a guilty critic

Erica Goldberg had been writing film critiques for New York Culture for over thirty years. She looked at film as a gateway into the artist’s soul. The best films spoke to her, even if the filmmaker took risks that came at the expense of established storytelling tropes. Her reviews were respected by many, and loathed by some. That reputation was why she maintained an elevated cache when compared to her contemporaries.

These days, Erica found no shortage of content to review. Streaming services were releasing new projects on a weekly basis. She suspected they were using this captive timing to establish long-lasting, loyal patrons while the world was under quarantine. With so much to take in, Erica discovered a spectrum of new films, though most were tired retreads. 

Erica consumed all of this new content alone in her Greenwich Village apartment. She missed the experience of going to the theater and sharing these adventures with perfect strangers.

Tonight, Erica debated watching a screener from a documentary by one of the most respected Latin documentarians of our time, or a new comedy from Lars Buddy entitled Shock Pop, a frat pack alumni who gained his rise through the improv comedy circuits. Erica loathed almost every Lars Buddy film… but tonight, she craved escape. 

With a looming sense of guilt, she turned on Shock Pop. It explored the misadventures of an 80s pop duo who rose to fame through cheesy, televised talent shows. The film’s formulaic combination of lunacy and genuine sentimentality connected with her. Erica was laughing, uproariously and constantly; she couldn’t tell if it was the quality of the film, or the primal need to simply get lost in something more absurd than reality. Nonetheless, she laughed over and over again, until an emotionally earned finale led her to tears. 

Shock Pop was, somehow, her favorite film of 2020. 

But she could never, ever, let that secret out to her readers. They relied on her to be earnest, and raw in her reviews… this burden of truth had to stay within. Right?

Erica took a deep breath, and began to write the most pivotal review of her career.
-m

June 28, 2020

Photo Credit: Crawford Passy