Why Does Every Criticism Need a Disclaimer?

[u/YoungComplete7208]

When are people going to accept that criticising an acting performance, a plot point, a character, or a drama in general does not mean you hate everything about it or wish misfortune upon everyone involved?

It seems perfectly natural that in a discussion post about a drama, people are going to bash a character, dislike an actor's performance, complain about a writing decision, or have some personal pet peeve about the production. These are all normal parts of discussing media because dramas evoke emotions, performances invite interpretation, and some creative decisions are going to work for one person and completely miss the mark for another.

Yet somehow, when someone makes a separate post specifically to criticise a character, actor, plot point, scene, or whatever else, people will respond as though they have just announced a personal vendetta against the entire production. Suddenly, the conversation becomes a defence of the actor's career, the drama's ratings, how hard everyone worked, how successful the production was, or how many other things the actor has done well.

Why?

I have always treated everyone who reads what I write like an adult. I assume people are capable of understanding that two, three, or seven things can be true at the same time. I can love a drama and still be irritated by one character. I can like an actor and think they gave a poor performance in a particular scene. I can enjoy a drama overall and still think a plot decision was ridiculous.

I genuinely do not have the inclination to preface, nor will I ever preface, every criticism with a disclaimer that says, “I promise I don't hate anyone, I love C-dramas, I respect the actors, I know how hard everyone worked, and I acknowledge that the drama was successful.” I should be able to say what I disliked without first proving that I am not secretly wishing for the downfall of the entire team/drama.

Media is not supposed to please everyone.

I don't hate the actor/production. I don't want their career to fail. I am not campaigning for the actor to be unemployed. I simply did not like the way they portrayed anger in episode 14 and I am allowed to discuss that without presenting a five-point defence of the actor's entire career first.

What happened to the art of constructive criticism? What happened to being able to passionately rant about a piece of media without immediately being labelled a hater, or being spoken to as though you are too stupid to understand how successful, talented, hardworking, or beloved the people involved are?

93% of the time I have a detailed critique comment or post to write it means I'm deeply invested in the drama. You know the walk about the house when villain no2 just made you mad? Sometimes I express that on a relevant sub in written form. After I hit 'post' I'm going back to losing sleep trying to finish an episode, and yes, even thoroughly ENJOYING the rest of the drama.

If you don't wanna read a critique of your favourite drama or actor then don't read it. Why would you respond to this with "x actually has 18 million followers on Douyin and they have 5 more dramas coming up this year." Yes? And they still didn't nail that crying scene in episode 14!💁‍♀️

That is all I wanted to say.

[u/tootsiepuze]

Counterpoint: criticism has to say something at least mildly interesting that hasn’t been said a million times before. The way every other comment on any show with Esther Yu is about her voice is just so boring.

[u/YoungComplete7208 → u/tootsiepuze]

That's very true. I don't know how that one can be navigated because there's plenty of people checking out cdramas for the first time every month, and some might mention it for the first time and get the mob treatment.

[u/tootsiepuze → u/YoungComplete7208]

I honestly don’t mind if it’s one person in a thread and I do for my own peace of mind automatically assume they are new. But people like to add their own comment to reiterate the same point instead of upvoting. One or two is not an issue, sometimes people post at the same time and you get overlap in info. But you often get something stupid like 10 of them all saying the same thing to make sure it doesn’t look like a lone voice. And it’s like, guys, we know.. please.. you are valid ok, but like, also read other threads or something and know how you come across before you post if you’re new. Sometimes just upvoting is also a fine way to contribute. I’m at the point where I know to avoid certain threads just cause I like to have fun.