Someone hears that a new album is coming out. What is the first thing they are going to do? Not listen to it, that would be silly. They will scrounge the internet to find as many reviews as possible.
Someone hears that a new album is coming out. What is the first thing they are going to do? Not listen to it, that would be silly. They are going to scrounge the internet to find as many reviews as they can.
Why would people want to form their own opinions when they can simply read through hundreds of paragraphs of other people’s tastes?
The whole idea of reviews, such as album reviews or restaurant reviews, seems superficial to me. It almost seems like the author behind the review feels they are better than the reader, and that their opinion is supreme.
Many reviews are created to be eye-catching. Rather than focusing on the thing they are reviewing, let’s say a movie, they are thinking of all the things they can write to add shock value. It is almost like they would rather write good clickbait than a genuine, well-thought-out review. Movie reviews can also spoil the movie for others. There’s no point in watching a movie if the reviewer has already given away the ending. If someone is going to make a movie review, they should never tell the whole storyline and go into depth on the movie, and they should at least provide ample warning of spoilers if they must be included. A lot of reviews tend to be more like analyses rather than quality reviews. Even if people do not care about spoilers, they still ruin the chance for a unique opinion to be formed. Plus, watching something after already reading about it can cause the person to interpret it differently than they may have before.
Let Us Have Personal Opinions
Trend followers tend to be more likely to fall victim to reviews as well. If someone is reviewing an album they like, the trend follower may force themselves to listen to music they don’t like because a popular reviewer promotes it. People want to fit in with everyone else so badly that they find themselves scared to be different. Promoting reviews like this can create even more uniformity in our society. People may feel pressured to change their thoughts and fake liking certain things because they don’t want to go against popular belief.
Art is meant to be subjective. What I love, someone else may hate, and that is the beauty of it. We are not meant to like the same things; that is what makes us all so interesting. Personal opinions within reviews can deter someone from discovering their new favorite movie or song. They can also cause someone to spend two and a half hours watching a movie they think is horrible, just because the review raved about it. Not everything is for everyone, and people who write reviews often forget that.
I find that they are often written with a sense of sureness. They don’t touch on the other side or try to look at things through a different lens. I understand that people are just expressing their opinions, but bashing/raving about things without mentioning why someone might disagree can create problems within our culture. We are meant to be diverse and different, and we should embrace that rather than saying “My opinion is the only one.”
Flawed System
Reviews can also create false expectations. An album review may be overhyped and leave the listener disappointed. A negative movie review may cause the watcher to miss out on what would have been their new favorite movie. Raving and praising something so highly may leave someone feeling misguided about something when, in reality, they do like it, just not to the extreme extent the reviewer claimed. People should be able to form these thoughts on their own, and not let others raise/lower their expectations of something and create a false narrative.
Something that 10/10 reviews have is a rating. Typically on a number or star scale. There are some flaws with this ranking method. A seven in my head may be what someone else calls a five. Everyone perceives things differently, and it can be misleading. Putting all of these thoughts, feelings, and opinions together into a small number is honestly never an accurate representation of anything.
And how come nothing is ever a 10? Nothing is ever perfect to these reviewers, no matter how much they love something, and even if they don’t mention anything to change, they still never give anything a perfect score. It is confusing, misleading, and inaccurate.
We Don’t All Think the Same
Different cultures have different ways of life, so obviously, opinions differ culturally. This can cause issues when trusting a review because what may be normal for one person may be wildly inappropriate for another, and vice versa. There are also different norms in different cultures, and some people may not be used to things that others think are overdone. Reviews are never made with multiple cultures in mind.
Some people just do not want to read them. People want to form their own opinions and thoughts. Reviewers need to stop preaching personal opinions to readers. Let viewers, listeners, and readers have the chance to form their feelings regarding the media. There is no need for people to write thousand-something word “reviews” spewing on about why they hate or love something. Instead, they should focus that energy into something meaningful. It’s okay to share an opinion while still respecting the differing views of others. We live in a world where everything is available at our fingertips. Why do we need to get our opinions from others online as well?
