Suicide Squad was released this month and its press screenings spawned numerous negative reviews, reaching an abysmal Rotten Tomatoes score of 26 per cent.
Fans who believe these erroneous claims of bias have created an online petition to silence these critics. This is essentially a mass call for censorship because a film critic had the audacity to say a film sucked.
How did the trust in published media get so low that a film critic cannot print a negative review without sparking accusations of unfair bias? A person whose sole occupation is to judge films based on their quality can’t clash with popular opinion without facing accusations of dishonesty from a vehemently disagreeing public.
The creators of the petition to shut down Rotten Tomatoes claim they are fed up with biased critics “unfair treatment of DC universe films.”
The film hadn’t been released yet when the petition went up, so rather than accept that the film might actually be terrible, they instead lashed out at the reviewers as “hating on a perfectly fine movie to suit their pro-Marvel agenda.”
What these insane rants against film criticism fail to understand is that a film critic is only capable of giving you his/her personal opinion.
Their reviews are not the “correct” score a film deserves and it is perfectly fine to disagree.
When the majority of critics label Suicide Squad a bad movie, it doesn’t mean you’re not allowed to enjoy it for yourself.
As a hopeful film critic myself, I have disagreed with the likes of Roger Ebert, the acclaimed film critic, many times. His scathing reviews did not match my opinions on some of my favourite films (Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Blue Velvet, A Clockwork Orange, to name a few).
However, to claim that critics are somehow biased is insulting to their integrity and their profession.
A film critic’s one and only job is to provide their take on a film. Implying that they have been dishonest because their opinion does not match yours is ludicrous paranoia stemming from this rampant distrust in media nowadays.
It is no longer enough to say “this critic is wrong,” it has to be “this critic is lying to me.”
I shouldn’t have to say this but a film critic is not your enemy.
A film critic has a responsibility to the public to give them their honest and unaltered opinion. It’s the last line of defense between a bad movie and your hard earned cash. Most importantly, they promote films that deserve to be seen and talked about.
These critics felt Suicide Squad was a bad movie because of the reasons listed in their reviews, which I’m almost certain went unread by those 22,000 petition supporters.
To make these erroneous claims instead of even considering these critics’ views goes beyond mere cries of upset fanboys. This is the sign that the general public is incapable of believing the media at any level.
To those who signed that insufferable petition (which never would have succeeded, by the way) you are shooting the messenger for a message that you never had to receive or agree with in the first place.
Opinion is opinion and yours is just as valid as the critics who get to have theirs published on a website or in a newspaper. But you can’t say that opinions should be taken away from people just because you don’t agree.