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Two great quotes along this line: T. Roosevelt "It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of d

Two great quotes along this line: T. Roosevelt "It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat." Anton Ego from Ratatouille: "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 probably more meaningful than our criticism designating it so. But there are times when a critic truly risks something, and that is in the discovery and defense of the new. The world is often unkind to new talents, new creations. The new needs friends. Last night, I experienced something new; an extraordinary meal from a singularly unexpected source. To say that both the meal and its maker have challenged my preconceptions about fine cooking, is a gross understatement. They have rocked me to my core. In the past, I have made no secret of my disdain for Chef Gusteau's famous motto, "Anyone can cook". But I realize - only now do I truly understand what he meant. Not everyone can become a great artist, but a great artist can come from anywhere. It is difficult to imagine more humble origins than those of the genius now cooking at Gusteau's, who is, in this critic's opinion, nothing less than the finest chef in France. I will be returning to Gusteau's soon, hungry for more."

brandnewlow 16y ago
I never liked how this monologue mischaractarizes the value of critics. The actual criticism itself may not be terribly valuable unto itself (though I argue that a great critic's ability to compare what's new to what's already come is very valuable), but when you combine the criticism with an audience, it becomes very valuable indeed. Ebert didn't just create a body of work, he also created a massive audience for that work that can't be ignored in assessing the value of a critic.
- replicatorblog 16y ago
  I think your point has some merit, but what has Ebert really done? Has his criticism shaped film making in any tangible way? Has any critic in any field, maybe since John Ruskin? I know Ebert has had a rebirth in the tech community with his speech synthesizer and Twitter account, but really the guy opined on a syndicated basic cable and newspaper column for 25 years. His only significant innovation is the "Thumbs Up/Down" rating. Certainly famous, but influential or valuable? At least as it relates to a comparison with film makers of the day? As a thought experiment, think of all the movies you can for the last 25 years, good, bad, weird. Probably a fairly large list. Now think of all the insights, or "Thumbs" ratings you can remember from Ebert? Or any other critic? How do they match up?
  - derefr 16y ago
    The work of a modern critic is not in their individual opinions on individual works: rather, a single "Thumbs Up" is more like a single dance step in a ballet, an atomic element that works with others to create the actual art. What you get from a man like Ebert is a partial ordering of an infinite set; a way to overcome choice paralysis, by culling all but a finite number of the choices. Criticism is how we deal with the Information age, and critics are valuable because they willingly go out and spend their days drinking from the firehose, so we can get a rather more purified liquid from the other end.
  - brandnewlow 16y ago
    You need to read some of Ebert's Great Movies reviews. The man is one of our great living humanists.

brandnewlow 16y ago

I never liked how this monologue mischaractarizes the value of critics. The actual criticism itself may not be terribly valuable unto itself (though I argue that a great critic's ability to compare what's new to what's already come is very valuable), but when you combine the criticism with an audience, it becomes very valuable indeed. Ebert didn't just create a body of work, he also created a massive audience for that work that can't be ignored in assessing the value of a critic.

replicatorblog 16y ago
I think your point has some merit, but what has Ebert really done? Has his criticism shaped film making in any tangible way? Has any critic in any field, maybe since John Ruskin? I know Ebert has had a rebirth in the tech community with his speech synthesizer and Twitter account, but really the guy opined on a syndicated basic cable and newspaper column for 25 years. His only significant innovation is the "Thumbs Up/Down" rating. Certainly famous, but influential or valuable? At least as it relates to a comparison with film makers of the day? As a thought experiment, think of all the movies you can for the last 25 years, good, bad, weird. Probably a fairly large list. Now think of all the insights, or "Thumbs" ratings you can remember from Ebert? Or any other critic? How do they match up?
- derefr 16y ago
  The work of a modern critic is not in their individual opinions on individual works: rather, a single "Thumbs Up" is more like a single dance step in a ballet, an atomic element that works with others to create the actual art. What you get from a man like Ebert is a partial ordering of an infinite set; a way to overcome choice paralysis, by culling all but a finite number of the choices. Criticism is how we deal with the Information age, and critics are valuable because they willingly go out and spend their days drinking from the firehose, so we can get a rather more purified liquid from the other end.
- brandnewlow 16y ago
  You need to read some of Ebert's Great Movies reviews. The man is one of our great living humanists.