The critics go hand in hand with every form of culture, be it arts, movies, literature, sports or theatre. And just as in Henry Fielding’s view the satirists are to be considered as our physician and the corrective tools to rectify our vices and follies, same way, the opinions, the observations and the comments of the erudite critics should be welcomed in every realm of cultures and life.
A few years ago AA Gill, Restaurant and TV critic, declared: “No aspect of the culture is as badly served by its critics as the theatre is.”
“When talent is picked by reality television and cinema stars guarantee box office, who cares about critics?” he asked before answering that “they’re vital precisely because performers can be picked by reality TV … Every room in the culture needs strong criticism; it needs committed critics to keep the form strong and innovative … Varied and lively opinionated critics isn’t necessarily good for individual productions or artists, but it is good for the genre as whole. If there is no intellectual, aesthetic, political, spiritual, passionate argument about what gets made, then the only arbiters of value are the box office and the phone-in. Bad culture drives out good unless there is someone there to stop it.”
Any work can’t attain the status of being absolute if its not debated and discussed. One should consider the approval or opposition by the critics as vital and gratifying to let their work become masterpiece. Critics’ complements or criticism, both should be equally valued.
As Gill also says, “Critics are culture’s traffic wardens. If you want to be loved, work with puppies.”
via whatsonstage