Tuesday, February 01, 2011

Had it ever begun?

... Is the age of the critic over? (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

When I was in high school, and some newspaper reviewer dismissed music or movies or TV shows that my buddies and I liked, we just thought the reviewer was some old fool who was out of touch with what was going on. I doubt very much if that has changed. Reviews can be very useful -- if you know how to read them. They can help you decide how to spend your money and your time. But people who go to movies or shows or concerts or read books or whatever just because somebody writing in the Times says they should are seriously in need of intellectual independence.

See also: Everyone's a critic now.

1 comment:

  1. Wilfrid Sheed:

    'Various morbid explanations have been advanced (by angry artists; nobody else much cares) for becoming a critic, but it usually begins with just being around the office when they need one, or two or three.'

    But he also says in the same intro to Essays in Disguise:

    '...the real business of criticism, which is to do justice to the best work of one's time, so that nothing gets lost.'

    We could use a few more critics like Sheed, online or off.

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