I didn't know we could do that!

[wednes]

I'm up late tonight dicking around on the internets, trying in vain to get away from the constant influx of horrible news. I was looking around on Facebook and inadvertently came across a chick I used to work with, who I call The Evil Witch. She's a witch, and she's evil. (You have to specify that because most witches are good.) She actually made one of the necklaces (my natal astrological chart, in necklace form) I wear--it took me many months of cleansing and spellwork to get all the Evil off it.


She was a goofy chick, manipulative and stuff. She dated a guy for a while who took tons of acid and lived in a doghouse. Literally, it was a short shed in someone's back yard where their dog had lived before it died. That was where this dude slept and kept his stuff. He said he didn't want to live at Delonis (the Ann Arbor shelter oft referred to as the Homeless Hilton because people bus in from other cities just to stay there) because of "all the rapes." In truth, he couldn't stay there because you have to drug test to be admitted and can't be visibly wasted when you check in. This dude was NEVER sober.
Anyway, this chick used to sleep over with the guy in the doghouse because she didn't want to bring him to her place. He also had hepatitis and worked in an all-night diner in Ann Arbor (The Fleetwood) as a cook. Eventually, I suggested that sleeping over with a hepatitis infected acid head in his doghouse might not be a good idea. She said (and I quote) That's easy for you to say, you HAVE a boyfriend. Mind you, this was after she made a very obvious proposition-style pass at my H when we were first moving in together. H didn't give me all the details right away. He just came home and said "Just so you know, that girl is NOT your friend."
So yeah, she's on Facebook with a different name. Apparently she got married. I googled her and found that she did a book review for some Christian book written by a guy she knows. I clicked over to the book on Amazon to check it out.

Here's the crazy part:
The author has commented on EVERY negative review, even arguing with the reviewers. There do not appear to be any discussions on the five-star reviews. He even gives people shit for using screen names--on the internets! As I fancy myself a writer, I am both amused and appalled. I've been very lucky thusfar in that no one has left me a truly shitty review anywhere. I didn't love the three and a half stars (out of five) I got from Withersin Magazine but I still thanked them for taking the time to review me. And when their editor posted the reviews on Amazon as only THREE stars even, I didn't say a word. It just seemed petty to complain about half a star, even though I did feel some annoyance about it. I figured if I was going to be a writer, that was something I just had to accept.

It would never occur to me to confront a stranger about his or her taste in books, especially my own books. I do know of one person who strongly disliked my first book and I don't even think she finished it. She's a straight laced conservative chick, not really my target audience. As she bought the first book and didn't like it, I gave her a freebie of my next book. She enjoyed it and thanked me by posting a nice Amazon review.

Seriously though, leave it to a "devout Christian" to tell a stranger that their feelings about something intensely personal are "wrong" or "incorrect." The nerve! And then to throw out what I'm sure Christians must call "the S bomb." Telling a Christian they're Satan because you disagree with them appears to equate with the secular "once you call someone Hitler, you've pretty much destroyed any hope you had of appearing rational" theory.

Then again, maybe I'm just being a judgmental jerk about this.
People who see disagreement as personal insult bug the hell out of me in the first place.
Whenever a famous person reacts badly to critics, they usually come off looking like a crybaby jerk.
Look at Sarah Palin for crissake. She wants to be the Commander in Chief but cries to the press because Obama won't do anything about the mean old bloggers who keep picking on her children. Oh NOES!1!

I'd love some input from you writers, artists, movie makers, and others of you out there who produce things which are experienced viscerally. Ever confront someone who didn't like your work? Why or why not?

Comments

[lickingtoad.livejournal.com]

There's at least one line of thought that says any reaction at all is valid -- even revulsion means they were affected by it, which can sometimes be the point. (Andy Kaufman is always who I think of first.)

Not everybody is gonna like it. (I think Rob Zombie's been repeating himself for at least ten years. I love early 'Smashing Pumpkins,' but Billy Corgan went a little loonier with each album ... I'm sure he still thinks he's great.)

To me, it comes down to 'manners.' Even if something's not your cup of tea, you can be polite. You can offer respect for the amount of courage and hard work involved in putting something so intensely personal on display.

