Recently there has been a lot of discussion about the review aggregate website "Rotten Tomatoes." Some are petitioning to shut it down, while others are defending is importance. Ultimately neither side is totally in the right.
Petitioning to shut the site down is too much. Let's be clear about that. "Rotten Tomatoes" compiles critical review scores in order to get some sort of consensus as to the quality of a work of art and is generally used to judge film in particular. There's definitely an inherent value in that. Not that the value of it maters. Simply put, the fact that so many value what the site stands for and use it as a resource is reason enough to justify its existence. That said, the system that "Rotten Tomatoes" uses to evaluate reviews is certainly not perfect.
"Rotten Tomatoes" uses a "Tomatometer" which evaluates what percentage of a film's reviews are positive. In theory this is useful, but in practice it actually runs into some issues. In order for this system to work, every review either is certified as "fresh" or rotten"; essentially reducing the score to either a simple yes or no. This is an oversimplification of the reviewing process that allows little room for interpretation. A well-written review will evaluate the merits of many aspects of a film, weighing out the positives and negatives in order to inform readers what there is to like or dislike about the work. To diminish that analysis in favor of a simple thumbs up or thumbs down system allows for far less critical perspective. A review that makes note of a film's high production quality but bemoans a poor plot could be taken either way and the system in place on "Rotten Tomatoes" doesn't allow for interpretation.
The real issue with "Rotten Tomatoes" is how centralized it has become to the overall perception of a film. Popular news outlets cite "Rotten Tomatoes" as a source of critical reception and nearly every film-ranking site takes the "Rotten Tomatoes" score into account. The popularity of this flawed system has led to a system where simplification is valued over articulation. Rather than reading the nuances of a film review, many are content to simply look at a simplified percentage and form opinions based on that. While it is true that "Rotten Tomatoes" is able to give a valuable insight into what the overall consensus of a film is, it doesn't paint the whole picture.
"Rotten Tomatoes" is no doubt a valuable resource. By no means should it be shut down or protested because it is a helpful tool that gives people what they want. At the same time, it isn't the end all of critical reception. Next time you bring up "Rotten Tomatoes" read a few of those reviews in full to get an understanding of why a score is what it is.
