Hating Critics and Why it's Stupid

 Ok, so this. I just watched a video where an actor in a production of The Little Mermaid said "the critics hated it, but that's only because they have an axe to grind hee hee." It's that type of attitude that really stands in the way of good art. Critics evaluate what's in front of them based on the production's merits and follies. It's a job that can only be written with integrity or you literally risk your credibility and paycheck (for professionals). When you say in response to a bad critique "they just mad" then you call yourself out for being oversensitive and incapable of growing. If you don't give a shit about critiques, fine. However, blaming imaginary beefs among critics and producers is dumb. Most people have this view of critics as lonely, disturbed and above all else bitter bitches butt hurt over something in their past. Their path as critics is a way on unleashing hell on a world that has hurt them. You see this type of depiction in "Ratatouie" for instance. But it's important for a layman to realize that this image of the bitter critic is circulated by the artists themselves. They've crafted this idea of criticism as only a revenge activity for the emotionally damaged. In fact, it's a job. Someone with experience has to tell others if this art has merit. Doing so can save money, time for film goers which are among the most important things in our lives. It can also have an edifying influence on the film industry itself. Without critics to check them, producers could technically put any self-aggrandizing nonsense they want on screen and audiences would have to put up with it. Instead critics provide the balance to an industry that desperately needs it. Their services are undermined however when artists in the production distregard their words as fodder for hate. Can it be fun to tear into a movie that you don't like? Yes. Is it even better to be swept off your feet by a great film? Absolutely. Much better. If you give me something gross to digest, don't be mad if I spit it back up.