Suicide Squad fans petition to shut down Rotten Tomatoes after negative reviews- Will it Break 100 million in its first weekend domestic?

[Veknoid_Outcast]

potato_hamster said:

Veknoid_Outcast said:

That's a fair point. Just look at this recent controversy with YouTubers advertising gambling sites or accusations of corruption and favoritism at gaming giants like IGN and Polygon.

But I do hope people realize there are a lot of brilliant journalists, reporters, and critics out there that fulfill an important role. One of my heroes is Roger Ebert, whose reviews and essays helped me fall in love with movies. As an admirer of his and of the profession, I'd hate to see all critics dismissed as untrustworthy, out-of-touch, or otherwise unreliable.

Well that's the biggest problem, isn't it? How do you sort out who is legitimate and who isn't? In the terms of critics, how do you sort out who is actually giving their honest opinion, who is being paid for expressing an opinion they don't necessarily believe, and who is just saying what they think their fans want to hear? Unless there's some kind of whistleblowing often time we have no way of knowing.

For example, you mention Polygon. They use a clearly use "Social Justice lens" when reviewing video games, movies, and entertainment, knocking games that they feel have sexist or racist undertones for whatever reason, and celebrating those games that "empower women". That's not really an objective point of view, but it sure gives them more page clicks from the crowd that that type of thing appeals to. I can't knock Polygon for that, but does that make them a more or less credible source of games journalism? In my opinion it makes them less credible, and less reliable because that lens is subjective.

So how do I or anyone else tell who is legit?

I guess folks just need to do their homework. Arthur Gies of Polygon, for example, proved to be petulant and amateurish in his review of Star Fox Zero. Jim Sterling, on the other hand, has displayed a cool indifference from the demands of publishers and advertisers, demonstrating an almost brutal level of honesty. 

It's definitely a bigger problem with the video game media, as it doesn't have the tradition and standards that movie and music criticism share. So I appreciate the frustration of video game fans. But things can get better if readers and consumers demand better, and stop squabbling among themselves. This episode with RT is proof of the wrong way to handle the situation. Don't make it about Marvel vs. DC. Make it about good journalism vs. bad journalism.