Broken Online Review Systems: Through the lens of Ghostbusters

[Lacedaemonius]

Just a bit of general advice, but when you fail to actually read an article like this, then shoehorn in a one-liner... it's incredibly obvious. Just a heads up!

now, on to people who did read the article...

Also this...

Earlier this year, I also looked at IMDb's user rating skew for television shows. Essentially, male users were more likely to rate television shows with a female-heavy audience lower than female users would rate male-centric television lower. Men were tanking the ratings of shows aimed at women.

...was interesting, if depressing. Unfortunately, time has demonstrated that we cannot have adult discussion of stuff like this around here, so I get that it's perceived as flame bait.

This makes me wonder what causes this to occur. I have extreme doubts it's just huge, broad-scale "Ew, girls".

Are men more inclined to be harsh in reviews of stuff that doesn't appeal to them?

I think it's just the outsized presence of MRA's online, and the fact that so many of them are also lifeless trolls with nothing, but time to waste.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

This makes me wonder what causes this to occur. I have extreme doubts it's just huge, broad-scale "Ew, girls".

Are men more inclined to be harsh in reviews of stuff that doesn't appeal to them?

Male Lead Media = For all to enjoy!
Female Lead Media = Just for women!

 

[TheMysteriousGX]

This makes me wonder what causes this to occur. I have extreme doubts it's just huge, broad-scale "Ew, girls".

Are men more inclined to be harsh in reviews of stuff that doesn't appeal to them?

If "Bronies"* are any indication, there are a lot of guys who assume that they're always the target audience, so if a show doesn't cater to them, it's doing something wrong.

*Disclaimer: I actually like MLP, but some of the adult fandom's desire and ability to try and warp what the show is into what they want the show to be really puts me off.

 

[deleted+75193]

DELETED

 

[Pseudonym]

Review score aggregates are like reward shows to me. Whenever there is a controversy about them I just shrug since I don't understand how anyone takes the concept seriously to begin with. Metacritic and such sites give at best a very rough idea of what critics think about something. User reviews at such sites are worthless and anyone who ever read some of them knows this.

 

[Ogoid]

I adore the first two Mad Max movies. The sequel is possibly one of the greatest action movies ever made. I dislike Thunderdome, and felt completely ambivalent towards Fury Road. I know that it's very well acted and directed, but for whatever the reason it just didn't do a thing for me.

I'm right there with you, except for the fact I'm rather less than ambivalent about Fury Road; all of its supposed technical prowess doesn't come anywhere near, for me, of making up for its appalling writing and characterizations, and for the fact that in the end it feels like "Mad Max" in name only - it's got some of the superficial trappings that have come to be associated with it (post-apocalyptic, motorized tribal warfare), but none of the actual substance (the personal journey of one man fighting for his sanity amid a world quickly descending into hellish savagery).

 

[BloatedGuppy]

Is that why alien is such fond movie for many people, including I suspect, men?

Alien had 8 cast members, 6 of which (including the primary box office draw) were male. Are you suggesting "Alien" as a "female lead" film because Ripley was the last survivor?

 

[BloatedGuppy]

Okay fine, what about aliens?

Going off IMDB, 8 of 24 credit characters in the film are female, and ~ 3 of the top 10-12 highest screen time characters (Ripley, Newt and Vasquez). This is not exactly a "female centric" film, although this time Weaver has top billing. It's just a film with a female protagonist. An excellent film, at that. Really a shame they stopped making Alien films after this one.

A real shame.

 

[deleted+75193]

DELETED

 

[Tony2077]

Okay fine, what about aliens?

Going off IMDB, 8 of 24 credit characters in the film are female, and ~ 3 of the top 10-12 highest screen time characters (Ripley, Newt and Vasquez). This is not exactly a "female centric" film, although this time Weaver has top billing. It's just a film with a female protagonist. An excellent film, at that. Really a shame they stopped making Alien films after this one.

A real shame.

I hear ya. I would have loved for there to have been a sequel to Aliens. Think of all the amazing possibilities! Ah well, just going to have to settle with there being two and only two Alien movies.

I bet I'm one of the very few that liked Alien: Resurrection

 

[BloatedGuppy]

I hear ya. I would have loved for there to have been a sequel to Aliens. Think of all the amazing possibilities! Ah well, just going to have to settle with there being two and only two Alien movies.

A real shame. A lot of potential that went unexplored. Same thing happened with Cameron's Terminator films. Just two films and then bam. Series over.

 

[CaitSeith]

Funny enough, I based my decision on buying Monster Hunter Tri mostly in the score. What happened was that I was searching for a Wii Controller Pro a couple of few years ago to play some virtual machine games, and I found one bundled with the aforementioned MH3. As I had no clue about what the game was about (and Wii was prolific with shitty games), I checked the game score on the Internet. Back then was a 7.8, but that wasn't a bad number for a bundled Wii game, so I read more details about it, and the words "difficulty curve" brought my attention. Finally decided to buy it and give it a try.

Long story short, I ended up playing MH3 way more than the games I originally intended to play with the controller. And in retrospect, if the score had been lower than 7 (or if I had watched Yahtzee review only), I would have missed a great experience.

 

[Ushiromiya Battler]

This makes me wonder what causes this to occur. I have extreme doubts it's just huge, broad-scale "Ew, girls".

Are men more inclined to be harsh in reviews of stuff that doesn't appeal to them?

Male Lead Media = For all to enjoy!
Female Lead Media = Just for women!

Seems to be right. Orange Is the New Black is liked by both men and women, but the male score is still lower than the female score in all demographics.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

You were talking about female lead, now you're talking about female centric. Put those goalposts back where they were, ya big ole cheat

We're not talking about a "female lead". We're talking about a "female lead film", or more specifically "female lead media". As in, females are leading it. As in, the cast is primarily female and/or the production side is predominantly female in key positions (particularly writer/director). Steel Magnolias is a "female lead" movie. Alien is a movie with a "female lead". "Lead" is both a noun and a verb.

While I did not "cheat", I will concede to insufficient clarity, it hadn't occurred to me there were two ways to read those sentences. I was going to smack you about the head with dictionary definitions, but upon going back and reading my original post, it really can read either way.

Mind you, the same stigma like follows female protagonists in addition to primarily female casts, although to a lesser degree. It certainly does in gaming, where it seems to be sturm und drang whenever the concept of a "non default" protagonist is raised.

The movie isn't just the sum of the gender of the characters, the themes themselves are about mother vs mother.

Aliens has a number of themes. "Motherhood" is just one of them, albeit a primary one (moreso in the novelization, where the death of Ripley's biological daughter is detailed).

Seems to be right. Orange Is the New Black is liked by both men and women, but the male score is still lower than the female score in all demographics.

Bah. Orange is the New Black sucks. Overrated goddam show.

Ah fuck, though...I'm a guy!

Fuck!

 

[Ushiromiya Battler]

Bah. Orange is the New Black sucks. Overrated goddam show.

Ah fuck, though...I'm a guy!

Fuck!

I can also inform you that men rated the Hannah Montana series 1.5 points lower than women.
Oddly enough Males ages 18-29 were the most positive, trailed by men aged 45+.