Everyone watches a movie for a different reason and thus has a different set of expectations. But there are plenty of movies out there, more than people might realize in fact, that tend to be criticized for the wrong reasons. Critics, whether they’re professional or are just audience members trying to put their two cents in, tend to influence how some people look at a movie while others will discount them entirely. But when a movie is criticized so harshly for the wrong reasons it can be a little frustrating for many people since the whole meaning of the movie can be ignored due to one errant criticism that can taint the opinions of so many. There are plenty of people that continue to make up their own minds and don’t listen to the critics, but the unfortunate fact is that the masses do tend to listen to critics, often thinking that those in such positions are the best-suited to tell them just what’s good and what isn’t. Sadly, this means many movies that are still considered great have been knocked down several pegs simply because the people watching felt that their own expectations weren’t met.
Here are a few movies that were criticized for the wrong reasons.
5. The Phantom Thread
Daniel Day-Lewis’ movies have been widely criticized in the past, but the only thing that tends to happen is that it takes away from the overall feel of the movie and the emotions that are trying to be conveyed since the man is one of the greatest method actors that’s ever lived. Criticizing anything in his movies tends to take away from the overall passion that he puts into each character, breaking it down essentially so that people don’t have to reach as much to mock it. While it’s true that any and all movies should be open to the possibility of being mocked, there are times when this practice is petty since it feels as though any and all criticisms launched in this manner are born from little more than ignorance of a subject.
4. The Terminal
People might have wanted to point out that this wouldn’t have happened in a terminal, ever, but the problem with doing that is that it kind of takes a dig at a very human story that speaks to a man that is without a country and has to find a way to survive in a strange place. The manner in which he goes about doing this is impressive since he not only makes a place for himself in a terminal that’s absolutely huge, but he finds a way to connect with people as well. By using criticisms that are in effect just ways to nitpick a movie to death, people tended to miss the bigger point of a person that had to seriously downsize their lifestyle.
3. Do the Right Thing
Yes, this movie was kind of an emotional and racial mess, but that also went to the point since things were messy, they were difficult to sort through, and tensions did run high. But too many people found themselves getting hung up on the pace of this movie rather than the message that Spike Lee was trying to push. Some even went so far as to say that the movie was boring and didn’t really offer enough excitement to be worthwhile. Some argued against this since it was considered to be one of the more important movies of the time. There are still dissenting views about this movie, but it stands as one of the more provocative of its time.
2. Accepted
Of course education isn’t like this, but that wasn’t the point. The main point of this movie is that learning is the most important part of education, and the manner in which it comes is secondary, whether high-priced schools like it or not. For the amount of money that’s given to colleges and universities, the alarming rates of failure sometimes make a person wonder if higher learning is really worth the effort. A lot of kids are already neurotic about their education and their chances of getting into a good college by the time they’re done with high school, but taking that attitude into college is beyond ridiculous.
1. The New Guy
I will say that I’m not certain if anyone in high school still goes through this division within their school, since coming from a smaller school there weren’t as many cliques or the type of pressure that comes with belonging to one group or another. Some would say that of course this happens, that society forces these roles on us, or we choose them, but the main point of this story is that getting along is often easier than keeping up with the pretenses of popularity. It’s better to get along with each other than worry about social status.
There are also times when just watching a movie because it’s entertaining is the smarter move.
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