Current Events > Martin Scorsese claims Roger Ebert would hate 'content' and Rotten Tomatoes

(+) Yeah! (+)

There is a new building at the University of Illinois named after Roger Ebert that will center on Film Studies. Scorsese recorded a short promo for the school.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqvFUSsR8-Y&ab_channel=UniversityofIllinoisCollegeofMedia

If he had lived to see the current situation, which is really a devaluation of cinema, on streaming platforms to the level of "content"... and really, truly, the disgusting spectacle of Rotten Tomatoes and CinemaScore... I mean, I think he would be railing against it and throwing the money changers out of the temple.

Are you a big fan of "content"? Do you love watching new stuff on streaming platforms? Why is cinema so devalued these days? Do people feel they don't deserve art or just hate it? Why has anti-intellectualism become so en vogue?

Discuss @blue_inigo @disney_dave

He's not wrong. The quality has gone down greatly as the accessibility improved. That's the nature of art.

the glut of content being thrown at the wall by the umpteen million streaming services out there i think has certainly devalued things a good bit, since there is just so much shit out there and it seems like so much more emphasis is put on quantity rather than quality. but i don't understand the hate for Rotten Tomatoes. all it is is a review aggregator. it doesn't change what reviews are fundamentally or anything.

Nobody cares about "cinema" until the Oscars, and even then just barely.

Rotten Tomatoes has next to no value to me except to confirm a movie i don't want to watch, despite how often they rate movies i like low.

Plot synopsis on Wikipedia is the best "review" out there.

Gonna say RT is a net positive for society. Don't quite understand his issue with it

There's a shocking amount of young filmmakers I've worked for that call their short films "content" even though they're like submitting them to festivals and shit lol I get what they mean but it automatically devalues their film in my eyes.

I seriously doubt Roger Ebert would be a fan of most movies, let alone how watered down its become as an art form. Not only that, but he also seemed to really enjoy the experience of seeing movies in a theater and so the streaming nature of shows nowadays might be unappealing.

But then again, hes gone and perhaps hed be more optimistic.

pedro45 posted...

Rotten Tomatoes has next to no value to me except to confirm a movie i don't want to watch, despite how often they rate movies i like low.

Rotten Tomatoes has nothing to do with the ratings at all. They are simply a repository for reviews and give a percentage based on the total number.

It in no way invalidates your personal opinion.

Seems that most people who hate rotten tomatoes get it wrong.

I dont pay attention to rt at all

Blue_Inigo posted...

Gonna say RT is a net positive for society. Don't quite understand his issue with it

mostly bc instead of going and reading whole reviews and trying to find specific critics you like and can glean insight or more recommendations from... ppl just look at a binary number.

very dumb and really destroys what could be a useful website. also a lot of 'critics' on there are just free advertising for franchises or bloggers who can't actually write film criticism

I think his point about streaming services and "content" is pretty dumb. Just sounds like an old man yelling at clouds deal.

I couldn't give any less of a shit about Rotten Tomatoes or any kind of review or review aggregate site though.

Y'know, Scorsese, you don't have to stay on your soapbox when you're dedicating a building to a man's memory.

You self-absorbed jackass.

GeneralKenobi85 posted...

I think his point about streaming services and "content" is pretty dumb. Just sounds like an old man yelling at clouds deal.

I couldn't give any less of a shit about Rotten Tomatoes or any kind of review or review aggregate site though.

"general kenobi" defending content... hardly surprising....

I wouldnt say that I love content but I do enjoy some of it.

Rotten Tomatoes is fine, so long as you use it as intended (i.e. as a general guideline of critical opinion and not as a definitive way of quantifying a films value). You too often see people saying like I cant believe X only has an 85% RT rating while Y has a 94%! as though those are two values that can be compared.