A five star mess
And how TV reviews have started to reflect the grim polarisation of online discourse.
Even my diminishing attention span appreciates the quick thumbs-up, thumbs-down of a star rating as I decide which bit of pop culture to take a bite from next.
I’ve used star ratings, when asked to, in my newspaper reviews of TV shows, only very rarely deploying a savage one or two-star appraisal when I honestly believe it’s fair.
But of course, every review is the result of one person’s life experience and prejudice falling onto the page, their unique response to something in a moment where they might be sad or angry or have indigestion or have received some good news.
It’s not consensus, not a judgement by committee or jury. Just what some guy reckons.
Bung a newspaper banner over that reckoning and suddenly it’s official, set in stone. The Guardian thinks… the Times says… It sounds more important than it should when you consider how that review was made.
Obviously, you’d hope that critic would have honed their craft over time, seeing the bigger picture, understanding their role and the unique trust put in them by their readers.
Now we all review, all the time, trapped in a constant state of reacting to your friend’s holiday photos (please like) and the service provided by the guy who laid rat poison under your floorboards (nice manners, left us a free pen that no one wants to touch).
