Over time, we have seen how the public can somehow be influenced by a likely expert or longtime critic about some form of entertainment. Whether it is music, film, books, or even award shows, there is a relationship that is established between the views of the outside world and the opinions of the other, who quite possibly experienced something about the form of entertainment differently. Even though these factors may prove to be viable to the influence of people and what they can be exposed to, others have fallen into opposition on whether it is actually the critics’ opinion that may influence the public.
I recently conducted an audio poll about the subject of the critics’ influence on the public and it was interesting to receive results from participants, as some agreed or felt that there were other factors that influence an audience of people. In genral, these results reflected how far media has transcended when it comes to influencing a group of people. I conducted this poll by asking people in the 20-70 age group, for the simple reason that I wanted to make this study as varied as possible. It is possible that people who are older may have a different view about the role of critics or any other type of influence from a younger person because in truth, they have experienced and become more accustomed by what the media presents to the public in different ways.
When I asked a 70-year old if it is possible that the opinions of critics can often times make a huge impact toward the public when it comes to entertainment, the participant agreed heavily with the fact that a critic can easily influence someone:
“I feel that critics are in someway associated with advertisement. It only goes to show how we try to emulate or admire someone or something in entertainment.”
I also asked two other people who were in the 30-50 age range the same question and they agreed that it is in fact the responsibility of the critic, when it comes to pursuading someone about some form of entertainment. However, there were two participants out of the overall five who felt that other factors play an enormous role when it comes to the relationship between entertainment and the public.
One 41-year old participant felt that there was a “50/50 chance that the critic had a heavy influence on the public and their relation to entertainment models.” She added:
“The only time an entertainment critic influences someone is if they are unfamiliar with a particular artist, filmmaker, or author. I think the real split comes with the loyal fan because if you love a person’s work, it just so happens that you are accustomed to whatever they put out.”
Another participant, who was 21-years old, felt that critics don’t have any influence when it comes to the public and entertainment, for the simple reason that in today’s world, there are many forms of media that can influence people in different ways.
So, what do you think? Is it possible that an opinion from a critic can easily influence someone, or is there an exception to the rule? Is media the only factor? Please write your comments below and follow this page! Thanks!
Please listen and enjoy my audio poll here:
http://soundcloud.com/brandonsoul/critic-influence-audio-poll
BrandoSoul 
Cool Poll! I so did mine wrong 😦
Hey Kyndra! Thanks so much! I don’t think you did yours wrong. You did have to have an audio piece and he said that we didn’t have to put it on our page, but we were supposed to put it in the sans storage!
i think lately, it’s less about critics (well especially in music and movies) and more about the promotion. an overexposed movie who has ads running every few minutes and gaggles of internet banners everywhere will most likely take the top spot at the box office. and the artist who is on every show, and whose videos you can’t get away from, and whose fans boost them on twitter non stop, they will generally get the higher sales that week.
you also have to consider that critics and magazines are largely owned by studios and record labels (or i should say affiliated with) and a lot of times i personally think critics are getting paid to write good reviews for certain albums. i mean there is no integrity there and i have no way of proving that, but it seems that some reviews are especially biased and gives me the feeling they were “payloa’d” a bit.
anyway let me stop my rant, i don’t know what i’m saying anymore … but great article.!
Wow d1esel6! Thanks so much. I definitely agree that critics get funds for certain pieces of entertainment that they immerse into. It’s all advertisment at the end of the day. There are others, like you and I, who live on just telling the truth about certain things on entertainment.