I've recently come to ponder how we, as film lovers, perceive films and the psychology behind our reactions to them. Its an important issue these days; the rise of the internet and the power held by critics today mean that sometimes it feels like the public consensus isn't that at all. Star Wars: The Phantom Menace is surrounded by a stigma, for example, for being an awful, awful film and yet how many of us really think its all that bad? Sure, its a bit rubbish. But what in life isnt? When did imperfect become awful? When did a CGI character become bestowed with the power to ruin a film with so many other great elements running throughout it? The truth is, I think most of you agree with me. Its imperfect, yet not awful and its a ridiculous statement to claim Jar Jar ruined the entire film. The critics would probably agree too, a Rotten Tomatoes score of 57% doesn't insinuate atrocity. And yet, almost 14 years after release, it is still attached to a big sign which seems to follow it wherever it goes and screams about how it raped a million adults childhoods; whatever that actually means. Why is this? Where did it come from? This is only one of the issues I hope to explore in an An Analysis of the Audience series over the next few weeks. We, as an audience, are so complex, and our responses to films are terribly unpredictable. Many of our reactions are stimulated by someone elses reaction. Trends form of general consensus and adapt and evolve over the following months of the films release. In todays article, I hope to explore this idea of audience trends and the different stages they may take. I even made a little graphic to visually bring my idea to life. It isnt all that good or informative, but I spent half an hour making it and sure as hell wont let it go to waste! So without further ado, lets analyse the audience. The idea of these particular trends isn't a hard one to notice or understand. In the information age, trends are becoming all too common. But alas, Im not discussing smiley cats or memes or whatever terrible, terrible things that are produced and shared across the internet these days, rather the way in which a particular set of reactions to a film can form a consensus that then sparks a multitude of other reactions from a variety of other people. It all seems far too complicated and a bit of an over-analysis of the film industry, and maybe it is, but they are interesting nonetheless. The first trend in most circumstances is that of the critical reaction. Critics always see films before we do, and therefore the first opinions we hear about are theirs. The technology they have at their disposal makes it difficult to not hear their opinion, and websites like Rotten Tomatoes forms the general trends statistically for us. Now, with all respect to them, critics are a similar and predictable bunch. Theyll hate most blockbusters. Theyll love most deep and troubled dramas. And you want to mix the two together? Expect a great response! Of course, films cant be placed into particular groups which will always have a certain response but any fool like me can see the general way in which particular genres and ideas gain greater positive reception. Back onto topic however, this critical response will undoubtedly arrange into one of three clusters. The two more likely are Positive; generally over 60% of critics enjoyed the film, or Negative, with 60% disliking it. The third, and relatively less common cluster is that of Neutral; there is no majority in either corner. The film is neither well received or badly received, and therefore and the most easily forgotten.
