Porter Will Scold.

I recently stumbled upon the chance to write movie reviews for a truly kick-ass site called Pajiba. This is my first foray into film commentary, other than some graduate classwork in the CU Film School courses I blatantly crashed since my program sucked. I've been lucky enough to write book reviews for BUST (seriously, if you don't have a subscription you suck) for about 2 years now, and the chance to try out a new style of writing was exciting to me. I like a challenge. And the Pajiba guys were kind enough to have me, so I wanted to make them proud.

It's harrowing, writing a film review. There are moments where I felt not unlike some fat Roman emperor, giving the thumbs down to the bedraggled gladiator at my be-sandaled feet. And I feel a great deal of responsibility to not only the artists behind the movie, but also to the viewers. That probably sounds silly, to be so concerned that my half-assed comments mean so much. But I take it seriously, and as such, it puts me through the washing machine emotionally.

But I forgot that everyone's a critic. And I had no idea that putting my criticism out there would result in me being criticized. Meta. (Ewww. Excuse me while I put Moving Pictures on my record player).

Some of this criticism is warranted and, as spiteful as it is, it's spot on. Some, not so much. Take, for example, this exchange. To set the story up: In a review of the movie "Waiting...", I referred to a mid-twenties character being consistently attracted to underage women, who I called "Lolitas". This popped up in the comments thread for the review.


FYI, Lolita was about eleven, not seventeen. The term "lolita" shouldn't be used in reference to developed teenagers. If you were an English major, didn't you read Nabokov?
Posted by: elle at October 11, 2005 04:10 AM

I'll try in future reviews to not only have my editor fact check the details regarding the film, but every single reference that has its own pop cultural life. This will include the misuse of the term "ironic", which strikes me as yet another intensely personal battle a literate stickler such as yourself must go to various message boards and annonymously, smugly comment on.
Keep on fighting the good fight.
Posted by: Brandy at October 11, 2005 01:58 PM

It just goes to show you, no matter what you do, there's always some asshole out there just champing at the bit to completely strip you of dignity in order to make themselves feel better. And the ability to hide behind a computer monitor only allows there to be more hatefulness.
I re-learned something this week. Most people are fucking assbites.

PS I emailed this poster privately and, wouldn't you know it? The email address was a college one. Nothing like not having to live in the real world to fuel your rage at the abuse of the work of Nabokov! Now, off to the dining hall for extra Tater Tots with a side of "total fucking loser".