Not Read

There's a monologue at the end of Ratatouille about the relevance of criticism. I'm tempted to go out right now just to hear Peter O'Toole (Phantoms) say it again. But instead, I'll cross my fingers that IMDB got it right:

"In many ways, the work of a critic is easy. We risk very little, yet enjoy a position over those who offer up their work and their selves to our judgment. We thrive on negative criticism, which is fun to write and to read. But the bitter truth we critics must face is that in the grand scheme of things, the average piece of junk is more meaningful than our criticism designating it so."

Now, you don't need to have read Ayn Rand (I haven't) or seen The Incredibles (eh...) to suspect that the monologue goes on to suggest that though talent can arise from the most unexpected places, it does not imply that everyone is special. Indeed, the film is very clear in its message that those who aren't talented should submit to the whims of their obvious superiors. The story itself could be seen as a critique of its CGI competitors, Disney, and even other Pixar productions. In the end, the critic is less redeemed than vindicated: "Dear Constant Reader, I'm right again about something that's awesome."

I thoroughly agree with that moral. Some people know their field better than you. But having listened to way too many angry video game podcasts, read too many ignorant on purpose movie and television reviews, and just logged on to any site on the Internet, I think the excerpt above is a more realistic point. Whether it's Titantic or the Lord of the Rings movies, Friends or Lost, 50 Cent or MC Frontalot, they're worth more to the people who live for them than to those whose hate knows no limit.

It takes only a week for new friends or co-workers to label me the guy who hates everything. I'd counter that I'm a guy who likes certain things (turn-based RPGs, depressing/ironic police procedurals, fast-paced German board games, epic mystery) a lot. I just get vengeful when people talk shit about them, and am likely to react with malevolent diatribes on their personal taste. For example, I could've let Tom Shales off for praising Sex in the City if he wasn't such a whiny bitch about Carnivale.

I'm pretty sure it's not what he meant, but maybe Joe Rogan was on to something in his pre-Carlos Mencia "no wants to be a critic when they grow up" rants. Critics, whether professoinal or on message boards, can be bitter, nasty, and short. But not necessarily because they thrive on hate. They just wish they were able to like more.

Which is a long way of saying I'm not going to tell you what book I stopped reading after I reached this sentence:

"Charlene was the kind of girl you might see on a cereal box."