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Post by HereForTheatre on Sept 1, 2016 16:22:21 GMT
Do other peoples reviews or thoughts on a show ever alter how you yourself feel? Either positively or negatively? So for example if you loved something but then started seeing loads of negative reviews and things you thought were great being criticised, do you then start to question it yourself? Or on the opposite side, if you saw something you thought was bad but then it got a lot of praise, do you then question if you are being harsh?
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Post by zak97 on Sept 1, 2016 17:16:06 GMT
Yes and no. I don't generally get bothered about bad reviews, I almost always manage to find the positives in shows. The only issue I have, and try to go to previews to avoid this (and so that I can form my own opinion first), is when a show will receive fantastic praise, and although I may enjoy what I see, I am sometimes underwhelmed after so much hype.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 1, 2016 17:18:54 GMT
Bad reviews wont stop me from enjoying something but they might make me recognise the faults more easily.
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Post by arlette on Sept 1, 2016 19:12:09 GMT
Personally, I don't read reviews until I have seen the show myself. At least I try to. When I know there are good reviews I am more critical because of the higher expentaince. Good reviews in a way do effect my opinion
Side note: everybody is under constant influence of other opinion whether we l like to admit it or not.
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Post by HereForTheatre on Sept 1, 2016 19:15:59 GMT
That's what i mean, AFTER you have seen a show, do other peoples opinions end up influencing how you feel about the show too?
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Post by arlette on Sept 1, 2016 19:28:44 GMT
The answer is still the same for me. After you've seen the show and you read a review they can influence your perception of the show. In a good or bad way or not at all. It just forces you to take an other look at the show and rethink some stuff. It does not have to change your whole opinion but parts of it. And it also depends on how you are as a person. Are you easily influenced? Then it probably will. I for one am not easily influenced on something I am passionate about as I am passionated about theatre.
Also I am sorry for the spelling mistakes. I got a new tablet and have auto correct on. It sometimes changes words without me noticing. Thankfully it does not change in Dutch words anymore. Then it would be totally not understandable anymore haha.
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Post by Phantom of London on Sept 1, 2016 20:43:26 GMT
I do my best to see a show in previews, then I know I cannot be influenced.
A reviewers' review is no different to yours, at the end of the day it is only one persons opinion.
But if reviews did matter Les Miseables wouldn't be the worlds longest musical, it would be the worlds shortest, you would be Queing for returns for Bend It Like Beckham and Book of Mormon would have been long gone.
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Post by Honoured Guest on Sept 1, 2016 21:47:52 GMT
Do posts influence your opinion?
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Post by Deleted on Sept 2, 2016 10:55:27 GMT
I tend to glance at reviews before I go to something, looking at how many stars it got. I also get a general feel sometimes from other posters on here. Then... once I've seen it for myself, and made up my own mind, I go back to the reviews, reading them more carefully, and see if we thought similarly or otherwise. But nothing changes my personal opinion. (I do this with books too. If I'm finding something hard-going, I'll often have a look at Amazon reviews mid-read to see if others have felt similarly.)
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Post by Deleted on Sept 2, 2016 11:09:09 GMT
Sometimes if I see something that's quite bad and I find it's had a lot of good reviews, then I'll reconsider my view, and almost always come away hating the show even more than I already did. I know what I like, and I'm always willing to add critics to my list of "people I inherently distrust because of their wrong opinions".
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Post by HereForTheatre on Sept 2, 2016 11:14:17 GMT
Do posts influence your opinion? Your posts tend to influence me starting to count to ten, yes. |
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Post by loureviews on Sept 2, 2016 11:36:47 GMT
No, although I read reviews to get a sense of how a production is doing.
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Post by kathryn on Sept 2, 2016 13:13:55 GMT
Depends on the review, and the reviewer! I mean, if Quentin Letts hates something, I feel fully justified in loving it.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 2, 2016 13:20:26 GMT
I think good reviews of something I hate can help me see the good in it or at least understand why other people like it. For example, I loathe One Man Two Guvner's with a burning passion. However looking back over reviews of it shows me what people do like about it, instead of it being a total mystery.
In the reverse it won't change my love of a show, but you can still love a show and be open to seeing it's flaws. So it's interesting to read why people don't like a thing you do, but it wouldn't change my opinon after the fact.
I guess the exception might be if someone points out that a show was a hugely offensive piece of work to a particular group, and I was oblivious at the time and enjoyed the show when I saw it, then negative reviews might make me reconsider my thoughts on it.
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Post by anita on Sept 2, 2016 13:29:32 GMT
Some of the shows I've loved the most have had bad reviews so "No".
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Post by Jan on Sept 2, 2016 13:59:32 GMT
Do posts influence your opinion? My own posts, which I frequently re-read unlike those of other people, tend to confirm my opinion that I am uniquely insightful and correct. Of the newspaper reviewers just seeing poor old Lyn Gardner's name tends to make me downrate a production because Mikey Billington couldn't be bothered to see it. |
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Post by adrianics on Sept 2, 2016 15:02:22 GMT
They don't 'inform' my opinion, per se, but I do sometimes turn to similarly-thought reviews to help me verbalise my opinions a bit better.
That said, theatre reviews tend to be incredibly verbose and fruity so I do sometimes find them hard to relate to.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 2, 2016 15:54:28 GMT
Do posts influence your opinion? My own posts, which I frequently re-read unlike those of other people, tend to confirm my opinion that I am uniquely insightful and correct. Of the newspaper reviewers just seeing poor old Lyn Gardner's name tends to make me downrate a production because Mikey Billington couldn't be bothered to see it. I'm the opposite - Lyn tends to see the more interesting stuff and write more interesting reviews while Billington just bores on about the same old mainstream stuff over and over, constantly comparing them to productions gone by that none of us have a hope of having seen for ourselves. |
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Post by confessor on Sept 4, 2016 14:26:02 GMT
Not hugely for me, I don't think. I have questioned myself after seeing a show and either loving or hating it and hearing other people's opposite opinion on it and wondering if I've misjudged it. The most recent example I can think of is Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, which I was really disappointed with but other people seemed to love, not enough to make me want to go back and reappraise it though.
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Post by theglenbucklaird on Sept 4, 2016 15:24:58 GMT
Depends on the review, and the reviewer! I mean, if Quentin Letts hates something, I feel fully justified in loving it. Who is Quentin Letts? |
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Post by theglenbucklaird on Sept 4, 2016 15:26:58 GMT
Billington influences my opinion, but not nearly as much as twenty or thirty posters on 'ere.
Never ceases to amaze me the knowledge and writing of our members on this board.
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Post by synchrony on Sept 4, 2016 16:37:11 GMT
Not official reviews, no. I have seen too many shows that I loved which got bad reviews, and vice versa, to give them much weight.
I like to read them though. And reviews from trusted friends or this board do sometimes influence my decision to see something if I'm in two minds.
Sometimes rave reviews actively put me off. I didn't go to see Book of Mormon until a friend forced me to because the hype really annoyed me. I am feeling similar about Hamilton.
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Post by freckles on Sept 5, 2016 8:15:48 GMT
Mainstream reviews don't really influence me as such, although I do read them to get a feel for the general reaction to a show. They are often a good source of info which helps me decide whether to see a show; for example they might find a certain actor hopelessly miscast, but another wonderful, and sometimes highlight aspects of a production that would interest me (I'm one if those people that can enjoy parts of a really bad show!)
I am far more interested in comments by fellow board members to be honest. They can of course vary wildly, according to personal opinion, but are frank and uninhibited by the politics of some reviewers.
I trust some bloggers too, although I'm quite selective here, "everyone's a critic" isn't necessarily a good thing.
I do quite like it when I see a show very early and get to post comments on here without having read any others though. I do trust my own opinion but can't resist reading up on a show. I love to hear the opinion of others and to have a little discussion. It doesn't change my opinion but might help me understand different reactions to my own.
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Post by Musicality21 on Sept 5, 2016 19:26:48 GMT
Not usually, no. I've seen shows that have been hated by other people and I've loved them and vice versa. Everyone likes different things and the world would be a pretty boring place if we were all the same. That being said, it's hard to not be a little influenced when something gets an absolute panning from all over the show. But there's nothing I like more than going to see something with low expectations and coming away completely surprised and impressed. Unfortunately that's also happened the other way around! 😅
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