Critics limited by squeamishness

On a run yesterday morning, I listened to a podcast from 2007 that reminded me of a phenomenon that's been bugging me for a while, that I want to finally write about.

I'm slowly going through the archives of Filmspotting prior to when I became a regular listener in 2011, and I'm now more than two years in from the show's spring 2005 beginnings. On this particular episode, Adam and guest host Scott Tobias were discussing Knocked Up and Bug. But it was brief mentions of an upcoming new release, and feedback on a past top five, that spurred me to write.

I want to start by saying that Adam Kempenaar is basically my personal podcasting godfather. He remains the host of the first podcast I ever listened to, that I've been listening to for nearly eight years, though the man sitting next to him has changed in that time. I don't always agree with his movie opinions, though those opinions are always exceptionally well argued. His voice has been in my ear buds for nearly a decade and I can't imagine my analysis of the world of film without him.

But Adam's got a limitation that really bothers me, and it was on particular display in Filmspotting #163.

First Adam and Scott discussed the fact that Hostel: Part II was opening that weekend. I knew Scott wouldn't have a problem with this movie, because on his own podcast (The Next Picture Show) Scott likes to refer to intense content as "my beloved violence." It also didn't surprise me to hear Adam talk about how he hadn't been able to watch the original Hostel because he's too squeamish to watch torture porn and its brethren.

If this is where it had ended, I probably wouldn't be writing this post. But only a few minutes later, the two were reading listener feedback from a recent episode in which Adam and regular host Sam Van Halgren had talked about their top five movies set on water. The listener had incredulously questioned why Das Boot was missing from their lists, and Adam said he was too claustrophobic to watch a movie set entirely in a submarine, as well as the spelunking horror film The Descent, which he brought into the conversation out of nowhere.

Come on.

I understand that there are viewers genuinely triggered by real events in their lives that make them unable to watch certain types of movies. If you'd ever been kidnapped, I suspect you'd have a hard time watching a movie about kidnapping. But the way Adam always says this with a chuckle just makes it seem like a self-stylized quirk that has no genuine driver behind it. Are you really afraid of something ridiculous like torture porn, or are you using it as an excuse to avoid something you think will suck?

I'm picking on Adam, but among the podcasts I listen to, he's not even the podcaster who's most emblematic of this. The aforementioned The Next Picture Show is usually a foursome, but often one of the four hosts is at a film festival or on vacation and they go with just three. However, they also go with just three when Genevieve Koski -- who, granted, has the additional work of serving as the show's producer -- opts out because a particular subject matter gives her the creeps. She says this with that same kind of nervous giggle that suggests she could get past it if she just toughened up.

Could Adam and Genevieve genuinely be triggered by something that prevents them from watching these films? That's possible, but I suspect if that were the case, they just wouldn't mention it all. They wouldn't mention why they're not watching You Were Never Really Here (I believe this was a real example with Genevieve, though Adam did review it). They would just be "on vacation" or "at a film festival."

I guess I think that if you sign up to be a movie critic, it means you watch all the movies. Film criticism contains a multitude. Sure, there are genres I gravitate toward, and ones I like less. But I make a point of watching films from all genres, aimed at all demographics. It's what we do.

If someone isn't doing that, they're not doing the whole job. Sure, teen vampire movies may not be my favorite movies to watch. But if I'm not watching any of them, I'm doing my audience a disservice. Because even among teen vampire movies, there are some that are good and worth recommending to my audience.

It may seem easier to forgive Adam and Genevieve for not wanting to watch someone being hung off a hook and whipped with a cat o' nine tails. But there are actually a reasonable number of movies where this or something like it happens, and some of them are good. Some of them are worth your time, and the time of your readers. Or in this case, listeners.

I just don't look at you with much credibility if your excuse for not watching certain movies is that nervous giggle. The self-deprecation of calling yourself a wimp is not as cute as you think. Just get over it and watch the damn movie.