Is Rotten Tomatoes Bad For Movies?
Rotten Tomatoes has been under a lot of scrutiny lately. It seems creators are bothered by their hard work being reduced down to just a number. Now, the legendary Martin Scorsese has fueled the fire even more, adding his two cents about the issue. That gave me the idea to share my thoughts on the topic.
It’s a tough issue with valid arguments on both sides. No matter how bad a movie is or looks, people put ridiculous amounts of time and energy into their projects. Of course, people get driven by the desire to make money but at the same time, I think almost everyone wants to make the best end result they possibly can. Unfortunately, hard work doesn’t always equate with a great film. With that in mind, it’s understandable that simply slapping a number on all those hours of work can be extremely frustrating. It feels like the thing you just poured you heart into is getting reduced down to one number that determines its public perception and its financial success.
However, Rotten Tomatoes isn’t a bad sight. First off, going to the movies is getting very pricy and a guide to help us pick what is worth going out to the theatre for is a really amazing tool.
At the same time, it’s really the audiences who have morphed Rotten Tomatoes into something that has the power to completely tear down a movie. We’re the ones who place such importance on that one fresh or rotten number. In reality, the system is much more complex than that. It aggregates all certified critics scores and gives a percentage of how many people gave a film generally positive reviews. If you look closely, there’s a number out of 10 underneath the percentage that gives you an average critic score. Something could get a 90% but have an average of 6/10 while another movie could get a 65% with an average of 7.5/10. I’m guilty of it too. There’s a movie that interests you and then it gets a rotten tomato meter score and you decide not to go out and see it. It’s not a great habit though. If a trailer or premise interests us, we should go see it and support it no matter the score. One of my favorite comedies, Kicking and Screaming, got a 41% on the tomato meter and one of the best holiday classics, Home Alone, got a 54%. Then there’s films like Moonlight (98%) and Hell or High Water (98%) which I don’t like at all. Point being, the score doesn’t always reflect how we feel about a movie.
Rotten Tomatoes is good to use as a guide but we shouldn’t make it the be all and end all of what we watch. Try finding some critics you agree with and start reading their reviews and listen to what they say. Maybe don’t even pay attention to reviews. It’s honestly very refreshing to go into a movie clean and not have any predisposed ideas or opinions. I’ve started doing it with a few films this year(including staying away from trailers) and it’s given me a better theatre experience. It takes away a lot of the expectations, good or bad.
Rotten Tomatoes is a great idea. I just think we as a society put so much emphasis and importance on everything nowadays. We need to be able to make our own opinions and be willing to take a chance on a movie if it interests us. Maybe let it steer you in the right direction but don’t let it be the Bible for what you do and don’t see.
