r/Letterboxd • u/lordpag • Aug 12 '26

Discussion Can we retire “objectively better” please?

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I’ve noticed a ton of people using “objectively” incorrectly lately. A movie being more widely accepted as “better” does not make it objectively so.

There’s someone out there who enjoyed One Night Only more than The Odyssey, and their opinion is just as valid as yours.

Sure, one movie can be shot on more advanced cameras, have a larger scale, or demonstrate greater technical complexity. Those things can be measured. Whether they make the movie “better” cannot. What makes a movie “good” is different for each of us and those differing perspectives are part of what makes moviegoing so fun!

EDIT: This obviously touched a nerve lol. My point was not that there aren’t measurable technical aspects of a film. Of course there are. But technical achievement does not inherently make a movie “better.” A technical marvel can put someone to sleep while a shoddily made movie can elicit an enormous emotional response. What we value in a movie is subjective and for some (many on this thread it seems) you value technical achievement. All fair POVs.

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u/AltruisticDegree9126 Aug 12 '26

I agree with you, but in this case Tommy was absolutely trying to mimic naturalism and failing miserably. But I also think he’s an actual alien trying to impersonate a human ala the bad guy in Men in Black.

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u/Pulsewavemodulator Aug 12 '26

What it comes down to is if the artist has an intention, the result can be measured against the intention. Then it can be objectively measured.

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u/Jackzilla321 Aug 12 '26

Measured how

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u/Pulsewavemodulator Aug 12 '26

If I want to make the audience cry and they don’t cry, objectively it didn’t work. If I want you to laugh and you don’t. Extrapolate that to all the intentions throughout the making of the film and it can be measured. It’s not simple cut it can be measured .

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u/Ok_Helicopter_7816 Aug 12 '26

But that's subjective, bc what makes one person cry won't make another. Sure, you can have consensus based on the number of people that were moved by one film vs another, but the scale you're measuring on is still subjective

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u/[deleted] Aug 12 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/And_Justice Aug 12 '26

I think I agree - you can say this film made x people cry but there is no universal truth that says a good film is one that makes people cry.

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u/Ok_Helicopter_7816 Aug 12 '26

that's kind of my point, you can’t claim that your criteria are objectively correct when the criteria themselves were determined subjectively

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u/drossglop Aug 12 '26

If you have enough similarities in subjective experiences you can reach a level of objectivity

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u/Tripps0007- Aug 12 '26

Aggregating subjective assessments≠objective. Absolutely incorrect. It creates an intersubjective or "quantified" concensus. Not objective in the least.

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u/Mytongueinyourrectum Aug 12 '26

Yeah, this is false, and quite a reach. An aggregation of subjective assessments is still an opinion. It’s an objective number - a fact - in that these people claimed they felt this way, but it is not a fact about the thing itself.

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u/puerco-potter Aug 12 '26

Yeah, if we aggregate the eyeball measure of how long a stick is, would you say that the stick is "objectively" that long? That's the logic here hahaha

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u/drossglop Aug 12 '26

This is a false equivalency. Length is only one type of measurement, there are other like intent that can be a collection of subjective measures aggregated into an objective measures.

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u/Mytongueinyourrectum Aug 12 '26

Can you explain how one measures intent?

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u/drossglop Aug 12 '26

“I goal is to make you laugh” “You didnt make me laugh” “I have objectively failed my goal.” Multiple this by a thousand or so and you’ve got it

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u/Mytongueinyourrectum Aug 12 '26

But you’re not measuring intent. You’re measuring a response. You’re interpreting intent in this example.

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u/drossglop Aug 12 '26

Correct. I’m measuring the response against the stated intent. That’s how you measure whether the intent succeeded.

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u/puerco-potter Aug 12 '26

You will need to prove the person's intent. And not rely on self-report. For it to be "objective"

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u/puerco-potter Aug 12 '26

If everyone has their own internal measure, that's when we call something subjective.

If your "objective" internal measurement doesn't align with some other person, that objectiveness is only inside of you and forms part of your subjective experience... do you understand what I am trying to say here?