undefined | Better HN

0 pointspes233y ago0 comments

I like how you've defined value here and its separation from critique.

A related idea is that of perspective. Creating something often requires picking between multiple options, and to do that successfully the creator must keep in mind their goals (evoking an emotion, telling a particular story, conveying an idea, etc) along with the desires of their target audience. The creator's goals and their intended audience forms the perspective that they view decisions from.

Critiquing something involves choosing a particular perspective (our own, the creator's, or the target audience's), and which one we choose is based on the subjective value we give each perspective. When we describe a creation as bad we must remember that it is bad relative to our chosen perspective.

For example: imagine a funeral scene that has a soundtrack playing that would be considered happy by its target audience.

* From the creator's perspective they wanted a sad and solemn scene; which, makes the soundtrack an objectively bad choice.

* The target audience in general regards it as one of the funniest and best scenes.

* We find the scene too funny to be sad and too sad to be funny.

All of these perspectives are correct relative to themselves, and which one you choose to let color your view of a creation is a personal opinion.

0 comments

registeredcorn3y ago

Thanks for the kind response! :)

I suppose I can understand that. I think that there could be some "wiggle room" there, but it would depend on how hard something like an ending would clash with the thematic elements leading up to that ending. I.e. a dreary, dystopian future leading into Baby Elephant Walk for the credits would probably be an objectively poor choice unless could be executed in some sort of "perfect" way. There's just such a wide array of small choices that can dictate the final product that, yeah, I can't really disagree with what you're saying. There's always an exception to an exception, or even a mere alternative to the standard.

In a way, it's frustrating because I do think it would feel more satisfying if the general principals were more concrete, but in the same breath, that lack of precision is also what allows for enough variety to help spark creativity and unexpected twists and turns. I do think that there is something to be said for, say, arbitrary restrictions, to help encourage someone to be more creative with limited tools, but the variety of options also has clear and obvious benefits as well.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse