Intent and Response
Thanks, I hate it.
dictated but not read
What do we talk about when we talk about whether a movie is “good” or not?
Or a book? Or a play? Or any piece of art?
What we’re really doing is having two possible conversations:
Is it “good” on some allegedly objective scale of quality based on academic and/or industry standards?
Did the viewer enjoy the experience of watching/reading/listening to the movie/book/music?
And while these conversations can get heated over music, I think these debates never get starker than over movies.
There is something about moving images with synchronized sound. They get in our souls immediately, like emotional heroin. Our reactions are visceral, extreme, and immediate. We can walk out of a movie floating on air & changed forever or in the foulest mood of our young lives with a “how dare they” on our lips directed at strangers we will never meet but we feel have personally wronged us.
But here’s the rub, just because you did not enjoy a movie does not mean it is objectively “bad.” And just because you loved a movie, does not mean it is objectively “good.”
Some of the most enjoyable 110 minutes of my whole life was spent watching the 2019 film CATS. I was amazed, stupefied, and constantly surprised at the hot garbage being pumped into my brain by this incredibly confounding work of professional filmmakers.
From an academic standpoint, CATS is an “F.” But my enjoyment (ironic though it may have been) was an A+.
The existence of an objective quality scale in the arts is dubious at best. Art is subjective. We have aesthetic criteria to judge quality, professionalism, etc. But as anyone who watched Crash beat Brokeback Mountain for Best Picture at the Oscars in 2005 knows, these things are most definitely subjective.
This was all brought sharply into focus for me recently when I saw the 2025 film Marty Supreme.
Nominated for Best Picture and eight other Oscars (and with an almost certain win for Timothée Chalamet as the titular Marty), the film was high on my list of must-sees this Oscar season. My extended family had all recently seen it in small groups, and it had proved a divisive feature. The majority strongly disliked the movie, while a minority enjoyed it. As the only one with a Master’s Degree in film, I was, of course, sent to give the final word (or at least that’s what I heard, I wasn’t really listening).
And, Reader, I did not care for it.
I found all the characters hateful and unsympathetic, the scenarios without joy and/or merit, the journey muddled, no one to root for, no thing to root for, and the runtime intolerably long.
But I think that’s exactly what the creators intended.
Not to say they wanted me to have a bad time; rather, that they were crafting a world of irredeemable assholes doing irredeemably assholish things to each other without let or hindrance.
That was the world they wanted to create. And they did. And I hated it. But that’s fine. It wasn’t for me. Not everything is. Not everything has to be for you.
I also don’t have to enjoy myself to see the talent of all those involved. The acting was excellent (especially Tyler the Creator in a wonderful turn), the design was flawless, the photography was lovely. It was like the opposite of CATS. Marty Supreme accomplished exactly what it intended and left it to you to enjoy or not. CATS accomplished nothing that it intended and is miraculously enjoyable (if you’re a sicko like me).
I like story about characters on journeys. Characters who grow. Characters who learn. Characters who find joy in a heartless world. Marty Supreme could not be less interested in any of these things. It’s interested in characters who make terrible choices and then have to deal with other characters who have made terrible choices. It’s about creating a mood of tension and pain and then building that to a feverish climax that releases in an unexpected way.
We are at odds from the jump.
So, is Marty Supreme “good?” Yes.
And I did not care for it.
I wish it no ill will. I do not hold any bizarre vendetta for the filmmakers (none of whom I know). And any success it finds at the Oscars this March, I applaud it (but I’d put Timothée third behind Leo and Wagner Moura in terms of performances I enjoyed in that category).
Truth be told, the only true judge of any piece of art’s worth is time. It’s a Wonderful Life was a flop when it debuted in theatres and is now considered a classic. How many podcasts and listicles and video essays are dedicated to Oscar “snubs” and “can you believe that won over this?!” discourse? But holding a yearly awards ceremony a decade after a movie’s release is unrealistic.
So, next time you don’t connect with a piece of art, ask if it was truly “bad” or just not for you. Roger Ebert hated The Usual Suspects and Ace Ventura: Pet Detective. The original Broadway production of Merrily We Roll Along ran for 16 performances. Nick Drake’s albums didn’t sell in his lifetime.
The only judge is time.
And me.
And Skimbleshanks. That guy’s awesome.
- Patrick, 2/25/26
coming soon
The Ferberizing of Coral
Awesome Con! Washington, DC! March 14 at 1:30pm TICKETS AND INFO!
now playing
Bethesda Play-in-a-Day
This Saturday (February 27), I will once again be proudly representing Adventure Theatre MTC at Bethesda Play-in-a-Day sponsored by Bethesda Urban Partnership. No idea what this year’s play is about but I can tell you it stars Irene Hamilton, Kari Ginsburg, and Mary Myers. So you 1000% need to see it. TICKETS AND MORE INFO HERE!
friends of the unknown penguin
DC Theater Arts
So I don’t know if you follow the news or not but our local paper is . . . what is the word? Folding. That’s it. It’s folding. And not that its local arts coverage was extant before but without an actual regional paper in our region then any hope for any kind of news coverage of the most wonderful arts scene in the country has died.
And that’s why you need to read and support DC Theater Arts.
They are single-handedly holding theatre coverage in DC together with both hands and doing great work in the process.
Start with Nicole Hervik’s wonderful “Inside Trump’s Bonkers Kennedy Center Honors” and then go from there.
It is more necessary now than ever before.
This really is the best theatre city in the country. So you should read about it.
live on stage
Tinker Bell
available through Dramatic Publishing
Trinity Theatre Company (San Diego, CA) - March 6-8
Punxsutawney Theatre Arts Guild (Punxsutawney, PA) - March 20-21
DeSales University (Center Valley, PA) - March 17-April 7
Union 8th Grade Center (Broken Arrow, OK) - April 16-17
Freedom High School (Oakley, CA) - April 22-24
from the vault
Talk to You Later - Hash
originally released: February 25, 2012 - Please pardon the lack of description, apparently I have reached my word limit.
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