Have you or your friends ever checked a film’s reviews before you went to view a movie? For many, this is the deciding factor when it comes to spending their hard-earned money on going to view a film in the theater. While film critics have a professional say on how good a film is, the average movie-goer shouldn’t consider film critics’ opinions when deciding whether or not to go to the theater.
Recency Bias within Film Critics
The average movie-goer shouldn’t consider film critics’ opinions because film critics are riddled with bias, but how does this impact film critics? Well, recency bias impacts all of us. 59 of the films in the website’s Top 100 Movies of All Time list were released during the 2010s’. This is impactful because older movies that shaped film as we know it today will die off since the average viewer is being led astray by film critics. As a result, this may impact viewers’ decision on whether or not to see a historical film that was a major piece in building up to cinema today.
Discrepancies in Ratings for Films
In the summer of 2023, two major anticipated movies, Oppenheimer and Barbie, were released on the same day. While both films surpassed their major-success expectations, Barbie won the “box-office battle”. During the Oscars though, Oppenheimer won seven awards while Barbie only won 1 award. What could be the discrepancy here? The study conducted “found that men and women rated male-led movies similarly—but when it came to female-led films, male audiences were more likely to give them the worst scores”.
Also, Men comprised 69% (69.2%) and women 31% (30.5%) of reviewers. Since male critics out-number female critics by a large margin, a lot of the female-led movie ratings have been skewed. This will lead to female-led movies not getting as much recognition as they should in the various movie awards.
Flaws in Critics
Film critics engage in critical thinking to expand our understanding of the medium. So, the average movie-goer shouldn’t consider film critics’ reviews because film critics’ reviews have nothing to do with recommending a movie.
Moreover, the most well-known rating company system is misunderstood. The “Tomatometer” doesn’t report how much an average movie-goer would enjoy the movie. Many think the rotten tomato algorithm reports how much the critics enjoyed the movie which is incorrect. Now with this information, it’s easy to understand why the average movie shouldn’t consider film critics’ reviews.
Conclusion
In conclusion, The average movie-goer shouldn’t take into account film critics’ reviews because they are riddled with biases like gender bias and recency bias. Also, film critics are misunderstood by the general public because the average person does not understand the true purpose of their job which is to add to the academic field of film criticism. So, the next time you decide to go see a movie don’t look at the critic’s reviews. Just go see the movie. The experience is worth the money spent whether the movie was enjoyable or not.
