Movies in General

When movies first started to become a part of culture back in the 1960s and 70s, they were made to entertain, provoke and advertise. Directors and filmmakers had less rules to follow and instead focused on what they do to best carry their point across to the audience in film. This made movies more like art because they conveyed the authors authentic feelings toward the audience.

During this time, it was also more common to see movie critics who were people who had a background in movies or in the culture they were in at the time. With knowledge in movies and in local culture, movie critics were prime candidates to watch the movie and then give feedback. This is because they could give a largely professional opinion on the movie due to their knowledge about movies and local culture. 

The Problem

Today renowned professors such as Raymond J. Haberski claims that films have lost the feeling of authenticity that they once did have. Through his research Haberski observes that society will constantly look for the next “blockbuster film” (Haberski 2001) rather than look at all films. Authors like Jon Negroni also share this similarity in opinion as he writes about “Why Critics Hate the Movies You Love.” Jon Negroni claims in his news article that all films are important, however movie critics put an emphasis on smaller indie films instead of blockbuster films. 

I believe that Haberski’s observations are important and are key in understanding why society has become more ruthless when it comes to movies. To me Haberski’s research says that society always looks for the next best thing. This means that we are always looking for something that outdoes the last best movie. I believe because of this society’s movie standards have started to become too great.

Although I agree that there should be a standard and that the standard will fluctuate depending on the number of movies a person has seen in their life, I still maintain that it should not be a standard that should be at the top all the time. This is important because If we maintain this standard that all movies should be the same or better than the last, we will eventually be disappointed and start to spread hate around movies even if they are not bad.