In the long historical debate between idealism and self-acceptance, I have tended to oscillate wildly between one extreme and the other. But lately, I've mostly come down on the side of self-acceptance. And my films, if they are about anything, are about exactly that. There is nothing even remotely idealistic about them, to the chagrin of some critics who prefer their films covered over with a glaze of idealism.
Lately, I have experienced this preference for idealism in the form of blog attacks. Here is the latest:
"I'm so sick of you WHINING about the critics and using them to promote YOURSELF. You iritate the F*CK out of me and, while I wanted to see your movie, I will no longer see it because of your rants, self-absorption, and fondling of your ego when critics don't fondle it for you. You cleary put up a defense and can't handle the critics. Either stop making movies or accept it. You seem to think you're "important" enough to yourself to defned your movie. Pathetic."
This was written by someone who posted their name as "No More" and left no return e-mail address. But it's not the only one. There was also a recent post on the IFC Blog in which Alison Willmore (she, at least, has the courage to use her own name) finds it "unbefitting for any filmmaker to attempt to engage his or her critics the way Zahedi has."
What surprises me about these blog postings is the unquestioned assumption that it is somehow undignified to respond to erroneous accusations and misperceptions. But isn't that what communication is all about? Isn't that what conversation is for?
Granted, it would be a lot simpler to say nothing about the absurd criticisms that my film has received, and I suppose that, for some, this would give me the appearance of a dignity that I apparently otherwise lack. Well, my film is an attack on a certain notion of dignity, and I find it fascinating that my blog postings seem to be provoking even more overt hostility than my more obviously provocative film.
The more tempting criticism is the Christian one: turn the other cheek. This is a tricky injunction, and one that I actually subscribe to. But there is a fine line between turning the other cheek, and letting errors go unchecked. If I have been harsher in responding to my critics than necessary, I apologize for it. But to say nothing whatsoever is to let them get away with it, and is the moral equivalent of letting, say, the Bush administration get away with their perpetual lying. The media in this country has, for the most part, failed to do their job, and it has fallen on the bloggers to compensate for their gullibility and cowardice.
So to those who would rather I didn't respond to my critics, don't go see my film. You won't like it.
posted by Caveh Zahedi at
7:03 PM
