EOTO #2: The History of Movie Criticism and Movie Reviews

 History of Movie Criticism and Movie Reviews

Movie criticism has been around since cinema itself and started in the early 1900's. Movie criticism allows views to rate and critique cinema in order to just share their opinion and / or give others insight about the film, whether they should watch it or not, etc. Criticism as a whole was labeled as a "job". If you wanted to get into screenwriting or directing you would often start in criticism in order to gain an understand of what films you'd like to produce and how you'd like to write them.

Criticism in the Paper

In the 1930's film became more of a mainstream form of entertainment causing the media to start doing film reviews more frequently. Journalists who originally wrote for the sports sections or other columns in newspapers started to dedicate a column to writing reviews on films and new releases. Because of this they also started to share their opinions about Hollywood news such as movie star gossip. There would usually be one reviewer per local newspaper, the reviewers would write about it in the paper and everyone would read it. Naturally this lead writers to influence people in that area heavily; for example if the reviewer didn't like a film, a lot of people in that area wouldn't go and see it which meant you couldn't really get a second opinion.

Star ratings for films were then formed due to movie reviewers. Like today a lot of people don't want to read a full movie or book review, so they will just look at the star ratings and decide if the content is worth their time to see or read. Star ratings come in a group of five stars, meaning films labeled with four to five stars were defiantly worth seeing, films with three stars might be worth seeing, and films with one to two stars were a waste of time. 

TV Changes Film Criticism

When television become a widely owned thing, film criticism was taken to the TV as well. Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert's popular show titles At the Movies brought criticism to people all around the country. This caused people to finally have the second opinion. Due to everyone in the nation getting this show on their TV, local film critics weren't the only opinions that mattered anymore. Siskel and Ebert proposed questions such as, "were the movies enjoyable?', 'were they worth watching?', etc. Roger Ebert went on to be the biggest name in movie criticism until his death.

The Internet

Because we now have the beautiful technology that is the internet, movie criticism has changed yet again. There are now blog and review sites such as Rotten Tomatoes solely dedicated to film criticism. People are allowed to go onto this site and write their own opinion on any movie they want, they are also allowed to rate it on a scale of tomatoes. The scaling system Rotten Tomatoes uses isn't all that different from five star ratings, but it is definitely interesting. Viewers are allowed to use the 'Tomatometer' to display positive or negative percentages depending on how they feel about the film. A 'Fresh' scale is scores of 60% or higher meaning that the film is good and definitely worth watching. The 'Rotten' scale is scores of a 60% or lower telling you that the movie is not good and not worth it. Rotten Tomatoes and blog cites alike have expanded the opinion of one person to people all around the world.

From starting at a singular local reviewer influencing the people in their town, to people all over the world sharing their opinions and influencing each other; film criticism has come such a long way, but sometimes all the opinions can get a little too much. If so many people are voting their opinions, how do you know who to listen to? I say, watch the movie and form your own opinion. 

What I've Learned From Class

 What I've Learned from Class

The main things I have learned from this class are the six freedoms, the shield of the 1st Amendment, compelled speech and compelled affirmation of belief, state action doctrine, and the freedom of the press. By learning each of this things I have come to understand the rights of the First Amendment and how they aid us in our everyday lives and how it will aid me when I pursue my career as a journalist. 

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Six Freedoms & The Shield of the 1st Amendment

The six freedoms are the list of six things the First Amendment grants us the right to do. Freedom from religion, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of press, freedom of assembly, and freedom to petition. In each of these rights we are given the freedom to choose our own religion, one is not appointed to society but the nation, we have the freedom to speak out minds however we please, the freedom to write and publish issues we want to vocalize, the freedom to assemble in a group setting and discuss those topics, and the freedom to protest our government if we do not agree with what they are saying. These six freedoms are the foundation of our nation and it is what makes American, America. 

The shelf of the First Amendment is a infographic shaped as a triangle. At the top point we have speech and press, in the right corner we have assembly and petition, and in the left corner we have establishment and free exercise (separation from the church and state). In the middle we have the zone of autonomy, this graphic reminds us which freedoms con inside with each other, but also reminds us what our duty is as citizens of America. 

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Compelled Speech & Compelled Affirmation of Belief & State Action Doctrine 

The understanding of compelled speech and compelled affirmation of belief are incredibly important because it helps us understand if the government is manipulating your words in anyway. The definition is; when the government forces you to say something you don't want to say. 

The state action doctrine is also important to know because it helps us understand our rights. It is: with out government involvement no constitutional claim can be made because only the government can violate your constitutional rights; therefore the first amendment doesn't reach private actors. 

In learning all of this in class I now confidently understand what my first amendment rights are and what they allow me to do, and how they protect me as a U.S citizen. 

Final Blog Post: Katharine Graham

 Katharine Graham

Katharine Graham was born in New York City on June 16th, 1917 to her parents Agnes and Eugene Meyer. She is one of 5 siblings; Florence, Eugene III, Ruth and Elizabeth Meyer. She and her family primarily stayed between their mansion in Washington D.C and their estate in New York City. Her father was a financier from 1930-1933 and ended up buying The Washington Post at a bankruptcy auction in 1933. 

Katharine Graham went on to attend Vassar College before transferring to the University of Chicago, where she developed her love for discussing politics and liberal ideas and graduated with a Bachelor's degree. Kick starting her career, Katharine went on to work for a small newspaper in San Francisco, California where she covered a major strike for wharf workers who wanted improvements on working conditions and gain union recognition. In 1938 Katharine began working for her father at The Washington Post. Shortly after married to Phillip Graham in 1940.

Phillip Graham would go on to become publisher of the Post in 1946, after Eugene Meyer handed over the newspaper to him. Katharine wasn't hurt by this action, in her autobiography Personal History she wrote, "Far from troubling me that my father thought of my husband and not me, it pleased me. In fact, it never crossed my mind that he might have viewed me as someone to take on an important job at the paper." Katharine Graham would go on to be publisher for the Post after her husband's death in 1963.

Katharine & Phillip Graham

She held the title of publisher from 1969 to 1979 as well as holding the title of chairwoman for the board from 1973 to 1991. Katharine would also become the first ever female CEO of a Fortune 500 company in 1972 for her title as CEO of The Washington Post. 

Being a woman in the publishing world she was often looked down on and not taken seriously by many of her male co-workers and employees. According to The Washington Post's article about Katharine Graham, they wrote, "There certainly were few female role models for her to emulate or colleagues she could look to for camaraderie. Women were all but excluded from positions of power in news organizations at the time, and held less than 20 percent of newspaper jobs overall." Due to this fact, Graham would often find herself being the only woman in the boardroom.

The Washington Post Writes 
About Nixon's Resignation

Graham would go on to publish two very risky pieces in the Post. The first one being the Pentagon Papers which exposed the United States government involvement of the Vietnam war. The other being the biggest piece she published; the Watergate Scandal. Although the Post was facing legal threats from the Nixon administration and the United States Supreme Court was reviewing the First Amendment issue. Graham decided to go ahead and publish the story anyway despite the possible risk for the paper's future. 

Despite being a woman in an incredibly man dominated industry, Katharine Graham went against the odds and made a name for herself. From being the first female CEO in the Fortune 500 to exposing President Nixon into resignation; Katharine Graham is one of the most inspiring woman in journalism and a role model for all woman in the field.