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DAFT BLOGGERS vs. EMINENT CRITICS
Thanks to Anne Thompson for passing along Ambrose Heron’s sharp, even-tempered defense of movie bloggers, posed as a response to an article by Rachel Cooke that trots out increasingly familiar generalizations about “daft bloggers” vs. “eminent critics.” Of course there are lots of bloggers out there who use the forum as an excuse to pop off and crack wise and gush indiscriminately about whatever is their current obsession. They are easy to spot and wear out their welcome quickly. However, I will echo Anne’s statement that there is an increasingly wide range of smart movie bloggers out there too, and I'd like to suggest that it’s just as easy to follow them and determine whether they’re worth reading or not as it is to judge an established critic by his standards, observations and skill with language. Anne refers to her sidebar as evidence of this claim, and I will do the same. Thanks to Ambrose, Anne and all the residents of both our sidebars for the excellent work you do writing intelligently about film.
8 comments:
Jesus. That Rachel Cooke article is one of the most ridiculous and (dare I say it?) daft things I've yet read.
Dennis wrote:
Of course there are lots of bloggers out there who use the forum as an excuse to pop off and crack wise and gush indiscriminately about whatever is their current obsession.
I live daily with a fear that I'm one of those bloggers.
Ross, if you ever had any doubts before, I think you can put them to rest with your most recent post, "The Lynching of Steve Balderson," The blogosphere could use some more seriously intended passion like this, not to mention nerve and conviction. Nice work! I look forward to part two, and I know everyone else who read part one does too.
Dennis -
Part Two is up. I've no idea how it stacks up to Part One, though.
Um, "enjoy"?
Thanks for the heads-up. Part two of "The Lynching of Steve Balderson" can be found here. Ross, I'll e-mail you soon with a story of my own that you might find heartening. And thanks for another thoughtful piece.
I think the temptation to crack wise comes from the fact that you often don't know how much your stuff is being read....I want to be a smart blogger too!
And the thing is, Simon, I think cracking wise has its place, for sure. But when it becomes apparent that that's the whole reason for putting thoughts out there, that's when I become a whole lot less interested in continuing to read them. And I think what you're implying is right-- the more awareness a blogger have that people might actually be reading the blog, maybe the more likely it is that a blogger begins to put a little more thought into what it is he/she is doing, and at least maybe the wisecracks get a little wiser.
For what it's worth, I think you're onto something good with Mostly Movies, Simon. Thanks for stopping by! I'll be coming back to yours, for sure.
Simon does make a very good point, and Dennis, you took it a few steps further.
Personally, what I finding most annoying is a blog that seems set up for the sole purpose to bitch about everything. I mean, that's what everyone else does on the 'net in bits and pieces, but to make it one's prime directive can get real old, real fast.
Don't get me wrong - I've got nothing against a good rant, but it's much easier to appreciate a good rant if its bookended by a writer's insightful, positive commentaries on other issues.
In the very limited blogger circles in which I've been traveling, I've admittedly not seen a whole lot of that - which is exactly why I continue to travel in those circles. (It's pretty daunting when one realizes exactly how many blogs exist out there in many different forms.) I feel very lucky to have stumbled into a community of intelligence and polite discourse - the last 8 or so months have been a refreshing change from the internet I'd been dealing with for the last few years.
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