Slog - Comments on Critics Behaving Badly

Comment by Clearlyhere

Clearlyhere — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 14:52:49 -0800

The Internet makes bloggers think anyone can be a critic and many are now losing their jobs.

I won't cry too hard because I think I could be a critic too.

Comment by ADDISON DeWITT

ADDISON DeWITT — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 15:04:11 -0800

And how apt George Sanders' farewell note:

"Dear World, I am leaving because I am bored. I feel I have lived long enough. I am leaving you with your worries in this sweet cesspool. Good luck."

Not to mention his double claim to fame by having been married to two (2!) of the Gabor sisters.

Comment by Will in Seattle

Will in Seattle — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 15:19:13 -0800

@2 - Lucky!

Comment by Hernandez

Hernandez — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 15:35:40 -0800

Any time you offer free food and/or drink, you're bound to have at least a few assholes show up.

Comment by MichaelPgh

MichaelPgh — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 16:23:08 -0800

Thanks, Brendan, for putting up the photo of Addison DeWitt. And for those of you who haven't seen "All About Eve" yet, you're in for a treat.

Comment by adrian@adrianryan.com

adrian@adrianryan.com — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 17:39:59 -0800

only a true drama fag would ever use the word "crudites". dependng, of course, on how they pronounce it.

Comment by Laurence Ballard

Laurence Ballard — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 18:47:02 -0800

The reviewer is often called a parasite. I prefer the more down-right word, thief. Shakespeare, in Timon of Athens, described the whole cycle of nature in terms of theft; and the same applies to the creative cycle by which the author steals from life, the theatre steals from the writer making his work its own, and finally -- if he is up to it -- the critic steals from the theatre. He has, however, some humdrum tasks to fulfill before he can lay claim to the goods. He has, first of all, to make himself useful.

--Irving Wardle, theatre criticism Required reading for any critic.

Comment by RHETT ORACLE

RHETT ORACLE — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 19:15:05 -0800

...and a true drama fag would utilize the accent aigu as in crudit�s - otherwise the word looks like - well - crud-ites. And sometimes they are. Speaking of loading up on free food - ever attend the alleged gala opening of SIFF? Some people act as if they just arrived with from Oklahoma with the Joads.

Comment by Kathy Fennessy

Kathy Fennessy — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 22:43:19 -0800

"The critics? I hate the critics? I have nothing but compassion for them. How can I hate the crippled, the mentally deficient, and the dead?" Spoken by Sir (Albert Finney) in 1983's The Dresser.