Critquing Criticisms of Criticism

Hey, I'll be honest. I'm very critical. I'm always stating my opinion on various topics and I constantly point out mistakes or things that just don't work from my perspective. No one hears this more then my sisters and they get pissed that I constantly criticize things (I think it's because I'm always criticizing the stuff they like, but that's besides the point). I'm going to take this time to examine the reasons they tell me to stop criticizing and show how they are pretty much untrue, since I've seen these reasons pop up from other people and they need a good pwning.

First, they think that it's bad to criticize the works of others. I'll admit, there are some bad criticisms people make at times. Saying "that sucks" and giving no reason other then "because it does" is a pretty bad criticism. However, it's better to classify that as a complaint rather then a critique, since it lacks any sort of real support. Now, something like "I didn't like that story because the plot was hard to understand" is a real criticism since it has some logical backing.

Besides that, criticisms are extremely useful to the person who made the work as shows the creator things they need to work on. While just saying "it's good" or "it's bad" doesn't help at all, analyzing the work and pointing out flaws allows the person who made it to improve on their future work or fix their existing one. I know this from experience, since I get really pissed when I get to the revision step in my school essays and all I hear is "it's good." So really, criticisms are better for the person who made the work then just complaints or mindless praise (which is exactly what my sisters do).

Another response I hear all the time is this one: "You have no right to criticize their work since you don't know how to make it and you don't know what the person who did went through." So, apparently, I can't have an opinion on something unless I make it myself. Makes perfect sense right? (/sarcasm) Ignoring the fact that everyone should have a right to their own opinion, lets think about this for a second. If, for example, you couldn't enjoy a movie unless you are a director, then why would you watch movies in the first place? If you don't make movies, then you wouldn't watch them because you wouldn't enjoy it. And if movies were only made for movie makers, what'd be the point? It'd be like giving a computer to someone who makes computers. All in all, if you don't make something, you still have a right to experience it and form your own opinion on it.

Now on to that knowing the process part. When you turn in your homework at school, does your teacher really care how long it took you or how you were feeling while doing it? Maybe, but will it affect your grade? Hell no. If I were judging the process of how something was made, I would care what happened during production. But I'm not, I'm judging the final complete piece. If the creator of the piece starts telling you what they went through while making their work, then they're not completely satisfied with it and they're just making excuses so you don't judge it as harshly. If they didn't find their work good enough, it wouldn't be out on the market. To sum it up, what happened during the creation of a piece is almost completely meaningless when judging the outcome.


In conclusion, my sisters are retarded. If someone tries to pull this stuff on you, go smack them in the face with knowledge! Or just smack them in the face. Whichever you prefer.