We've all done it. Each and every one of us. We looked at a group of people associated with liking a particular aspect of society and thought, "no way in hell do I want to be associated with them." It's a rather simple thought. One whose recurrence can be traced throughout the history of ourselves and the history of civilization. Unfortunately, the consequences of that thought reach out into the fabric of our very opinions. Skewing our view into a far more negative and spiteful manner.
Believe it or not, this spills over far too often into the realm of mainstream film criticism. From people who believe they are superior for liking some movies to those who believe they likewise because they don't. There are those of us who won't watch certain films simply because of these associations. Then there are those of us who refuse to like films because of them. It's a debilitating perception that fails to capture the essence of what film criticism should be.
As I've said before, we are not unique entities, separable from the societal influences that surround us. So it should stand to reason that any review of any film is likely to have some aspect of social criticism trickled throughout. Yet, it is important to note the fine line between criticizing a film based on the influences and basing your criticism of a film on your perceptions.
The difference: one is an inherent quality fixed at the time of viewing, the other is a variable quality with high fluctuation. For example, if you're surrounded by four people you generally dislike and they're raving about a film they just saw, odds are you're going to build an immediate negative association with the film. Let's say you go and watch it, and your brain takes that negative association and applies it to the film. You're not watching the movie, you're watching for the negatives of the movie. Not a good way to go about things, and it will be reflected in your review.
Now, fast forward a few years. You've changed your surroundings some and are now surrounded by people you think highly of, and they love the movie. That original negative association slowly breaks apart, and eventually you garner the gumption to watch it again. However, you're still not watching the movie. This time you're looking for positive associations with the movie in an effort to fulfill your mind social influences. It's a mind boggling world of contradictions.
I would like to say that's really the end of it, but I've found that people tend to not draw the line at the viewing. I've seen people write a positive review of a movie, then go out into social situations and suddenly pull a 180 due to the various influences and external associations they encounter. Sometimes these are valid alterations, perhaps due to a missed observation brought to light. But I would argue that is an exception, and not the rule. More often than not I find people are willing to bend this opinion just because it conforms best to their desired surroundings. "Want to bash the hipster group? Step right up and use this film as your pedestal. How about people who disagree with your political affiliations? Well this film is the one for you!"
Who cares that you enjoyed the movie perfectly fine in absence of this extraneous, usually nauseating in their high limiting ability, perceptions? You get a chance to take a few jabs at people you don't like through the medium of a film review. So take that arbitrarily defined subsection of society who likely only make up a small percentage of actual fans!
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