The definition I've always understood it to mean...
To criticize something means to have an opinion on the merits or demerits of a work. Critiquing something can be positive or negative (i.e. the word is misused a bit if one thinks it only means negative assessment).
In order to *have* an opinion - you had to have spent time judging and reasoning out the merits/demerits using whatever yardsticks suit you. That may be purely emotional warm fuzzies, a weighted metric performance review, or some mix of both.
Yes, a "critic" is also a profession... but they're just someone we pay to burp opinions up. Their output is no more or less valid than getting your inputs from your buddies on that movie you're thinking of watching. Someone who has seen a LOT of movies and spent time thinking about how they're constructed will have a different set of yardsticks than someone who has seen a LOT of movies and just immerses themself in the experience. Sometimes that may be the same person who can do both.
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As for this forum... it is the extreme viewpoints that tend to generate a lot of heat, be it a "defender of the Perfect" or a "How did this ever get a greenlight?" Part of the problem is when people present their opinions (however constructed) as assertions or facts (often without supportive examples) and then question the sanity of other opinions that were arrived at using different metrics.
I'm guilty of jumping on people for presenting an assertion as a "fact" without any meaningful supporting examples.
-- doesn't matter whether I agree with their point or not, I just dislike arm-waving rhetoric and I tend to have trouble with opinions that people can't provide some reasoning for (even if the reasoning is "purely gut emotional" -- at least they know the basis for the opinion).
Meh... granted Animesuki isn't going to require classes in communication, debate, critical analysis, or dissertation - but people, no matter how they post -- should try these ideas out for more interesting fruitful discussion:
1) Don't present subjective opinions as fact. Be very careful of asserting something "sucks" rather than saying "I didn't enjoy it because of these factors."
2) Realizing that other people's opinions may be arrived at with a different set of value metrics. What is important to them may not be important to you.
I have people on this forum that I trust a great deal when they tell me that I should watch a particular series because I've found they have a good eye for series that please me. That is when this forum is at maximum value for me.
And... for the occasional vicious troll or equally nasty religious zealot fanboi, either who often hijacks the thread, I'm trying to get better at using the mod button rather than get into a circlejerk fight.The mods probably hate seeing my name in the inbox since there's probably a fire at the other end.