For the assignment Quick Cuts 1, I chose to answer Question B. Question B asks the following: “Does film criticism have value in our modern culture?.” As I
have previously critiqued films both informally and formally, my answer is that film criticism does have value in our modern culture.
Not only have I critiqued films for previous classes, such as International Cinema, but I also critique films everyday with my friends. For International Cinema, we would watch films from across the globe and then discuss the films in detail. We would discuss how the particular culture of the movie we watched that week was different from our own. Through the critiques of film, we are opened up to cultures that we otherwise may know nothing about. We were also asked to write three papers for that class. These papers could be about a topic of our own choosing as long as it was about a detail in one of the films that was touched on, but not the main point. For example, one movie danced around the topic of HIV/AIDS in Africa. In the film, the topic was shown, but it wasn’t pertinent to the plot of the movie. Therefore, you can still watch and enjoy a movie, but still learn something about a culture or a place.
As for how I critique films with my friends, I may not research a film or study it in detail, but we critique films and television shows everyday. We critique the acting, the music, the plot, the ending, and the series (if there is more than one movie like The Hunger Games or The Maze Runner series.) All of these critiques or opinions allow us to narrow down our likes and dislikes and find similar movies that we enjoy. Movies are constantly influencing us. It may not always be noticeable but it does. Movies can influence our thoughts, actions, beliefs, etc. So, it is important for us to discuss and critique movies to further understand how they influence us. . Also, while this type of critique may not be very formal or in depth, it still allows us to learn about each other and other cultures. For example, I may not like one movie because I do not enjoy the music or the style portrayed in the movie. I also may not enjoy a movie because it may simply be about something I know nothing about. However, what I don’t like someone else might. It depends on who you are, where you are from, your knowledge of your own culture, etc. Movies also provide us visuals and/or information about past society. Time period films allow us to learn about what the culture was like in the past and what their societal norms were like.
I also think that film criticism has value in our modern society because we all think differently. I could watch one movie and simply enjoy it, without thinking anything else about it. On the other hand, someone else could have watched the same movie and researched it or studied it frame by frame to discover something no one else had thought about.
Furthermore, film criticism may bring to light cultural, racial, and/or gender differences and spark action. For example, through film criticism it became widely known that African Americans were rarely cast leading roles, and if they were it was usually not a serious character. The same can be said about women in the film industry and the #MeToo movement. When the
#MeToo movement was occurring, several films were made that consisted of all or almost all strong, female characters. Another example involves the LGBTQ community, when more LGBTQ rights were being granted, several movies were made that involved LGBTQ characters in leading roles too.
So, yes I do think that film criticism has value in our modern society. In fact, I believe it to be just as valuable as literary criticism, especially now when films are so easily available to the public. Years ago, you had to buy a ticket to watch a movie in theatres or buy a dvd/tape to watch a movie. However in the present, you can watch movies on Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, YouTube, Roku, etc.
Comments