SHAKING blog

Friday, March 18, 2005

When BAD reviews happen to GOOD friends...

I admit it: I occasionally indulge in a little shadenfreude. I can't help myself. When bad reviews happen to bad people, I think, "see that, there is justice in the world!" I think, "See that, it's not always going to be like that night when you turned on the TV just in time to see the shit-eating grin of the former boss who sexually harassed you waltzing up on stage to collect an Emmy award for his new show." But when a bad review happens to someone I like, like today, when a friend's movie opened to painful notices, I'm not sure what to think, except, "maybe her New York Times delivery dude will get run over before he throws the paper at her doorstep."

So here's a question: what do you say to a friend who has gotten so publicly spanked? (And I ask this knowing people will be reading and reviewing our book shortly.) Do you go the "all publicity is good publicity" route? Do you act like you thought it was a good review, pretending like you don't know what the words, "lazy," and "underwhelming" really mean? Or do you not acknowledge it at all, and merely cheer for your friend for getting something out there despite the odds?

I think I like option #3 best, though in truth, I've been pretending like I don't know what the word "lazy" means for years...

2 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Yes, but what happens when GOOD reviews happen to BAD people? I can think of a few times that has happened. And it's only justice, because, in fact, that occurs to book critics who pan good books by good people. Every dog has his/or her day....Seth G, alive and well in Paris..

April 12, 2005 5:24 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

As the New York Times would say, we would like to clarify a 'slight' typographical error which made totally incomprehensible my comment above! It should read 'BAD' reviews happen to 'BAD' people and not 'GOOD' reviews'. Thank you for your support...Seth G still somewhere alive and well in Paris...

April 14, 2005 5:55 AM  

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