Mike Duran points to the films of Dinesh D’Souza and Scott Derrickson this week to ask if these films are hitting their intended marks and attracting negative reviews because of that or are the reviews fair?

“My point here is not to endorse (or pan) either film, but to simply ask whether the artists’ beliefs or their film’s point-of-view make them unfair targets to critics,” Mike says.

I think there’s merit to this idea. Any work of art or entertainment gains attention or snores based on how its subject matter resonates with its audience. Even bad art gets praised because it resonates. In comments on the NPR review for Deliver Us From Evil, one person asks, “Will you lighten up? Why should this movie be seriously reviewed?” and another person says, “And J.J. Abrams ‘Star Trek’, MESS, got a 95% from ‘serious film critics’??!!”

I don’t think we’re talking about objective, humble film reviewing here. What is humble film reviewing, anyway? Critics aren’t the kind of people you give your daughters to marry. Am I right?