Editorial #8: Why I Will No Longer Employ a Rating System

Editorial #8: Why I Will No Longer Employ a Rating System

If you were to look at anything that offers an opinion on nearly anything, whether it be food, books, or in this case, movies, one of the first things that you would see is a number/letter grade attached to the subject in question. And I myself, for the longest time, have believed that one of the most effective ways to convey how I feel about a film is to give both a letter grade as well as a number score. But, after giving it some considerate thought, I will no longer use a quantifiable score in my reviews; here's why. 

One of the biggest reasons has to simply do with time. We, as people, grow fickle and change our opinions, our tastes, and our way of viewing the world over time. As such, if we see a movie five years ago versus yesterday, more or less likely you would see and rate the movie in a different way. Slapping a number score on a film that I saw six years ago will more or less likely not hold anymore; in reality, it may move up or down if I were to see the same film again. But because of the nature of this blog, the number score is attached to that particular post/review for the end of time, meaning that either I update it in a separate post or leave it as my opinion. And I don't want; I think that the most important thing about my opinions on the film are usually conveyed in the first review, regardless of my number score. If my opinion changes super drastically on a repeat viewing, then perhaps I would do a rewind review, but since the gist of my opinion usually remains the same, I think the number/letter score (changing as it is) is redundant and pointless.

But the second reason is also equally as important. As people, we have a tendency to want to get to the point without actually reading the content of a review or editorial. And if we present a number score/letter grade, the first thing that we would gravitate towards would be said number/letter rather than reading the contents of the actual review. I want people to judge how I feel about a film based not on a number but on what I actually write.

So, henceforth there will no longer be an official rating; and this really shouldn't change anything. The reviews themselves should remain largely the same, and if you read through one of them, it won't be hard to discern what I think about a given film.