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• Friday, September 14, 2007 08:21 PM

  The era of hyperbole

  You know, I like both of these shows.

  But I am once again put off by a critical community that has utterly lost hold of its moorings and has drifted into a place where something can't be praised without being praised to a level of utter absurdity. It's the era of hyperbole, where things can't just be good, they have to be the best ever, the most, the funniest, the smartest. There's not real ability to do the most important job of the critic, which is to draw distinctions and illuminate difference, because when everything is ballyhooed beyond all rationality, theres no meaning to any praise. What possible weight can a critic lauding something have, anymore? From The Sopranos to The Wire to The Arctic Monkeys to Little Miss Sunshine Harry Potter to the iPhone, we're constantly inundated with praise that strains credulity. It's simply exhausting to be a reader of criticism, these days. Why are reviewers so quick to abandon discretion, perspective, moderation, and reservation? When did an appropriate reticence become so unpopular?

  We're truly drowning in media. There is simply endless amounts of ink (virtual or otherwise) and, I'm afraid people like Traister and Miller seem to think the only way to be heard is with the largest rhetorical megaphone. It's sad, really, and it does nothing to meaningfully enrich our appreciation of the things receiving praise.

  —Freddie Read Freddie's other letters
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