some work will illicit an immediate reaction from you: that reaction will not always be critically accurate or fair. food critics will often visit restaurant thrice before they make their judgement; i function the same way now. i’ll do an ‘honest’ first watch or read, notebook and pen on the other side of the room where i let the story swallow me... See more

i know it doesn’t seem like it, but there is an artistry to what us critics do. there are ethical parameters we must function within, basic principles we must follow in order to separate our opinions from those of the average tweeter.

if you have written something in good faith and it upsets some people, so be it. in fact: revel in that vitriol (there are certain fandoms where i would actually say it is an honor to be despised: the swifties, bridgerton stans AND drake’s ovo dickriders have all called me slurs at some point or another. i went to sleep on those nights with my... See more

some work will illicit an immediate reaction from you: that reaction will not always be critically accurate or fair.

no one is above critique. that includes you : wanting us to be empowered to write freely and safely about art does not mean i think we should be immune to criticism too. sometimes, we get it wrong. take the lashings on the chin: don’t do what lena wilson did after amandla steinberg (rightly) called her out for dubbing their film bodies bodies... See more

learn to separate your personal opinion from your critical one. accepting that these can sometimes exist in contradiction to one another will make you feel saner, i promise.

when i know that i’m going to review something, i try to avoid any discussions of it online until i’ve handed my piece in. i’ll also avoid reading what other critics are saying if i haven’t yet formulated a clear take; it becomes harder to discern what qualms belong to me and which ones i have inherited from other people if internalize everyone... See more

most people are capable (to some extent atleast) of articulating how a piece of art makes them feel. it is our job to contextualize that feeling and ground it.