If you have heard about this annoying, nitpicking channel on youtube, then you understand some of my frustration. This YouTube channel is called CinemaSins and prides itself on covering blockbuster movies and looking at everything and anything that is wrong with them. I saw a few of their videos and, while it remained entertaining, the channel missed the whole point of the film and made ad hominem criticisms and broad generalizations.
The channel sees everything wrong with the film and there is also a channel called CinemaWins that sees everything right with movies which is equally wrong in their execution. Whether you criticize or highlight only the negatives or positives you are missing the bigger picture about the film and what it is trying to represent.
The channel was launched in December of 2012 and has currently amassed over 9 million subscribers on Youtube. While the feat remains incredible, it doesn’t excuse their outlandish and god-awful takes on beloved, classic movies that reduce the film to nothing more than a pile of criticisms that aren’t even deserved. This is what happens when critics become trolls and don’t realize the hard work, blood, sweat, and tears that are put into this art piece because whether you like a film or not, it is still a piece of art and art is subjective.
CinemaSins criticizes the wrong things
When you have a channel devoted to giving out sins to movies where you complain about how long the logos are, whether someone is being a d*** to another character, or reading subtitles, you realize that these guys are more preoccupied with small, insignificant things that amount to nothing. Does the channel honestly think they are giving filmmakers good tips on what to think about film theory or criticism?
After seeing a couple of their videos, I understand that it is purely comedic commentary and probably shouldn’t be taken seriously but you can’t help but think that the more time that they put into these videos, the more serious they will take their content, which isn’t a problem unless you take it anything beyond comedic commentary. I’m sure many people will disagree with me and tell me that, as a filmmaker, I shouldn’t be worried about it but it still irks me.
They don’t respect art or the artist
Whether you subscribe to these guys or not, it’s very obvious that they don’t respect the art that is placed in front of them and they opt to nitpick at innocuous plot holes or facets that ruin the magic of the cinema. I know that it probably sounds like I am nitpicking them and I know that they have released a video where they nitpick themselves, but it’s very hard to not take a channel with 9 million subscribers seriously, especially when so many people watch their content voraciously.
I’m going to sound like Michael Keaton’s Riggan Thomson from Birdman because there is nothing in their content about technique, structure, or form. It’s just a bunch of crappy opinions formulated by the provocateurs of the channel. I know that my crappy opinion also encompasses that mold and please, feel free to criticize me, as well.
They brainwash their audiences
I know the youtube channel is purely for entertainment, but brainwashing people and future filmmakers to think this robotically is going to do a lot more harm than good.
The bottom line is that I am taking the time to write this article to explain to filmmakers not to take these guys seriously and, instead, think for themselves when they create content that is true and meaningful to them. I hope that we are not developing a flock of sheep that have a hive mentality, where artists are not being true to themselves and, instead, have to rely on other people’s approval and opinions to judge how their work is viewed.
