The first line in the review of Control by Bob Fischbach in the Omaha World Herald:
"If you're like me, you've probably never heard of British actor Sam Riley, Dutch director Anton Corbijn or the late-1970s British band Joy Division."
Actually, I am aware of all three, and as a reviewer of film and a purveyor of culture, I would expect you to have at least a base or passing knowledge of acclaimed music video director Anton Corbijn and/or the influential band Joy Division. In fact, my main reasons for wanting see this film are 1) It was directed by Anton Corbijn and 2) It is about Ian Curtis and Joy Division and 3) I have heard and read great things about the performance by Sam Riley and I am a fan of Samantha Morton's work. Why else besides one of these reasons would one want to see this film, besides maybe a recommendation from a friend or by randomly seeing a trailer and thinking that it looked good?
Now to be clear, I realize that most people in Nebraska have not heard of any of these people (and most people in the country as well), and that is fine. I'm not expecting that they do. I understand that these are not household names, and that I am among a minority in the overall population. However, I am expecting that a film reviewer for a paper in what most (including those at this paper) consider a major metropolitan city does not claim total ignorance of these artists, and expect the same of his audience. Can we aim a bit higher?
What also annoys me is that there is no shame, no apology to his admittance. It's not as if he should know any of these, but doesn't. It's just simply that he is unaware, and we are assumed to be in the same equally unaware boat. Well, what if we are not? He should be knowledgable about these things, it's his job. I want a film reviewer to be (and sound) knowledgable, insightful, intelligent and aware, even more so than me. It reminds me of Bush and some of his supporters (especially around here): "Well, he sounds like me. He mispronounces words. He isn't so smart." I don't want the President to sound like me, mispronounce words, or be on equal footing and intelligence as myself. I want them to be more intelligent, more aware, more well studied and well spoken than myself and same for my film reviewers and other writers I read.
I'm coming to the end of my rant, don't worry. Okay, my last point: if you didn't know anything about these people or this movie to be begin with, you could've done a little research or at least not claimed ignorance. I mean, it's really not that hard to do a little cursory research these days. A 10 minute Google search could have helped. In fact, you could have even watched some of Corbijn's videos online...get a sense of his work, style and sensibility. And if you had a few more minutes, you could've listened to some Joy Division songs online. Perhaps both could have provided some context, insight, knowledge and/or familiarity. Just a suggestion.
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2 comments:
Ha ha. Good points. It makes you wonder how he got the job as a film reviewer in the first place. Does he even know anything about film or is he just waiting for a sports column to open up?
yeah, that is not only irritating but it is really alienating to people who are looking for reviews from someone who is part of the culture of the arts and who cares about staying informed and aware. i don't know if he's trying to go for some common man charm, but it's not working for you in your film column. very disappointing OWH, especially since there is a thriving and growing artistic community in omaha, that includes innovative and independent artists from the music world (all of whom certainly are familiar with joy division) and then film streams, which showcases independent films. So, sorry to say Bob, but your community is becoming more sophisticated and interested and you might want to keep up or at least try to connect with that part of your readership. Linds, you should really have that job.
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