The embargo for DC’s newest movie Suicide Squad came down today and thus far the reviews have not been entirely positive. At the time of writing, the website Rotten Tomatoes has calculated a score of just 38% based on 61 reviews. That is not the best score, but it seems that some DC fans have decided to take it personally. One fan has started a petition to shut down Rotten Tomatoes for what they perceive to be a very good reason.
We need this site to be shut down because It’s Critics always give The DC Extended Universe movies unjust Bad Reviews, Like
1- Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice 2016
2- Suicide Squad 2016
and that Affects people’s opinion even if it’s a really great movies
There is a conspiracy on the internet that critics are being paid by Disney/Marvel to write bad reviews for DC films. This is ridiculous, of course, but it appears that a lot of people believe it to be true judging from the near 3,000 signatures and comments on the petition.
Like this one
Because I love both Man of Steel and the Ultimate Cut of Batman v Superman and I’m really bummed out by the reviews for Suicide Squad. I don’t want DC Films to be in the same vein of the Transformers movies, and I think it’s pathetic that people want the universe to fail.
Unfair reviews.
Why is this important? Well, because in this day and age of social media, news articles and reviews of all things get spread very fast, and are often taken very seriously. Unfair reviews can end up ruining people’s expectations to the point where they choose not to watch the movie at all (look what happened to bvs. I still find people who haven’t watched the movie, even though they happen to be avid watchers of other superhero movies). And that’s wrong on a multitude of levels. Movies get panned, lose potential watchers and even fans, and no studio deserves that. This will eventually lead to an imbalance in the industry. And that’s a terrible thing to happen.
And this one
I supported this because, like many of you, I am a butthurt DC fanboy who hates Mawble and is intolerant of other people’s opinions. Seriously, the critics give kiddie Mawble great reviews, and deep mythological DC gets poor ones. It is about time those Disney paid critics got what’s coming to them.
There seems to be a fundamental misunderstanding about Rotten Tomatoes and what it is. Rotten Tomatoes is a website where they compile a bunch of reviews and break them down to meaningless numbers. These numbers are based on the reviews that are allowed to be posted to the site. To get your review on a website you need to be a member of an Official Association (for example I am a member of the Utah Film Critics Association and qualifies me to be a member of Rotten Tomatoes if I apply to it, and they approve me). These memberships require voting from previous members, an outlet that is recognized as official, and a minimum of either time spent writing or works per year. You cannot just email Rotten Tomatoes and ask them to put your reviews on their website, and they do it.
There is also the misconception that Rotten Tomatoes gives you a good idea of what the general community thinks, but that is not true. There is a huge disparity with sex, age, and race.
The reality of the situation is unless you have some sort of financial stake in a movie, television show, comic, or game, then the reviews do not matter. A critic is here to give their opinion based on the film they saw and nothing more. Are there critics with bias? Of course, but no one can be truly objective. To lash out at critics for disliking a movie that you have likely not seen yet is pointless.
Is Rotten Tomatoes a good resource? Not really; you should find a critic you normally agree with and follow their work. Is there some sort of conspiracy against DC movies? No, and to think so is to ignore the easiest explanation: sometimes critics don’t like movies you like.
