Oppenheimer - Early Reactions
Posts: 1519
Joined:
January 2013
uhgg...Grace Randolph is the worst...
No one is saying that critics are conspiring to falsely shower a bad movie with 10/10 ratings.Jesus of Suburbia wrote: ↑July 18th, 2023, 8:47 pmMaxContract wrote: ↑July 18th, 2023, 8:32 pmI wouldn't trust the ratings. The media wanted Barbie to be a masterpiece.El Especial wrote: ↑July 18th, 2023, 8:17 pmSounds like Barbie is actually pretty good this is going to be a really fun weekend at the movies
You do Greta Gerwig is acclaimed director right? Maybe she made a fantastic movie
However, it is a fact that Barbie checks all the boxes that push critics to prop up a merely 'good' movie into being a 'great' one, whether they are aware of it or not.
It has the female focus, the diverse cast, the short run time, an acclaimed female director who is beloved with no personal drama, and so on.
All of these factors snowball into producing a general atmosphere of the media, as MaxContract put it, "wanting Barbie to be a masterpiece".
Again, it's not some giant conspiracy, just an implicit atmosphere by way of peer pressure that induces critics to go overboard and praise a merely 'good' movie as 'great'. If you've ever worked in that kind of media environment, then you'll know that what I'm talking about.
It's like being at a sports game surrounded by a passionate home team's fans. You can try to delude yourself as much as possible that you will be 'unbiased' and 'fair', but the reality is that it's nearly impossible to not get swept up in the exuberant atmosphere and end up going with the flow.
Then a few months or years later, when the 'narrative' wears off, people collectively wake up, scratch their heads, and admit that they may have overpraised the movie. The most prominent example of this was 2013's American Hustle. I'm sure that there are more examples.
Once this kind of narrative builds and snowballs, the film has to be absolutely positively dogshit to not be showered with critical acclaim. An example is 2018's A Wrinkle in Time, which by all measure should be sitting at 0% on Rotten Tomatoes or somewhere very close it, but is instead sitting at a very, very generous 42%.
Again, I am NOT saying that Barbie sucks, critics are wrong, etc. etc.. I am merely pointing out that the historical precedent is there for them to possibly, possibly be overpraising a merely 'good' movie as 'great'.
Last edited by Oku on July 18th, 2023, 9:16 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Posts: 1010
Joined:
December 2019
Nobody cares about what Grace Randolph has to say
Posts: 1439
Joined:
October 2019
Marvel would put out the same movie over and over, yet critics would continue to give them overwhelming praise. It has somewhat died off recently. PIXAR is another brand that seemed to get overwhelming critical support for a long time. But when you watch the movie, your response might be "it's pretty good...but is it the best movie ever? Nope." That was my response today with Mission Impossible 7, which received pretty insane support from critics. It's pretty good, but it's too long. Worthy of such strong critical praise? Not sure about that.Oku wrote: ↑July 18th, 2023, 9:16 pmNo one is saying that critics are conspiring to falsely shower a bad movie with 10/10 ratings.Jesus of Suburbia wrote: ↑July 18th, 2023, 8:47 pmMaxContract wrote: ↑July 18th, 2023, 8:32 pm
I wouldn't trust the ratings. The media wanted Barbie to be a masterpiece.
You do Greta Gerwig is acclaimed director right? Maybe she made a fantastic movie
However, it is a fact that Barbie checks all the boxes that push critics to prop up a merely 'good' movie into being a 'great' one, whether they are aware of it or not.
It has the female focus, the diverse cast, the short run time, an acclaimed female director who is beloved with no personal drama, and so on.
All of these factors snowball into producing a general atmosphere of the media, as MaxContract put it, "wanting Barbie to be a masterpiece".
Again, it's not some giant conspiracy, just an implicit atmosphere by way of peer pressure that induces critics to go overboard and praise a merely 'good' movie as 'great'. If you've ever worked in that kind of media environment, then you'll know that what I'm talking about.
It's like being at a sports game surrounded by a passionate home team's fans. You can try to delude yourself as much as possible that you will be 'unbiased' and 'fair', but the reality is that it's nearly impossible to not get swept up in the exuberant atmosphere and end up going with the flow.
Then a few months or years later, when the 'narrative' wears off, people collectively wake up, scratch their heads, and admit that they may have overpraised the movie. The most prominent example of this was 2013's American Hustle. I'm sure that there are more examples.
Once this kind of narrative builds and snowballs, the film has to be absolutely positively dogshit to not be showered with critical acclaim. An example is 2018's A Wrinkle in Time, which by all measure should be sitting at 0% on Rotten Tomatoes or somewhere very close it, but is instead sitting at a very, very generous 42%.
Again, I am NOT saying that Barbie sucks, critics are wrong, etc. etc.. I am merely pointing out that the historical precedent is there for them to possibly, possibly be overpraising a merely 'good' movie as 'great'.
I'm sure Gerwig has done a very good job with Barbie, and I'm certain she tried to make it something better than just a giant cash grab. But make no mistake, the movie IS a giant cash grab for both Warner Brothers and the Mattel toy company. They've seen the same data I found on Google, which is apparently that over 80% of the female population has owned a Barbie doll.
Posts: 255
Joined:
August 2020
The screening stopped? That sucks
