This week I was really excited to hear Simran and Philippa speak about being professional critics. Over the course of this semester, as well as the last decade of my life, I have valued cultural criticism and its contextualised perspective of now. Understanding that academia is a niche, I admired how Film and Television exposed and educated audiences about things exterior to their own reality. Sitting in front of programs such as Australian Story and Meet the Press, I experienced from a young age TV’s ability to transition the unseen, to understanding, and then empathy, without the audience even being aware of it. My study and love for film and television therefore, has grown into my career choice, as the medium’s ability to educate and empathise with characters outside our realm of reality is a significant step forward in humanitarian progression and understanding. Needless to say then, I was excited to hear professionals speak about their own understandings and lessons learnt within an industry I am hoping to enter into.

However, I never made into class due to an incident that happened whilst walking into university. Standing at the lights, waiting to cross the road, I was sexually harassed by a group of male students (not from my course, but I assumed were students as they were carrying study bags and about to enter into the RMIT Building 9 area). Shocked by my publicly overt sexualisation, by and in front of members of a community whom are suppose to support growth as oppose to challenge it, I continued into campus before realising that I was upset enough to leave.

Hating myself whilst doing so, I reflected upon how disrupted my day had now become due to an external influencers impact on myself. Their critique of my body – whether it was a misguided or not – made me uncomfortable within both my internal and external prisms. Although I am my own ultimate critic, and only I hold the ability to determine my own text, the influence of other’s criticism at times out weighs the one we know to be true. In this instant, the dominating nature of a pack of men against the singular of myself, left me without comfort or control over my own judgement and responsibilities. Further, aware of the fact that I had made a conscious decision to excuse myself and suffer academic consequences that were to solely reflect on me, as oppose to those who inflicted my leaving, made me think further about the ethical and moral responsibilities of criticism within our context. The individuals who I had just come across where not established critics, they did not have credentialed expertise that allowed them to reduce my role – as their audience or object – to nothing. Yet, through social transaction they were able to dominate my presence to the point of my withdrawal.

I warmed to television and cinema culture from a young age due to its abilities to surpass the traditional institutions of education. But, what we see on screens critiques the audience just as much as we critique the text. Even though the role of the critic might be changing, the microphones that are being distributed at times are not, and too often we become subjects of subconscious bias. I should have been able to dismiss those comments, and know that my sense of self is more affirmed then any other persons critique of me. However, due to the system of critique in which we live, others feel a right to subject other to imposing ideas that consequently retract oneself on receival. The role of the critic is changing, and it is making indeed, everyone a critic. However, just because everyone is given a voice doesn’t necessarily mean everyone is given a stage.

This can even be explored in the example of the plebiscite, where everyone’s right to a say is potentially damaging as oppose to empowering, as individuals are placed in a position of power over an issue that could potentially have no relation to them, and therefore understanding. What, and who are the critics.

** Content Note: I did not publish this article as means to seek council or progress the matter explained in any way.