I'm sick of The Stranger and their 'negativity makes you cool' attitude. I'm sick of dreading a Stranger review while simultaneously lusting after one. I'm sick of anxiously refreshing the page on Wednesdays, eyes squinted as if that could keep out the venom I'm sure is about to spew forth. I've been sick of it for a long time. Why do we continue to give them power? What would happen if we just stopped inviting The Stranger to see our work? Would the world end? Would lost theatergoers wander the post-Stranger streets aimlessly searching for something to see, hopeless without the snark-infested map they were once provided?
We all know that a Stranger review makes a difference. An actual, money-in-the-bank difference. Yet I'm willing to bet my favorite pair of skinny jeans that not one director or theater administrator has had this conversation: "I love having The Stranger review us! They write such thoughtful, thorough and topical reviews - I always know that when they write about my work it's going to be well deserved and honest, even if it's bad."
[Note: some of the preceding actually taken from a conversation I had with a director about another reviewer.]
Instead, what we've all said many times is something more akin to: "Why do they even bother reviewing theater? They don't write reviews - they write reviews of their experience seeing the show or how much they hate the topic the play was focused on or they write about themselves. Even if they DO bother to actually review the show, you have to wonder if they get paid by the bitchy remark."
We continue to empower The Stranger to criticize us for the sake of snark. We're the nerdy kid on the playground running up to the bully who's beaten us every day for the past week to show them our new comic - hoping he'll tell everyone how cool we are and getting beaten yet again. You know what, I don't need The Stranger to tell me how cool we are - and what's more, what do they know from cool, anyway?
I've written this post before in my head several times - always getting distracted before getting around to posting it. The review today of Hardball brought it all back again. (No, this isn't a petty response to a negative review that hurt my feelings. I can take it. Besides, the Hardball review wasn't even all that bad - I've absolutely read (and had) worse.) My behavior leading up to it and reaction now that it's out are a reminder of a silent understanding that we all just seem to put up with. The Stranger doesn't like theater - yet everyone listens to The Stranger's opinion about theater. How much sense does that make? It's like turning to Ann Coulter for advice on how to be a good feminist.
Please note, I'm not advocating the extinction of reviewers, we NEED them. For gods sake, call us on our bullshit. If we get overindulgent or analyze all meaning out of a story, if we waste two hours of your time masturbating on stage - call us on it!!! A "bad" review that's relevant to the work, that's well thought out and based on fact is a wonder to behold. We need more of those! We need reviewers who can react to what they're seeing intelligently and help us sort through what's out there. I just don't understand why we continue to lend credibility to an organization that mocks us because that's the popular thing to do.
So friends, seriously - let's stop empowering them. Don't invite them to your shows. Don't give them comps, or press packets. Don't ask Brendan to host your talk-back. Don't refresh the page every Wednesday, anxiously waiting for their opinion. Just stop. Their power comes from us, so let's take it back. I'd rather have a conversation with a well-informed, intelligent contemporary than a curmudgeonly Stranger any day.
Meggan, I respectfully disagree. I think that far from alienating or rejecting critics we dislike, we need to encourage and implore them to do the job we want them to do. We need to be on intimate terms with our critics, and if anything we need to invite them not only to our shows, but to our parties, to our homes. Why? To expand the type of conversations we have with them. To move from "did you like my show" to "What is your vision for the theater? Why do you do what you do? What's important to YOU?" Not so we can tailor our work to their tastes, but so that we can broaden what it means to be an artist, and to more fully integrate the critic into the greater artistic family. As arbiters of taste and consumer reporters, critics are of use only to arts editors and general managers for the money they generate. As shepherds, oracles, boosters, curators, they are of huge value to all.
ReplyDeleteAmen Meggan! Stop the culture of snark! I want the stranger to offer valuable feedback, not just self congratulatory pap and condescension. Just cause you can be funny while being bitchy does not mean you are intelligently adding to the social conversation. Why do we continue to allow them to have control over the success of our work? I vote no on stranger reviews as they are currently done.
ReplyDeleteI share your sentiment about The Stranger. I sometimes wonder if they ever like anything. I would be happy to review your shows. My "Hardball" review will be up shortly.
ReplyDeletehttp://blog.seattlepi.com/alltheworldsastage/
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In the time I've lived in this city I've come to realize that The Stranger is the left wing, print version of Fox News. That is to say, it is a vehicle for self congratulation and hate. I know it makes me wildly unpopular to say so, but the only thing the writers at The Stranger like is the writers at The Stranger.
ReplyDeleteIt would be nice to be able to have a civil discourse with the writers at The Stranger (about anything, really, art, politics, the weather) however, the stranger doesn't write about art or politics or anything really. They write about themselves. For some reason, as a community, we let them.
@Flaminghill: "encourage and implore them to do the job we want them to do"? We have been doing that for years, decades in fact! The Stranger has alienated itself. Why should we keep inviting them when they have no ability or desire to review a show in a way that would make the kind of relationship you are talking about possible? How long do we have to wait for them to shape up and contribute to the arts not just snark at it?
ReplyDeleteI cannot even tell you how much I love this blog post. I think this nearly every single time I read a review in the Stranger--especially every time I read a review in which the reviewer is apparently proud of the fact that they skipped out of the show at intermission becuase they didn't like it. (I will not apologize for this sentiment: if you do not see an entire show, you do NOT get to review it. End of story.)
ReplyDeleteI have to respectfully disagree with you.
ReplyDeleteWhy would you boycott The Stranger because of their perceived "negative" theater coverage? Why do you think it's "negative"? Of the seven columns currently on The Stranger's website, there is one rave, two positive, two mixed, one negative and an idiotic review by a fill in, (Sorry, Mr. Brissey, but that was a terrible piece of writing.) That breakdown sounds pretty even and not very negative or snarky.
And, while I don't always AGREE with Brendon, and passionately disagree with his policy of bailing on the second act of shows he doesn't like, I'm pretty sure he LIKES theater and goes out of his way to support it. And, considering the fact there are VERY few outlets in town that routinely cover theater, (The Times, The Stranger, the SGN, and the web only sites)which to be honest, doesn't make a ton of money for THOSE outlets, I don't think it wise to cuff off one of the tiny handful of media outlets who bother to offer ANY theater coverage. And, Brendan has been covering the Intiman debacle more thoroughly than anyone else.
If you ban The Stranger that leaves Seattle theater goers with Misha Berson's bland coverage of area theater. Is that really going to help local theater companies?
I strongly disagree with your main point. Brendan has been and is a strong advocate for theater in Seattle. Whether or not you like the way The Stranger reviews shows, I don't think "they don't like theater" is a fair or accurate conclusion to draw. In addition to covering the happenings at Intiman, witness Brendan's play-by-play coverage on Slog of the efforts to save 4Culture. The Seattle Times not only hasn't been covering this issue, they've come out with an editorial against the bill we need to pass.
ReplyDeleteI don't believe The Stranger owes any of us in the theater world anything, up to and including staying through an entire show if it's not engaging. The Stranger is just giving its readers what it thinks they want, which is The Stranger's bottom-line imperative. If snark goes out of style I'm sure they'll be the first to go, but until then? I think the thoughtful voices you yearn for already exist. Read Jose Amador over at Seattlest, or Jeremy Barker at The SunBreak (where, full disclosure, I also write on occasion), or Paul Mullin's blog, among others. Supporting them by reading, commenting, and sharing with others would be far more constructive than complaining about The Stranger I think.