Heckler

The other night I was flipping around the movie channels and came across a documentary by Jamie Kennedy entitled Heckler. It was basically comedians talking about some of their worst encounters with people in the audience, the mindset of someone who heckles, but then also going into the strange world of the critic and how far some criticism seems to go in today's world.

It turns out to be a very interest documentary on just how much balls it takes to stand in front of a group of complete strangers and try to entertain them, not knowing a thing about them. You could launch into a whole bit about country music, not knowing that the sound techs from Brooks & Dunn are in the audience and who now all want to kick your ass. Most of my performances had the anonymity of a microphone and radio waves separating me from those who wished to tell me just how annoying my voice sounds first thing in the morning, so I have a great respect for those who are willing to face the firing squad, as it were.

Alcohol plays a large part in the equation of heckling, of course. Most of the hecklers that Kennedy talked to were trashed and had no insights or constructive criticism, they just wanted to be obnoxious. The best moment was when Kennedy switched places with one of them, put the kid on stage and started to mess with him. The way the kid crumbled was priceless. I think he'll be sitting in the back rows from now on. They're the typical drunk person... they want attention, just not that much.

After that came talk of critics and just what qualifies you to be a film critic. On the newspaper and TV side of the aisle are usually older reporters who the newspaper wants to take off of one beat or the other, but doesn't want to fire them. They may not have film degrees, but at least they should know how to form sentences, spell check and be more intelligent than simply writing "This Sucked." I actually feel bad for those guy, though. If I see a review for a movie I know I'm not going to enjoy, I just don't go see it. These guys have to go. And yeah, it's probably a better job than most people have, but I would imagine watching that many horrible movies gets pretty old pretty fast.

On the Internet side of the issue is essentially everyone who can type with Internet access. Those are the reviews that seem to attack the actors much more harshly than the film itself. They don't talk about the movie - they go after the people and with more anger than is really necessary. Yeah, I know you're pissed that you wasted $10, but some of the reviews that Kennedy read were beyond harsh. It just goes to show, you can grow pretty ballsy when you can hide behind and alias and not post an email address. That's why the Internet has grown into the place where you can get everyone's opinion on anything. Kennedy actually took the time to track down some of the more viscous attackers and ask them why they felt the need to go so against him personally. Most couldn't come up with an answer and didn't seem nearly as cocky when face to face with him.

This is an interesting issue on the whole, not just with movie reviews. The film took the side that "just who the hell are you and why are you qualified to rip apart my movie?" And yes, that is a valid question. But, the other side of the issue is "why are you bothering to read my little blog if you don't want to hear what I'm saying?" No one demands that you read certain blogs, it's a free Internet; you can come and go as you please. That's why people have blogs, so they aren't burdening people with their opinions. If you want to read it, here it is; if not, have fun Googling yourself. Actors and film makers are only going to be as affected by reviews as they allow.

There were times when the movie felt a little self-serving, like Kennedy was whining about why no one liked Son of the Mask (people are allowed to not think you're funny, you know). And I'm sure that some of the people who wrote the harsher reviews were edited to look sleazy (At least, I hope so. I would hate to think there are people out there that take that much pleasure in being such a douche). But, like I said, for the most part it was very well done and an interesting topic to cover. No need to rush out and buy a copy, but I would keep an eye out for it on the movie channels.