I have just read your commentary on Fanny by Gaslight and find it interesting that our respective viewpoints are so diametrically opposed. (You can read a review that I posted of this movie to better ascertain where I stand; I feel no need to repeat myself here.)
The point I wish to make is that with any work of art, we percieve it individually, with our own faculties, our eyes, ears, in fact our minds. Our perceptions cannot be expected to be the same as the next one's, and that is as it should be. What gives one extreme pleasure may profoundly bore the next one, and vice versa.
However, I must emphasize that I only respect such an opinion widely divergent from my own when I feel that it is indeed independently arrived at, without any outside influence. One will often come across statements that such and such is highly regarded as a masterpiece or landmark in the field, and another might be otherwise regarded as inferior, unworthy of being recorded in the annals of posterity.
It is important not to be too highly influenced by such; nay, at all influenced, because we form our own images when dealing with a work of art, such have come to mean a lot to us; once again, it is our very perception.
Allowing for a degree of experience in this matter of listening and viewing, our views and imgages should be considered inviolable, and we should never allow anyone to attempt to remove them from us or to discredit them to us. They are ours and ours alone, and are a reflection of our very being.
In regard to critical appraisal, we may find that the so called masterpiece or landmark work may either repel us or bore us for some reason, while the routine, derivative work may move us to our very roots.
I am a professional musician, and I constantly exhort others to do their own listening, form their own opinions and images, and not worry too much about critical or professional opinions, or even for that matter about incidental factors in a composer's life that may have influenced the work. In the final analysis, our perceptions remain our own, but again, it assumes a degree of experience in listening.
The same would be true when it comes to films. I have my own points of perception, and my own specifics as to what absorbs me and what does not.
I assume the same for others, with a degree of experience.
To sum up, as far as your review or commentary is concerned, I will fully respect it despite the enormous difference from my own perception, if I feel
that it has been independently arrived at. If on the other hand, it turns out that your opinion has been influenced by what the critics, professionals, or other viewers say, then that would be an entirely different matter, and I could not respect it in that sense. There is unfortunately too much of that to be found in the arts today, whereby most of us do not stop to individually savor or ponder upon a work for ourselves. But I would hope that in your case, it is your own sincere, individual opinion.
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