You know people in the industry say nowadays “The fans are often your worst critics,” that’s true now more than ever. Never have fans had this much power over the entertainment industry than in today’s age of the internet.
Ever wonder why the Sonic film had two official trailers? Why does the last trilogy of the Star Wars franchise seem like characters just disappeared? Even Disney has succumbed to fan backlash when facing the live-action Aladdin changing Genie’s appearance which wasn’t well received during it’s first trailer release. This is the power of fans and they hold more power than even they realize.
So, here I sit as a fan of a lot of different content, who also writes critiques of said content for fun and I ask myself this question. Do critics have as much power as fans do in this age of social media?
The simple answer is no. As much as I would love to say that my written opinion about a film or show makes a massive impact on the internet and the fans that are considering watching the film, it doesn’t. The fact is that the internet is just too big, fans outnumber critics a million to one. I myself am by no means a professional movie critic but I do consider myself a well-versed fan of a lot of franchises.
The thing about opinions is that they only mean as much as the person reading them, at least in this case. I can go on and on about why I think Elementals is the best modern Pixar movie or why I think Howl’s Moving Castle is overhyped. At the end of the day, nine times out of ten, you’ll see or not see the movie by your own choice. In doing so you’ll create your own opinion and that’s that.
That’s the critic side of me, however first and foremost I’m a fan and that side of me like every other Nintendo gamer who walked into the Mario movie, was ecstatic to see what Illumination did and adored all the little game references they threw in just for fun. I’m the fan that counted down the days til the Five Nights at Freddy’s movie release and is theorizing with other fans about what we should expect from the new content.
Ultimately the fans and word of mouth has a great amount of power, but that doesn’t make the critics that write about films wrong or unimportant. I like to think that every professional critic out there is just as big of a nerd and ecstatic fan as I am.
That is truly the only way to do it, all good writing comes from a passion for the subject you’re writing about. That’s why I maintain this column, yes it’s for fun and I enjoy voicing my opinions but I also do it because I love it. Even if you, the fan, don’t agree with me, the critic, having the ability to share my thoughts and passion with the world is truly indescribable.
I like to think that any fan would jump at the chance to be in my position and I welcome them to this new way of expressing their passion as. The best critic is the biggest fan.
