WHEN CRITICISM IS NO LAUGHING MATTER

“Critics tend as a general rule to do their most memorable writing about works of art that they dislike. In the words of Anton Ego, the haughty restaurant reviewer in Brad Bird’s film Ratatouille, they ‘thrive on negative criticism, which is fun to write and to read.’ So it is–but as any critic can tell you, it’s also harder to praise than to pan. The reason for this is that the language of abuse is vastly more vivid than the language of praise…”