Criticism: What is it Good For? BlogNosh 08/20/08

By Karina Longworth posted 10 months ago

Mike Everleth passes on a philosophical Jonas Mekas quote on the purpose of critics/criticism: “If the critic has any function at all, it is to look for something good and beautiful around him, something that can help man to grow from inside; to try to bring it to the attention of others, explain it, interpret it — and not to clutch at some little pieces of dirt, or mistakes, or imperfections.”
David Edelstein jumps into the Remembering Manny Farber fray, with a personal anecdote. “Once I made the mistake of saying I thought a film was ‘about’ something. ‘About…’ he said, softly, and glanced at Patricia. ‘How can we say what a film is ‘about’? There are so many things…’”
Critic Robin Wood does the impossible: he narrows the entire Criterion Collection down to ten favorites.

Mike Everleth said 10 months ago
Thanks for the link. I’m re-reading Mekas’ “Movie Journal” and that quote was the “nice” one regarding his fellow critics at the time.

It’s a great and inspiring book.

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