... or you can be a total douche and scream as loud as you can that the creator's a hack, his-or-her work should be burned to the ground and forced sterilization will prevent his-or-her seed from continuing to taint the Earth.

Most of us fall somewhere in the middle. Someone smarter than me once said '(Professional) critics are those who failed in literature and art.' As for you-know-who ... I'd keep all available distance, were I you.

[wednes.livejournal.com]

The proliferation of the internets has really changed the way criticism works. Now the author can have access to opinions one would normally only share with friends. I'm certainly not always polite when discussing my distaste for something. I'd be quite surprised if an author confronted me online over a bad review I'd given.

Point well taken about professional critics. But they, and their largely suspect credentials, are on their way out. The rise of the blogger gives accessibility to people who never would have had it before. Overall, the result of this is shrill, ignorant, and annoying. But every so often you find someone with real insight. Happily, critical discourse on the web is not limited to the IMDB forums. :-]

As for The Evil One, it's funny. She's one of the only people I've ever known whom I have no desire to catch up with online. I'm even on friendly terms with middle school bullies and former drunken jocks. But this? I don't think so.

[thehula.livejournal.com]

I write scientific articles. They often get rejected, but only after scathing reviews. I thank the editor, incorporate the comments and reviews, and submit somewhere else. When the draft is finally accepted, I put, "The author wishes to acknowledge the efforts of X anonymous reviewers for their efforts on the manuscript." In the end, the rejections make it better, but I would never argue.

However, nobody has ever read my published papers and said, "This SUCKS!" I'm not sure how I would react, although depending on the paper I might say, "Yeah, it's definitely a snooze..." or something!

[wednes.livejournal.com]

Well said. I certainly learn more from criticism than from praise, though admittedly I enjoy the praise. ;-]

It's hard to imagine you writing a paper that is a "snooze" even if it's really sciencey.

[thehula.livejournal.com]

Might I direct your attention to SNOOZEFEST 2008?
;)

[wednes.livejournal.com]

Ha! Nemetode disease...

You're such a card!

;-]

Actually, it's kind of a cool piece because it discusses directly how science helps regular people. A lot of people are dubious about that concept.

[roane.livejournal.com]

Definitely don't respond to negative reviews beyond a 'thank you'. Otherwise you just look like a neurotic jerk. I mean come on--look at Anne Rice or Laurell K. Hamilton. ;)

[wednes.livejournal.com]

Ha! I was actually just thinking about how badly Stephanie Meyer reacted when Stephen King said he didn't like sparkly vampires. I think he also said her writing basically sucked. Tough criticism for sure, and hard to take coming from The Master. Still, taking it with grace rather than whining about how rude it all is seems like the grown-up choice.

[peteralway.livejournal.com]

My books--on the history of rocketry and how-to guides for model-making--are at a small, niche-market scale. Very few people have the interest to open them, and because they are pretty much unique in their niches, people have mostly reacted with gratitude that there is anything at all available with the information that one small hobby group needs. I think novelists have to meet higher expectations. I've gotten a few comments that have annoyed me, but usually they are more along the lines of "You really should write a book about..." or "you really should put your books out on CD" Those comments have been directed at me personally, so I respond personally. The answer to the first comment is, of course, "There's nothing stopping you from writing a book about..."

In music, because of the kind of music community I sing and play in, people who hear me take on the attitude of "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all." And the silence about much of music is deafening. Such is life.

[wednes.livejournal.com]

It hadn't occurred to me that some critique might be directed at the author, rather than the work. Thank you for pointing that out. Personally, I find it difficult not to respond to any comment being made toward me directly. IMHO, it's more reasonable to respond to that than a review based solely on an opinion of the work in question.

Are there really people who don't enjoy your funny filk songs? I've only heard a handful, but I find them quite enjoyable--as a layman, not a musical scholar, obviously. :-]

[madush69.livejournal.com]

I think both of your books were fucking excellent!

[wednes.livejournal.com]

Why, thanks.

[kissdbyagnome.livejournal.com]

I replied to a negative comment once regarding the radio show and can't delete it. Every time I look at it I'm reminded what a wanker I sound like in that post. Live and learn.

The girl with the boyfriend/doghouse story is sad and creepy at the same time.

[wednes.livejournal.com]

Yep, sad and creepy pretty much sums up my entire "relationship" with that person. *shudder*