The Art of Staying Neutral

With everyone having a strong opinion about everything, watching movies or reading books without preconceived judgment has become impossible. This bias also reflects in their reviews, which often mislead the audience.

 

In fact, many form an opinion even without watching a movie because they are heavily influenced by what others are saying. Social media is also a strong contributor to this. How often have you put back a book or didn't watch something after hearing a bad review? While giving your honest opinion is important, the audience needs a neutral version of the review to give a fair shot to the content.

 

Reviews don't always have to be complicated or controversial. Staying neutral while writing a movie or book review has become a long-lost art, and we will revive it today in this guide.

 

Avoid Researching or Reading Reviews

This has to be one of the hardest steps because staying away from the reviews is difficult, thanks to social media. However, it will be worth it because going in with an air of unfamiliarity has its own charm. Many people agree that not watching trailers make movies significantly better.

 

Avoiding exposure to books or movies can be difficult, especially for the popular ones. However, you can still avoid watching their trailers or reading about others' opinions as much as you can. This way, you won't have a biased perspective and watch/read without preconceived judgments. Reading others' opinions or watching trailers can sway your perception. You go in with high expectations or end up uninterested just because someone gave a 1-star review.

 

Don't Read/Watch as a Reviewer

When you watch a movie as a reviewer, you feel responsible for taking notes and looking at everything from a critical point of view. These thoughts distract you from enjoying a movie and taking it all in.

 

Whether reading a book or watching a movie, do it without distractions to grasp what the author/director intended. When you pause, re-watch segments, take notes or playback, it feels more like an assignment than entertainment. Make sure you view it as an audience and take it all in to write a better review.

 

Writing a Review in Two Steps

Since you didn't take any notes while watching or reading, jot down everything you feel after finishing. Once you've done that, evaluate your notes and write a final review. Doing this in two steps will ensure that you don't add any strong opinions to your review that can lead to bias.

 

While writing your final review, talk about the plot, themes and tones, characters, pace and other general things. Don't tell the audience who your favorite or least favorite character was, which scene you liked or didn't like, and so on. This way, your review will be neutral, and the audience will have the chance to form an opinion on their own. 

 

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