Everyone’s a critic …

yes, really

Final ProjectJim Keogh

Nov. 28, 2012Social Media and Marketing Communications

On Feb. 28, 2010, in The Chronicle of Higher Education, a scholar named Thomas Doherty wrote an article titled, “The Death of Film Criticism.” According to Doherty, the reason why film criticism is dying can largely be summed up in two words: Social Media. Or, to put it in cinematic terms:

Attack of the Bloggers!Doherty wrote: “In the mid-1990s, the wide-open frontier of the blogosphere allowed young punks who still got carded at the multiplex to leapfrog over their print and video elders on user-friendly sites with hip domain names.”

Well, the bloggers did attack … Thomas Doherty, accusing him of being cranky and out of touch. And they used social media (their own blogs as well as comments following his article) to get the point across.

But has social media altered film criticism? Yes. But first, a bit of a history lesson.

Old-School Film Criticism:• Dominated by a select few critics at major newspapers and media outlets

since the turn of the last century; the elite of the elite• Writers had little or no interaction with the public• They exercised a level of “purity” in their reviews; movies were about art,

not commerce• Critics like these wielded extraordinary power and influence

o Pauline Kael, The New Yorkero Roger Ebert, “Siskel & Ebert” and the Chicago Sun-Timeso Andrew Sarris, The Village Voice

But things have changed …

Introducing Film Criticism in the Age of Social Media

AS WELLAS THIS GUY

Jeremy Jahns reviews

In the age of Social Media, where’s what sites like IMDB, Rotten Tomatoes, YouTube, and hundreds of blogs offer:

• The “democratization” of film criticism, where all opinions are valid

• The recognition of film as a commercial enterprise (box office tallies, etc.)

• Community – the cultivation of conversation among movie lovers. Attending a movie is a communal experience, so why shouldn’t reviewing it be equally inclusive?

• IMDB’s “Your Lists,” “Your Ratings”; traditionally film critics rank “Citizen Kane” as the No. 1 movie of all time; IMDB users rank “The Shawshank Redemption” at No. 1. Who’s right, or is there even such a thing as being “right”? There is a disconnect.

• IMDB’s Contributor Zone – a wiki that allows anyone to update IMDB pages (actor biographies, film histories, etc.)

• YouTube reviews that are progressively sophisticated, both intellectually and technologically; and some are damn entertaining

• A departure from the monolithic, authoritative model of film criticism

• So IMDB ranks “The Dark Knight Rises” as the 18th greatest movie of all time. Sez who? Says my kid, who has seen it 5 times, and thousands of others who have voted for it.

It all started with Harry Knowles …

His Ain’t It Cool Newsweb site introducedguerrilla reviewing in 1996. Knowles encouraged everydaypeople to infiltrate sneakpreviews and test screeningsof upcoming films and he published their reviews andblogs, becoming theleader of a national conversation about movies among the disenfranchised online. The studios HATED Knowles and initially barred him and his minions from their screenings, until they realized that they NEEDED him to generate buzz among his fan base of regular folks. Today, with 2.5 million readers a day, he’s regarded as a respected critical voice, despite his rebellious roots and unconventional methods.

Studios are realizing the power of social media to market their films and are seeing that the years of make-or-break reviews by a small band of critics are long gone.

• “Paranormal Activity” cost $15,000 to make, had no marketing budget, and thanks largely to a Facebook strategy to generate interest earned $150,000,000

• Last month, Moviepilot

unveiled a social media agency specifically to tap the groundswell when marketing movies.

• Lionsgate jumped on social media to promote “The Hunger Games,” creating a virtual, interactive tour of the source novel’s “Capital” accessible only through Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, activating the fan base.

Here is the dilemma: Everyone CAN be a film critic, but SHOULD they?

Um … no• There are some wonderful independent blogs and web sites, like

meetinthelobby.com; and there are others, like the-reviewer.net, that are poorly written. Having a choice is good, but you have to do your homework.

• Natural selection means that without a monetary incentive many blogs die off. Several that I found hadn’t been touched since 2009. Producing a continually updated assessment of the film scene is fun, until it becomes a grind. Doing it for free can be soul-killing.

• There is nothing wrong with having articulate, knowledgeable – yes, even elite — paid critics who lead the pack. Just as I want smart, well-educated people to lead the country, I prefer my film criticism to come from people who know what they’re talking about and who can express an idea. But can they adapt to a social-media universe?

And from this, a hero will rise …

Pulitzer Prize winner Roger Ebert, one of the most powerful film critics in history, beginning with print and television, saw the future in social media and embraced it. He created rogerebert.com, which includes his reviews, his blog (dealing with a spectrum of subjects from film, politics, spirituality to his own personal journey, including the loss of his voice and ability to eat due to cancer), but also blogs and reviews from his “Far-flung Correspondents.” These are everyday movie lovers from around the world who write intelligently about film – writers he clearly chooses for their knowledge and skills. Ebert also links to his e-newsletter, which, along with his blog, fosters dialogue with the public. Ask him a question or raise a good point, and he will engage. He gets it.

Today’s take-awayThis …

Can coexist with this …

Social media simply supplies another vehicle for delivering film criticism, but regardless of the medium, you have to be good at it for people to pay attention. The bloggers aren’t attacking, they just want to be loved and loathed like every other critic.

References• Bernoff, J. and Li, C. (2008). Groundswell: Winning in a world transformed by social

technologies. Boston, MA. Forrester Research Inc.• Griffiths, Trent (May 31, 2011). Encore. “Everyone’s a critic.”

http://mumbrella.com.au/film-critics-everyones-a-critic-8135• Doherty, Thomas (Feb. 28, 2010). The Chronicle of Higher Education. “The Death of Film

Criticism.”• Warren, Christina (Nov. 29, 2010). Mashable. “How Social Media is Changing the Way Movies

Are Promoted.” http://mashable.com/2010/11/29/social-media-movie-marketing/• Shaw, Lucas (Oct. 24, 2012). The Wrap. “Moviepilot Launches Social Media Marketing Agency

for Studios.” http://www.thewrap.com/media/article/moviepilot-launches-social-media-marketing-agency-studios-61976

• Frankel, Daniel (March 31, 2012). PaidContent. “Did ‘Hunger Games’ Create a New Digital Marketing Template for Hollywood?” http://paidcontent.org/2012/03/31/419-did-hunger-games-create-a-new-digital-marketing-template-for-hollywood/

• Scott, Karyl (Nov. 5, 2012). Slashdot. “Social Analytics and the Movies.” http://slashdot.org/topic/bi/social-analytics-and-the-movies/

• Ebert, Roger (2012). http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/