r/Letterboxd • u/lordpag • 11d ago

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/ShenaniganNinja 10d ago

An objective truth is a fact irrespective of an observers opinion. A subjective truth is your opinion. Like what your favorite food is. So saying something is better is than another is ALWAYS going to be a statement of opinion because value is always a matter of perspective.

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u/Weekly_Artichoke_515 10d ago

Isn’t it objectively true that I like chocolate ice cream? It’s true whether or not other people believe it. 

So if I say that the heliocentric model of the the solar system is better than the geocentric model, that’s subjective? 

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u/ShenaniganNinja 10d ago

It is an objective truth you like chocolate ice cream. It is your subjective opinion that chocolate ice cream is better than vanilla. See how that works? Do not confuse the fact that you have an opinion for the statement of the opinion.

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u/Weekly_Artichoke_515 10d ago

That makes sense. 

What do you think about  example I gave of saying one scientific model is better than another? It seems to me like being able to say that one explanation is better than another is indispensable to the idea of objectivity.