Once again a Comic Book film not owned by Disney is getting lambasted by Critics and once again a section of social media is questioning the merits and integrity of the review aggregate site Rottentomatoes.com. I know this discourse oh so well. When Green Lantern came out and saw it with my dad on Father’s Day and actually enjoyed it only discovering after seeing it that the majority hated it, or finding out the day before I went to go see Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice that a lot of people were hating on it. It is a sentiment I have been a part of too. I understand the dialect people try to assure me with. “Don’t listen to critics” “It’s just a movie” and “Form your own opinion” and admittedly I’ve gotten better at it. I’ll have probably already seen Black Adam by the time of this article and I may give a Spoiler review in the near future but this goes beyond comic book films. The reason I am writing this article is what I feel Rotten Tomatoes has become and what needs to be done at some point.
I am a major advocate of changing the United States into a Multi-Party System as many other countries have done over the course of the last century. Ever since the nightmare that was 2020, it gave me an epiphany as to what needs to be done to salvage any significant political divide. The same thing can be true with fandoms but to a massively lesser degree. The problem I have with Rotten Tomatoes isn’t so much how they collect reviews or how they calculate percentages…the problem I have with Rotten Tomatoes is they are pretty much a monopoly for review aggregate sites. We have Metacritic.com sure but they’re almost never used for marketing purposes for movies or shows. I have seen it far less discussed for video games as it is the site’s biggest priority for reviews than I have for Rotten tomatoes being used for movies.
The correlation between Video Game review sites and Movie & TV review sites has such a night and day difference in terms of being used as references for review metrics. Same thing with music as I don’t believe there is a true Equivalency for Music Aggregate websites on the same level as a Tomatometer. Maybe having 1 review site being the monopoly like it isn’t so bad. Maybe it’s as big as it is because it’s convenient. Why does one need to look at 4 review sites to see a movie? Maybe particular individuals don’t but here’s the thing: Why does one percentage have to be a deciding factor? There are movies on Metacritic with a 45 that has like a 70% Fresh rating. Which one is right & which one is wrong? Neither is right or wrong but let’s say Metacritic has a better track record of movies you liked but are for some reason certified rotten. Chances are you’ll feel more comfortable going with Metacritic than the big red tomato.
Even so, 2 aggregate site isn’t enough. Right now Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic’s status as review aggregate sites are like if Universal and Lions Gate were the only big movie studios in America or if Democrats are the only major party cause Republicans folded and The Reform Party was the only second option and they remained in their minor party status, or if the NBA and College football were the only available sports to watch on TV of The PS5 and Kentucky Fried Console were the only available game consoles to buy.
There are thousands of film critics and pundits out there and I probably disagree with them a lot, but 1 site shouldn’t be the only platform especially if it’s a system plenty of people take issue with. We should have at least 4 major aggregate sites. Each for movies, shows, games, music, and sports that all have a significant amount of traffic. Yes, I even believe this should be the case with audience scores too. RT has verified audience scores I think IMDb should consider that as an option too as well as Letterboxd. Having more options brings more people to the table. I firmly believe that limiting or restricting voices contradicts our first amendment rights to free speech. I know there’s a site like RT that’s still in its early stages that uses a Banana which our great leader, Byron has joined and I hope more sites like it continue to grow. For some of you wondering if this is me being “butthurt” about Black Adam reviews and I want Marvel films to get low scores that is by no means the case. If anything if 4 Review Sites across the board all say a film (any film) is great across the board then it is an indication of how beloved it truly is. If it gets low scores on all 4 platforms well it just emphasized how it didn’t work doesn’t mean people can’t enjoy it. Or if 2 review sites love it but the other 2 hate it that would mean it’s more mixed than anything else.
Hopefully, these changes occur in the near future. I think if 4 sites existed a decade ago this wouldn’t be as hot of a topical debate. It’s never too late to change certain narratives.