Think of the person in your life who you take the most recommendations from. Would this same person be great at giving recommendations to everyone else you know?
I would think that the answer to that question is no. Actually, I would bet my entire bank account that the answer is no. Following subjective recommendations too closely can lead to unfortunate outcomes when reviewers are blindly trusted.
We have all heard of the major movie review platforms like Rotten Tomatoes, IMDb and the quickly developing platform Letterboxd. Whether you’re looking at professional reviews averaged into a Rotten Tomatoes Movie Score or the more fan-based perspective on Letterboxd, I strongly believe movie ratings — or any rating, for that matter — aren’t reliable.
Recently, I talked with an old friend about the chicken he had at a Chinese restaurant. He went there to celebrate his anniversary with his wife and told me it was one of the best dining experiences he’d ever had — from the friendliness of the staff to the authentic feel of the cuisine and the ambiance of the store itself. After the anniversary celebration, he checked the reviews online and found a painful three-star review.
Now, could my friend’s perspective and judgment be clouded by the mystique and magic of an anniversary celebration? Absolutely, or maybe not. Regardless, his experience at the restaurant was of the highest caliber, and if he had looked at reviews before leaving, well, he might never have left at all.
I am not saying reviews of all kinds should be revoked. In fact, I love reading reviews to hear how art or places affect people from backgrounds different from my own. However, basing a desire to engage with something on a couple of reviews seems like a sour idea with the most callous of consequences.
I mentioned my friend’s poor experience with a review, so let me mention one of my own. There is an extremely controversial, certainly explicit, grimy yet strikingly poetic movie called “Spring Breakers.” Maybe I watched it at the right time, or maybe I just love movies that delve into topics no one seems to want to talk about. Either way, this movie affected me in a deeply personal way, especially in its portrayal of the bizarre aspects of college party culture.
I did peek at reviews from major platforms prior to my viewing. The movie has a 38 percent Popcornmeter score on Rotten Tomatoes, a 5.3/10 on IMDb and a 2.8/5 on Letterboxd. I firmly believe I would have enjoyed this film more if I hadn’t read reviews beforehand. It didn’t ruin it altogether, but I believe my interpretation and judgment of the movie would definitely differ.
For my last example, let’s talk about the platform that every college student has most definitely used or heard of — Rate My Professors. A student’s entire semester schedule can be affected by two little number ratings of a professor, averaged from student reviews. This platform provides reliable insight into a professor’s difficulty and general vibe, especially if you’re looking to take the “easiest” class. However, in my experience, these definitive rankings of human beings can be deceiving. Just like your best friend may be another’s enemy, your beloved professor can be another’s most dreaded nightmare.
Last semester, I had a psychology professor who may have been the best teacher I ever had. This person was full of passion, jokes and an ability to draw the class in at any moment, with a workload that, in my opinion, was more than manageable. However, turn to Rate My Professors, and one sees a measly rating of 3.5. What if I had let that rating dissuade me from taking the class? This man may have been the single reason I changed my entire career trajectory to psychology. If I had never had the opportunity to take his class, I may have had the realization anyway, or I may not have. One review contains the power to change the course of a life.
I hope this does not strike you as a cliché sentiment of doing what you love without caring for what the masses think. This is not my intention. Reviews can be extremely helpful, and since life as we know it is damn short, we should give ourselves the luxury of only watching, reading, eating and learning from the best of the best. However, I firmly believe that being more mindful of the negative side effects of reviews can help us enjoy the innate experience of things on a deeper level.
Once in a while, if we dare to take it a step further, we can save the review until after the experience is complete.
Jacob Lieser is a junior majoring in philosophy, politics and law.
Views expressed in the opinions pages represent the opinions of the columnists. The only piece that represents the view of the Pipe Dream Editorial Board is the staff editorial.