There seems to be a lack of credibility online when looking at all of the critiques and views on anything from news stories to songs and albums. That’s because everyone, from the ripest ages of unemployment to lawyers, are giving their two cents on things as if it’s law.
This trend brings down the credibility of actual critics, the ones with years of writing experience and hopefully unbiased, professional opinions. The issue here is the people online who are practically foaming at the mouth to jump online and unpromptedly send threats to critics who dare share an opinion that doesn’t exactly match theirs.
To be clear, I’m not saying that people online who aren’t seasoned critics shouldn’t be allowed to share their thoughts. This is an opinion article after all. I’m simply saying that we should stop, pause for a second and think about our own use of the internet because all of those anger-driven rants devalue the work of actual critics.
But I’m not trying to imply that critics themselves are the perfect specimen. It’s clear that they are far from it. They can be biased, grossly out of touch or even paid off for positive reviews. Let’s all think back to those obnoxious film bros who believe that “The Matrix” and all of its painful sequels are “peak cinema” and “secretly brilliant.” Or think of those old people who claim that “real music died after 1975.” And if you somehow don’t get it, you might as well never indulge in cinema or music again.
Even with their flaws, critics used to serve a deeper purpose; they shaped culture, made trends–gave artists a standard to work up to. Now, that purpose is gone. Everyone with a Wi-Fi connection has an opinion, whether it’s smart or not, and it’s drowning out the voices of real critics, which is causing them to come off as untrustworthy.
A good review from an established critic is built from carefully chosen words, woven together with a purpose in mind. But what seems to be getting all of the traction and buzz online are the soullessly thrown-together takes.
It is vital to realize that a critic’s job isn’t using ChatGPT to generate a review on the new “Superman” movie with Subway Surfers as the background on TikTok–or giving bad reviews to restaurants on Yelp for attention. The people who do that aren’t real critics; they are people fishing for likes.
Now, I have an idea. Maybe, just maybe, we should start to listen to real critics again. Not because they are flawless, but because their job is more meaningful than making stuff up for clicks and attention.
