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Overhype vs. Backlash: Which is Lamer?

by Scott Weinberg Nov 17th 2009 // 8:45PM

Filed under: Fan Rant

Anyone who covers a film festival has dealt with it at one point or another. (More likely they deal with it several times a year.) You go to Sundance, to SXSW, to Toronto, etc., and see a film you really like. At this point the movie is just one of 250 at the festival, although maybe it has some "big names" or something to it. A few other writers end up agreeing with you that the film is quite good, and then the audiences have their say ... and mostly everyone is in agreement: good movie! And then ... it happens: Not just a handful of contrary-yet-insightful opinions, but a full-blown backlash.

"Dude, I just read your rave on Juno. You overhyped it! It freaking sucks!" --or-- "Martyrs isn't so great. The horror guys always over-praise the stuff they see early." --or-- "Did all the Sundance critics get together and just blindly pick a movie to rave over?" --- and stuff much nastier than that. I was one of the first film critics to see Juno, which at Toronto was just another comedy with a cool cast, until everyone saw it, that is. Then it was the darling of the festival, and I was thrilled to play along. Because I sincerely adore that flick. So did I contribute to the "overhype" on Juno? What about Waitress? I fell in love with that flick at Sundance as well, it came and went without finding a massive audience, and nobody accused me of overhyping the movie.


My good pal James Berardinelli inspired this mini-rant by penning this rather excellent piece about "backlash," and it raises a very interesting question: If you hated Slumdog Millionaire or Juno or Forrest Gump -- are you actually judging the film (which is absolutely your right, no matter how beloved a movie may be) or are you filtering your opinion through some unfairly lofty expectations? I wish everyone on the planet could have been "surprised" by the awesomeness of Juno -- but that's sort of why we (the bloggers, the critics, the entertainment journalists) high-tail it to every festival under the sun: Not so we can yell "first!," but so we can fall in love with a few films before all the interviews and marketing plans get underway.

So yes, I suppose guys like me are part of creating the "overhype," but at least you know with me you're getting sincere and honest analysis and opinion. Nowhere in my early reviews of Juno, Waitress, The Cove, or Dr. Parnassus do I guarantee that you'll love the movie. Keep that in mind next time you read your favorite critic(s) and I suspect you'll approach even the overhyped films with a small dose of caution.

Now, backlash is another story entirely. If you go see Juno and you honestly find yourself thinking "That's it? THAT'S what everyone was raving about?" then my assertion is that you're carrying too much baggage into the opening credits. A film critic may pique your interest on an upcoming film, but where is it written that his/her words are cast-iron FACT? Nowhere. And that's how "Juno was just OK" turns into "Dang, Juno sucked" and then "OMG Juno was the most overrated piece of crap ever." And half of what you're criticizing is not the movie, but the movie in relation to your own inflated expectations. That's not really fair to the film.

So if we eliminate all early reviews (including those from film festivals), we'd successfully eradicate almost all the overhype and probably a good portion of the backlash as well. We'd also find that a lot of great films (large and small, indie and expensive, features and documentaries) get brushed under the carpet, never to find an audience because we're all so afraid of overhype and backlash. A critic's goal is not to "over-sell" a film, but you know what? Every film critic I know is a hardcore movie LOVER, and there's very little in our profession that's better than being able to help people "discover" a worthwhile film. Have I "overhyped" The Cove or Best Worst Movie or The Horseman -- or am I just trying to help a worthwhile film find its audience?

All we can do is put one opinion out there, hope it's a clear and insightful one, and then move on to the next film. And while I'm certainly not impervious to overhype, I have no problem standing up to the eventual backlash. Yup, I still love The Blair Witch Project and I don't care who knows it.

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Tags: backlash, overhype

 

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