Is There Too Much Politics In Film Criticism?

I had been working on a write-up about this exact topic when The Guardian’s Jessa Crispin had her write-up go live last night. The piece is called “Is politics getting in the way of assessing which films are actually good?” the gist of Crispin’s thesis, if you will, is that critics have now become so political-minded by virtue-signaling that they’re not only against telling the truth about films but are pretty much incapable of doing so. Yikes.

Excerpt: “But if you insist that a movie is important, you don’t really have to deal with whether or not it’s good. You can shame people into seeing it as a political statement, rather than as an entertainment or cultural selection.

Excerpt: “Part of this language is the result of our commenting culture choosing to see everything through a political lens. There must be a political reason for Tarantino giving so few lines to a female actor in his latest film, and that political reason must be he does not respect or have any interest in women. There must be a political reason this movie doesn’t have the correct number of roles given to actors of color, and that reason must be that the director is racist. “Even the female director of a terrible Charlie’s Angels reboot tried to blame the audience’s lack of interest in ‘women’s stories’ for its failure. You know, just the totally normal and relatable stories of regular women fighting crime in very short shorts.

Excerpt: “But browbeating audience members into seeing films by telling them it’s politically important or by swearing this is the most intense and perfect cinematic experience they’ll ever have doesn’t really work, and it only helps their authority slip further away.”

Here’s what I had to say about this topic back in 12.12.19:

“These days, it’s very hard to know whether a well-reviewed film is genuinely as good as it is made out to be, or if critics are simply trying to cure the problem of gender disparity. This leads me to the problem of “virtue signaling”. Film criticism today has become hive-mindedly artificial. Our field has been hijacked. Critics want to pity vote in women, fine, but they shouldn't expect the Globes to as well. This may very well force “Little Women” into an Oscar nom, which it doesn't deserve, but critics will celebrate it nonetheless.“

“The fact of the matter is that there seem to be people out there who truly believe in quotas when it comes to gender equality in the arts. As I wrote earlier in the week, “there are many out there who want not just film awards, but film criticism, in general, to be swept up by “identity politics.” If that ever happens then the ethical nature of the field will be done for. The notion of judging a film as to whether it is good or bad would vaporize away.”

“To too many film critics, it’s more about who made the movie, who stars in it, and its message, rather than if is it a good or bad film. Of course, it is important to progress and have inclusion at the movies, but it should never be done in a forced-upon way. Progression happens in baby steps, not by painstakingly being shoved into the equation. There is a lack of patience from these wily critics and social media hooligans, they want the change to happen NOW, but in art, it can never be achieved in the flick of a switch. 80% of filmmakers in this industry are still male and that means there stands a good chance that the best films and directors every year will be directed by old, white dudes. I know, it’s a terrible thing, but that’s where we are at right now and, despite incredible changes having been made this last decade in terms of gender and racial inclusivity, we cannot ignore the fact that a majority of the best films released the past few years were directed by men.”

“In fact, Cannes head Thierry Fremaux even admitted that in her precious final days on this earth, with feminist movements upping the pressures for Cannes to be more inclusive in its competition selections, Varda told him, “I’m not a female director. I am a woman, and I’m a director.” Fremaux added, “she said to me, “please, never pick up a film because it’s directed by a woman. Pick up a film because it’s a good film.”