From: malgosia askanas (email suppressed)
Date: Wed Mar 25 2009 - 17:01:54 PDT
Cari wrote:
>what i am against is an authority on a subject not being
>realistic/inclusive about the subject - that is what i was
>questioning
[...]
>my issue isn't the films really
>it is the critics possible bias
>and the cultures lack of questioning
What Fred said was:
>I have to say that, on my one viewing (on film), it was more than a
>little disappointing. It is perhaps of some interest to know that
>she was interested in things like flowing streams as a source of
>inspiration, but I didn't need bland cinematography and a cute
>little kid as my tour guide to appreciate nature.
So: he said he only saw the film once and that, on that one viewing,
he personally found it disappointing. More specifically, he found
the cinematography bland, didn't get from the film any new insights
into nature, and the device of having a cute kid as a tour guide
didn't do anything for him to make the tour more interesting.
Cari, I think I understand your point about the difficulty of
avoiding "cuteness" when filming cats or kids, but what does this
have to do with the price of eggs? Fred didn't even criticize the
cuteness per se; he just indicated that Martin's use of the kid
didn't improve (and maybe dis-improved) an otherwise bland film. Do
you really think that the above-quoted opinion provides any
justification for invoking issues of "authority" or demands of
"realism" and "inclusivity"? What "authority"? Is what you mean by
"authority" the fact that Fred has thought a lot about film, is not
shy about his opionins, attempts to articulate his thoughts with
precision and cogency, and has succeeded in publishing his writings
in journals? But it seems to me that these are all GOOD for "our
side", rather than occasions for attack and condescension - so I
suspect it's something else you mean. OK, so then "realism" about
what? The fact that it is difficult to make a good film? Does the
fact that it is difficult to make a good film mean that one should
shut up about films that one thinks don't work? And "inclusivity"
about what? Every time we express a negative opinion we are supposed
to "include" in this opinion all the other films we didn't like, so
the poor film we are critiquing doesn't feel "excluded"?
You say your issue is "the critic's possible bias". What kind of an
issue is that? Every one of us is biased. Every time we express an
opinion it's a possibly biased opinion. So what? It seems to me
that the only relevant question is whether the opinion has some
value. To the filmmaker: does it point out weaknesses the filmmaker
was unaware of? Does it give him/her ideas for future work? Does it
initiate a useful conversation? And so on. To other viewers: does
it stimulate thought or perception? Does it put a new angle on the
work? Does it serve as a bounce-off point to an opposite, or simply
different, opinion? Does it initiate a useful conversation? And so
on.
A sensitive, thoughful, honest critic, an artists' critic - by which
I mean a critic who plies his trade at the service of the artist and
hir art - is, it seems to me, invaluable for artists. Artists need
to know what their works "do" to the viewer, how they are perceived,
whether, and in what sense, they "work". Artists make works for
audiences, and they need to know what the audiences "get" from the
work. That's what they learn from honest criticism: they learn what
a sensitive, thoughtful viewer "got" from the work. Sometimes the
critic misses the point and the criticism is useless - and sometimes
it can be of tremendous value.
If on a list dedicated to experimental film we cannot freely express
opinions about experimental films we have experienced - whether the
opinion are positive or negative - without being attacked,
disrespected, patronized, required to provide credentials, inducted
into a group-therapy session, bored to death - then not only is this
list in trouble, but filmmaking is in trouble. What kinds of
filmmaking communities pressure their audiences to only express
praise, and what kinds of audiences want to see films made by such
communities? Oh, may heaven preserve us equally from the one and
the other!
Cari, and what is "the culture's lack of questioning"? What did the
culture (which culture?) neglect to question by virtue of Fred
expressing his rather modest opinion about Martin's "Gabriel"?
-m
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