The Value of "The Razzies" and Criticism of Bad Movies

            I went on Rotten Tomatoes (a website who people really misunderstand the use and value of) to look at the winners of the annual “Razzie” awards.  These awards are often given to high profile flops, vanity pieces, movies that made a ton of money but were garbage in the eyes of the reviewer community, or in this year’s case a propaganda film made by a convicted felon who somehow is still politically relevant.

            Whatever.

            The point is, this is a booby prize, you point to something everyone knows about and say that it sucked, people then talk about the hows and whys of sucking, segway into lesser known movies that were worse, and then hopefully everyone learns something about how you make a movie.

            Discussion and reflection of what you like, what other people like, and what technical proficiency that goes into making things is important.  Talking about this stuff makes you smarter and helps you to learn how to express yourself on other topics, it is why I have written so many movie reviews, not just to tell other people how I felt about some throw away junk entertainment, but to talk out what it is I liked about the throw away junk entertainment.  I am exploring my own values and tastes thru a medium of film criticism.

Here is a criticism from me to "Dawn of Justice".
I have seen every live action and animated portrayal of this character.
This is the worst one.

            These things are subjective.  As pretty much all art is.

            Then I read the comments and some common bugbears made themselves apparent.  I see a lot of comments with the words "bias" and “objective”.

            I don't think people know what those words mean.

            The Razzies are an opinion piece, awards given in a facetious spirit to mock movies whose quality didn't measure up in the film criticism community, but often times had a disproportionate amount of success.  That is bias toward their own opinion or toward certain film making conventions they felt fell short in the execution of the movie.

            If you, like the commenters, liked one of these movies (Dawn of Justice has a shocking number of idiots wanting to throw themselves on their own swords to defend it) go ahead and like what you like.

            If you hated a particular movie that was not chosen (or even nominated) instead of commenting about the award's biases, how about instead use these awards how they are supposed to be used, as conversation starters.  They are a joke meant to provoke good natured discussion about what we like and dislike about movies.

            The Razzies are not "official" or "influential" or part of some conspiracy.  If you don't agree that is fine, but don't just rant about "objectivity" like there is some kind of scientific process for measuring the quality of a film, just point to who won, explain why you think that movie was picked, and then explain why you would have picked a different movie.  This helps you and others understand your world view.

            It is supposed to be fun.

            Have fun.

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