Reviews have, obviously, been a major part of the culture of ROBLOX Film making for years now. In fact, they're one of our staples. But I think we've been looking at them wrong; I had a late night discussion with Raven_Akira recently, and I think I can pinpoint two reasons why reviews have been so controversial since the inception of any of our communities, and what we can do to rectify that.
Reason 1: The Objectivity Façade
This is one that has been around forever. In fact, it started with people like me, so this is partially my fault. It's seeped so deep, we almost had a rule barring people like KrisBush15/LordCrossfire (I do not remember what his new name is for the life of me) from the wiki. The implementation was too close for comfort. Basically, it is the idea that we're rating these movies objectively, and that there is a right and wrong way to make a movie. Simply put, this is not true. Consider it like this: think of your favorite book or album or song. All of these things that you love. You love them because they're your taste. They're what you like. For example, one of my favorite records, Hospice by The Antlers, has been met with a lot of praise. But it has also had some mild hate. Complaints levied at the record are that is is "whiny", inconsistent, underwhelming, or dramatic. I refute all of these things; I do not think they are true. But there is no objective force saying which is which because music is subjective.
And just like music is subjective, writing is subjective. And writing is what we do. Specifically, screenwriting. And you know what else is subjective? Film. Film is subjective. And the idea that we can rate movies by some scale in which the perfect movie with no flaws whatsoever is a 10/10 while a movie with no redeemable qualities is a 0/10—well, it isn't a foreign concept, but the problem with it is that not everyone will agree on what a 10/10 is. Back to music; I think Hospice is a 10 because it has what I'm looking for in music. But others might not find what they want to in Hospice. So, Annabelle is a sensitive movie about relationships. Some people might not like that kind of movie (and if you don't, don't review Granite, thanks) and that's okay.
The idea that we are rating these movies by what a perfect movie would be like is pervasive but fallacious. We rate these movies based on what we want to see. Now, some things, like in music, are universally disliked. In music, there are things like: terrible mixing, low-quality recording (with the exception of lo-fi shit or whatever), things like that. In our movies, it's things like the mouse cursor, ROBLOX Record, seeing the GUI, stuff like that. But the solution is to realize that our reviews are based on personal taste rather than an objective measure of what is good and what is bad. This isn't statistics. There is no definite right and wrong or good and bad.
Reason 2: Here, It's Personal
Unlike the millions of anonymous reviews of blockbuster flicks woven together by Warner Bros. and Paramount, the reviews here and bound to be seen by the creators of the work. If I release Granite, I'm probably gonna see whatever reviews come out about it, because they'll be on the YouTube video. We're a bunch of homegrown movie-makers. What we do is make ROBLOX movies about the stuff we like, the concepts we think would be cool, or in the case of things like Granite or A Diamond a Dozen, it's about personal experiences we went through. If someone completely demolishes Granite, I'm going to see, and chances are I'm not going to like it very much. Especially if it's a friend. That's because here, the reviews are personal; they're written and aimed at the creators of the work, who will see.
This makes it easy to do numerous things, of which, some are nefarious. A big one is vendetta reviewing. Consider this like vendetta journalism; in music, there were writers panning Tyler, The Creator's flower boy because of his persona on his previous records. They talked little about the music, and talked more about him coming out of the closet and how the album sucked because he as a person sucked or something. Vendetta reviewing is when someone leaves a terrible review out of distaste for the person. It would be like Don leaving a negative review on my movie because he hates me.
In addition, because the creator will see, it's easy for reviews to be taken as personal attacks, especially when the work is personal. If Raven_Akira put out a movie in which he was essentially the main character—yes, I know this happened, but this is just an example—and I called the main character a moron for making certain decisions, he likely wouldn't take very kindly to it. Because the community is so small and so private and we're all friends, it can make reviewing things difficult.
Lastly, these reviews are often written like professional reviews of real movies are, which, in short, is a little ridiculous. Professional reviews are to tell movie-goers: "save your money, this is garbage" or "watch it, it's fantastic". Here, that doesn't apply. These movies are free, so criticism should always be to help the creator improve. To completely rip the movie apart and give no insight on what would've made the movie better just makes you an asshole.
The solution? Realize we make these movies for ourselves. We make them for each other, to show each other. Some people make it for views, but really, the bulk of us make them for each other; that's the fun in it. Sharing our work with one another, making memes out of it, and debating which character is this (Mystic is evil) or which plot point was this or that. That's the fun in it. Taking it too seriously sucks all of the fun out.
Conclusion
Admittedly, I don't have any sort of ground-breaking or impressive conclusion to wrap this up with. I guess the core of what I'm saying is: we're here for each other. Without each other, this community obviously wouldn't exist. So reviews should be a positive experience, even if the reviews aren't positive. We should like watching each other's work and like discussing it. That's the fun in all of this, and I think that's why a lot of people who started with us have left. We became pretty serious. We don't always have to be. Even if the tone of our movies are, we should still joke around and love each other. Because that's what makes us what we've always been. A community.
I usually end these blog posts with some goofy or sardonic line but I don't have one. It's 2am and I'm going to bed. Good night.