People's Daily Comment: Chinese films should have the capacity to accommodate "one star"

Going to Douban to check the ratings before watching a movie , and writing reviews on Maoyan after watching a movie has become a habit for many Internet "new generations". Sharing feelings and opinions with friends on an open platform not only enriches one's own viewing experience, but also solves the problem of information asymmetry about movies. Countless people have given praise and criticism, one star and five stars, forming the "big data" of movie reviews. There will definitely be people who are biased, angry, and picky, but the sample size is large enough to reflect the overall perception and attitude of the majority.

It should also be noted that in the open public opinion field, there is indeed a disorder in the evaluation of movies. On the rating platform, there are people who brush good reviews and bad reviews; in self-media, there are also malicious bad reviews that attract attention, and even "personal attacks". With an open market and open public opinion, there will inevitably be pressure from various unexpected situations. For such situations, reasonable guidance and proper solutions are needed. "If the bath water is dirty, you can't throw out the baby in the basin", this should be a consensus. However, having said that, will a film work really be ruined by "one star"? Will the film ecology really be affected by "bad reviews"? But not necessarily.

Some people say that watching a movie is like eating. You can tell whether it tastes good or not by just tasting it. You can’t question other people’s taste just because they say it’s not delicious. After all, the quality of a movie is not “if you say it’s good, then you are good, and if you are not good, then you are good”, let alone “if you say it’s not good, then you are not good, and if you are good, then you are not good”. Just imagine, if movies like “The Return of the Great Sage” and “Operation Mekong” were not highly completed works, how could they gather so many “tap water” and rely on the market and word of mouth to complete the counterattack? From another perspective, many movies that rely on “fresh meat”, “50-cent special effects”, and “hype scandals” to attract attention will eventually become a laughing stock even if they buy 10,000 “five-star reviews”. Instead of competing with netizens, it is better to reflect on your attitude or level.

In fact, the fact that some movies can make a comeback and some movies will fail means that the audience is becoming more and more mature and will no longer be easily deceived into going to the cinema by bad movies. The Chinese film market has been "advancing by leaps and bounds" in recent years. The growth in the past three years has been 27%, 36% and a record 49% respectively. There is even a joke in the film industry that "people are stupid, have a lot of money, come quickly". To some extent, the slowdown in the growth of movie box office this year is also a sign of a healthier film market. After all, the maturity of the film market is premised on a group of mature audiences. Movie box office is important, but it is impossible and unnecessary to make it a face-saving project with "substantial growth" every year - whether it grows or not, and how much it grows, should be determined by the market.

Acknowledging the audience's right to "vote with their feet" also means acknowledging the audience's right to "rate stars", which is a choice. As many people have seen, on some platforms where netizens and audiences rate movies, there are also marketing behaviors of brushing bad reviews or brushing good reviews, but as long as the platform is large enough and open enough, it can accommodate and even precipitate these impurities. Of course, the platform should also better improve the rating mechanism, so that whether it is a "one-star bad review" or a "five-star good review", whether it is a "preview stage" or a "public release stage", the star rating can be a true reflection of the netizens' wishes, and the rating of the online platform can become an important reference for "historical, people's, artistic, and aesthetic point of view to judge and appreciate works."

Chinese films should be able to tolerate "one-star" ratings. "The deeper the love, the more severe the criticism." Netizens' comments may not necessarily be "authoritative," but they are also a reflection of the audience's voice. In the final analysis, producing works that can stand the test of time, spread widely, and last for generations may be a much more important issue.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.