Attack of the Sheeple!

Though I know that Ross already wrote about the role of the critic in the literary world on his last blog entry, I will be a very sad little ginger girl if I do not get to put my two cents in on the evil critics as well. Now, in all fairness, critics are not completely evil, wretched, conniving people who have nothing better to do with their time than bad mouth and put down other people’s works. Sometimes a critic’s words can really help.

Even still in the year 2012, you can see how a critic’s words can actually help. As one of my favorite examples, who would honestly pick up 50 Shades of Grey just for fun? Honestly, even if they purely wanted it as smut, they could find cheaper things online or on their kindle or smart phone or whatever other awesome technological toy they have that I could never afford. I am sure they could find things that are better written as well. But I digress. The point is that you can see on one hand how the words of a critic can fluff up a literary work to be better than it really is, making the book one of the best sellers and translated into 50 different languages.

Of course, on another side, (which I believe is our favorite side in class) we can see how harsh critiquing can really kill a work before it even has a fair chance. To quote Ross, “Critics had (and often still have) the power of life and death over literary works”. If a critic gives the thumbs up that it is ‘wonderful and anyone with any ability to read should have already read it and own several copies’, what do you think all the sheeple do? What do you think all the sheeple have been doing for hundreds of years?

The sad part though is the amount of faith, trust, and pixie dust that people place in critics. A lot of people tend to throw their own opinions and the ability to make their own opinions to the wind when it comes to literature, but now even movies, video games, music, and even restaurants. I’ve even seen professional critics for vacation spots! “No one should ever go to Venice, it’s so filthy! Try Rome instead.” Even hardcore gamers have been found to listen to critic’s words over their own wants and desires. Borderlands 2 just came out on the 18^th (if you’re not a gamer, then just know it is one of the highest hyped games this year) and some people waited to get it until they knew what rating it received. Some people ordered the game out of loyalty to the first game, much like getting the second book in a series when it comes out. Some people waited until the rating came out before they even attempted to look at the game. And last, but not least, there are those select few who actually rented the game before they decided to love or loathe it. 

When you go to look for a book, new music, a movie, or a game, before you place too much faith in whatever critic tickles your fancy, just remember to take it with a grain of salt. Try new things; make your own opinions. Slowly but surely shed your sheeple skin!