“Those who find ugly meanings in beautiful things are corrupt without being charming. This is a fault.”
I'm only scared of two things.
Well actually, I'm scared by a lot of things.
But two things scare me more then most.
Death and criticism.
And at least if you die, you're not forced to survive.
People are brave to put themselves out there in the world.
When a young kid stands outside in the cold, busking his little heart out, with a ten pound guitar, and his catalogue of Kings of Leon and Oasis covers, it takes guts.
Well, guts, or he hasn't experienced criticism yet.
And he will. I sincerely hope he'll never have to, but unfortunately the general populace isn't that understanding when it comes to people practicing their craft.
Someone out there is about to throw a verbal tomato at the kid, and he might put that guitar down for the rest of his life.
Oh the shame.
Shame that the guy was never given his chance to work on his craft and shame that people are so quick to criticise.
I've had my fair share of criticism. It hurts.
I received a horrible review from an Edinburgh Fringe show I did a couple of years back. It was a vicious one.
My defence? I'd been living off of 10p noodles for a month, and I was about to have an asthma attack.
Seriously, I went to the hospital the next day.
That and the material could've been better.
The point is, I believe that 95% of criticism isn't constructive. I've had good reviews too, but due to this I now choose not to read any reviews of my work - good or bad.
In fact I choose not to read reviews of pretty much anything. Criticism is an art form in itself, but who criticises the critics? Who keeps them in check to make sure they're adding to the world, and not simply sitting behind their computers seething at much of their time we've wasted.
Somewhere the balance is all wrong to me. The pressure should be applied a little more on the critics.
Unless of course you're Roger Ebert, or Film Critic Hulk.
...and yes, this is me whining about critics who whine.