Bob Ross on Criticism
“Being a film critic was the ultimate good job,” said Bob Ross, film critic. Ross worked at the Tampa Tribune from 1985 until April 2007, after a reporting position in Bradenton and a job in a video shop. “I loved it so much that I haven’t looked that hard for something else.”
Ross began his journalistic adventure proofreading at night, then critiquing rock concerts. He accepted the position as a reporter in Bradenton to gain experience with non-opinion material, even though he thinks the two jobs are not all that different.
“To me, fact and opinion are all the same because [in a review] you need the background historical material,” he said.
Ross definitely has a background for movies. He said he watched a lot of movies while working at the video shop and recommends movies from the 1930s for their artistic value. He says they address the same issues as modern films, such as crime and infidelity, but their style is different. He likes that they show culture from an anthropological approach.
He is now working on a project with Channel 28, as a film critic for a weekend show.
Ross’s said he “want[s] to write a review that people will read from beginning to end, even if they don’t have the intention of seeing the movie.”
He said he wants to write reviews that are not “cookie cutter,” that have something different. Reviews should include fact and point of view- enough information that readers can make up their own minds.
The most striking topic Ross addressed was that independent films are suffering because so many film critic positions have been trimmed. He said indie films rely on reviews much more than commercial films because they do not have the budget to advertise as heavily. As a result, a lot of independent films go straight to dvd or the internet for download. (You know, the Tampa Theatre only has one film planned so far for the rest of the year, the one that Ross recommended.)
I find this to be frightening because commercial movies tend to recycle plots within each genre. I think independent films are important to introduce new ideas.
Ross stressed that reporters and critics write for readers but that bloggers write for themselves. Although this is true, I question the value and long-term viability of a self-important blog. A blog that I would compare to journalistic writing would have to appeal to a wide audience and contain truthful information that is worth a readers’ time.
