Tag Archives: plato’s cave

Everyone's a Critic, Reflections

Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, taste and privilege

I was slightly miffed to miss half of Monday’s class, as the amazing Alexandra Heller-Nicholas came in to spend the session with us writing, editing and workshopping reviews of a short film. I’ve long been a fan of her writing and regularly listen to her radio show Plato’s Cave — in fact, I guess I could call her my RRR colleague now? *brushes imaginary dirt off shoulder*

I’m pleased to report that she’s just as delightful in person as she is on radio, and she’s the rare kind of writer that is somehow as eloquent and quick-witted when talking off-the-cuff in person as she is in her writing. Alex’s introductory presentation to the class was basically the perfect summary of what we’ve covered in the studio so far this semester, and I found her ideas about privilege and ego to be particularly relevant to me — as a white male, I will endeavour to keep them in mind. Here are the notes I took:

It’s not just what you say, it’s about how you say it.

What is (and what isn’t) good film criticism? Things to think about:

  • Taste
    • “Taste classifies and it classifies the classifier” — Bourdieu
    • Film criticism often says more about the critic than the art — i.e. ‘taste posturing’. Taste tells us nothing on its own, critics have and use taste but you need to keep it in check
  • Privilege and bias
    • Gender
    • Class — to be able to talk about art is by definition a privileged position
    • Ego privilege — who are you to talk about art from authority?
  • Audience
    • Always keep your audience in mind — i.e. adults writing reviews of kids films for other adults, is there value in that?
  • Scale and detail
    • 5 minutes on radio vs 30 minutes on radio vs 1 hour podcast — very different things
    • How much detail you need to take in depends on the size of the piece you’re working on
  • History
    • Most people don’t want a history lesson, but you need to prove that you have a handle on what you’re talking about
  • Context vs opinion
    • Film critic’s job is to provide context and to make a judgment based on that context
    • Opinion is more closely aligned to taste — you can bring taste and opinion into a review, but it must be in context

When watching a film:

  • Take as many notes as you can, whether you can see their relevance or not
  • Trust your instinct to guide you, but not govern you
  • Keep an open mind

When writing about a film:

  • Ask “why do people care what I might think?”
  • Ask “what perspective can I give that is useful for someone who doesn’t know me?”
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