Critics and crowds don’t always see eye to eye.
The Oscars nominees rarely match that year’s box office champions. That’s to be expected, but in theory critics should be guiding audiences to the best of the best films.
And, of course, steering them clear of the worst.
There’s something else happening in the cultural landscape now. Critics are leaning into their ideological biases in ways that leave audiences behind.
Consider these two disparities:
Why?
Chappelle was considered one of the best stand-up comics alive. He’s drawn the Left’s wrath in recent years due to his aggressively unwoke material.
Thus, the terrible Rotten Tomatoes score.
Audiences don’t share those values, by and large. They cheered on the content sans filter.
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A similar theory describes the chasm with “The Acolyte” responses. The Disney+ show’s hard-left messaging, combined with the company’s public diversity-at-all-costs push, likely wooed some critics. Audiences, exhausted by such messaging, rejected the show’s clunky storytelling.
The bigger picture?
The modern critic is reflexively liberal, and it shows. Some won’t even review titles that challenge their worldview.
The latest example confirms it.
“Reagan,” starring Dennis Quaid as the country’s 40th president, is a reverential look at the late president. Critics have savaged the film, giving the title a 19 percent “rotten” rating (and sinking) at the time of this article’s publication.
Audiences love the movie so far, thus the 96 percent “fresh” audience rating.
Critics needn’t pull their punches to align with the masses. Most, however, should do their level best to criticize films without their ideological filters getting in the way.
There’s a catch here.
President Reagan was right when he said, “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction.”
Take the whole family to see the movie “#REAGAN,” and see how great America can be, once again!
My @NEWSMAX op-ed. @ReaganMovie #ReaganMoviehttps://t.co/r4nN79NoI2
— Van Hipp (@VanHipp) August 30, 2024
Hollywood in Toto is an openly right-leaning platform, and the reviews reflect that worldview. This site still extends a hand to solid, left-leaning titles like “Booksmart.”
The same holds true for transparently partisan outlets like The Nation, National Review or HuffPo. Their readers expect, nay demand, their views to be reflected in the content.
Yet many critics toil for ostensibly neutral platforms. Think The Washington Post or the Associated Press. Yet the Rotten Tomatoes scores speak for themselves.
Again and again.
The post Critics v. Audience: Rotten Tomatoes Reveals Huge ‘Reagan’ Divide appeared first on Hollywood in Toto.