Doctor Submarine wrote:Alright, I'm gonna peace out of this convo for now. It's less about wishing that CinemaSins would go away forever and more about wishing that more people were willing to resign it to a tiny portion of the criticism (and it IS criticism, there's no counter-argument) they consume. It makes me sad to see such shamelessly vapid imitations of something I really love get so popular. That's where I'm coming from on this. But I'm not changing any minds, so forget it.
Ok, late to the party (dang it all, don't post all the fun stuff while I'm at work!!!). I know Doc has stepped away so I want to play nice and all that.
I was thinking on this a bit today and I think that I am beginning to understand the counter to CS and all the other types that are up for discussion tomorrow. The idea is that this type of criticism does nothing to ADD to the field of film criticism, and detracts from other film critics who have something to say.
Yes, that was a summary. I am trying to make sure I understand it, because I really didn't for the longest time.
My main point is two fold. First of all, I do not regard CS or HT or whathaveyou as film criticism. Maybe I'm narrow in my definition, maybe I'm just ignorant of film critics in general, or maybe I don't have the energy to keep up. I don't know. What I do know is how I treat a critic/reviewer and how I treat comedians.
Comedians I watch to entertain me and to get a good laugh. It is enjoyable, but really nothing to terribly deep or hard thinking-depending on the comedian; there are exceptions, of course.
Reviewers and critics are someone who challenge me to look at the art (in this case film or TV) in a different way or a critical way. I've posted again and again my like of many movies that FIYH didn't care for and my disinterest in ones that people love. That doesn't mean I don't appreciate their point of view-I just don't share it.
For me, CS, HT, Literal Trailers, Confused Matthew, are entertaining. They are poking fun at a film or being angry at it, or swearing at it, or behaving like sports fans yelling at officials on the TV. It's comedy, and comedy is subjective and I get that.
While I can understand the concern of their style cheapening film criticism, I don't see them that way, and I don't think they seem themselves that way. I mean, YouTube comments can hardly be a measure of a fandom's state of mind simply because many of them turn in to a hate-fest in of themselves.
Here's a thought that I just had, for what it is worth. To those who are concerned about the impact of these types of videos, perhaps you should contact them and let them know. Not YouTube comment but a legitimate connection.
Maybe I'm crazy, but one of the things that I love about here and SFDebris is the fact that I can send a message and give feedback and get a response. There is a dialog there that should be nurtured among the film criticism community. Letting them know an alternative point of view might help them learn something too.
Finally, I really don't see evidence that this is harmful to the film criticism community. I am with BDA here in that the general movie going audience is going to see what they want, regardless of things like this. Also, they are not going to partake of other film critics (any more than they already were) simply because those videos are not there.
Beyond that, I really don't know. I'm doing my best to understand but I guess I don't get it 
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