes-- two features that were once considered to be luxury features  exclusive to cars like the S-Class, yet somehow found their way onto a car that I bought from my cousin for $800. If it seems like I'm getting somewhere, it's because I'm trying to. Research is expensive. There's not really any way around that unfortunate fact, nor around the equally unfortunate fact that someone has to pay for it. I don't know about you, but I definitely can't afford to. Here's where luxury comes in. If rich people want to pay prices that would make you or I limp at the knees in order to have the latest-and-greatest gadgets and doodads then, hey, they have my best wishes. The money that luxury consumers pay for the honor of being the first to use these newer and better techn...
Post a Comment
Read more