thedriveintheatre

It seems I have gotten some interesting responses from my ‘TDIT’s thoughts on Cars 2 Rotten Rating’ post on my fan forums, and I want to clarify some of my statements.

First off, I apologise if I have offended any Cars fans with my last post. It was not my intention to revel in the negative reviews, in fact, those who were present on Twitter yesterday afternoon would bear witness to my metldown over the dismal score. I basically posted a Tweet declaring Pixar as ‘done for’ and that it’s ‘game over’. I then made a concessionary Tweet saying I may have overreacted, but that I was deeply suspiscious of Pixar fans jumping to the movie’s defense without being objective. But there were many reasons for my anger, some of it personal (in a nutshell, I had a pretty bad day yesterday) that boiled over into my comments.

However, I still stand by my stance that as a fan of a studio, your views are immediately ‘compromised’ when reviewing any of its productions. Some people are better at maintaining an objective stance than more unconditionally-enamoured fans. I admit I am guilty of this to an extent, but when I see something that can be improved, I am not afraid to call it out. I have done this with many of my fandoms. This doesn’t mean I actively seek out faults when none exist, but that if I notice something ‘off’ or that can be better, I will say so.

A member on Pixar Planet also pointed out that I have been largely commenting on critics’ comments. And after some thought, I realize that’s is not a very strong argument on my part. I mean, I have the right to voice that opinion, but it’s a flawed and weak one. I am performing a second-degree commentary. Perhaps after seeing the movie, I would be more equipped to perform a second-degree commentary after experiencing it first-hand.

Having said that, I would just like to say that if a critic has prejudices or biases, we should always be aware of it, and maybe inform others about it. At no point do I say I think all Cars fans don’t have the right to be themselves. I implied that there are some Cars fans who are hypocritical. By hypocritical, I mean:

1) Fans who deride non-Pixar animated films such as Kung Fu Panda, Rango, LOTG, for being unoriginal, for being fun fluff, for having little ‘serious’ drama that will make you cry, etc. And then when Pixar creates a movie which bears these hallmarks (or something to that extent), these same fans ask us to overlook these aspects. They savagely attack the competition (“Shrek 4 is unoriginal, Rio’s story is predictable, Rango is a copy of every Western myth made”) and then turn a blind eye when these same flaws appear in Pixar’s movies. The sad thing is I have also seen this happen with a few professional film critics I follow.

2) Fans who complain that the critics are crazy, insane, biased, harsh, etc. (I’ve seen these words) When in actuality, these critics are perfectly well-adjusted people capable of writing a 500-word opinion piece, and have praised Pixar films before. So really, why do they condemn the film critics and then demand that the opinions be respected? There are some who are level-headed and say “You know, I fully respect the critics, but I have to disagree.” And then there are those who aggresively discredit constructive criticism and say “All the critics are crazy. Haters gonna hate!” There’s a difference.

I realize I have no right to attack fans for liking their fandoms, That was very silly of me, I mean, who’s to say that you can’t like something (unless it’s something abominable like racism or sexism)? But it sickens me that the same people who jeer at Dreamworks and other studios before are now crying foul when they get a taste of their own medicine.

I have nothing against open-minded, accepting fans who apply the same ruthless (or lenient) rules of criticism to every movie they review. I also have nothing against fans who unequivocally love Cars 2 that they are willing to overlook its faults (or not voice them if they notice it), as long as they don’t take a dump on other studios who put in just as much hard work into their movies but are limited by their talent pool and resources.

I know such kind, fair and respectful people exist, even on the fan forums. And I respect these people and always enjoy reading their reviews, while I ignore the more close-minded ones.

One last point- I am not certain if Cars 2 is truly a bad movie until I see it. But what I am calling for is an acceptance of the Rotten rating instead of dismissing it. Acceptance doesn’t mean endorsement. I can accept that 70% of children don’t like brocolli. That doesn’t mean I endorse these 70% children’s opinion of brocolli. But I don’t deny their view, or belittle it. I can try to poke holes in their arguments (“Some folks say that veggies are good for you”). I can try to reason with them. Or I can say, “You know what, you could be right. But I’m gonna taste that brocolli for myself and see if I agree with you.”

A lot of Pixar fans would’ve seen Cars 2 for themselves, and would’ve known in their hearts whether it met their expectations. And if they loved it, I’m happy for them. Their positive reviews fill me with hope that maybe I and a lot of the other cynics who haven’t seen it yet have a possibility of our preconceptions be proven wrong.