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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Darth Shoju" data-source="post: 3765566" data-attributes="member: 11397">I would agree that *enjoyment* is subjective, but that doesn't mean quality can't be judged with a certain degree of objectivity. Certainly one can examine how well a work accomplishes its goal (although what the goal is can be hard to determine) and the merit of the craft that went into producing it. Examples:I could write a fantasy novel with an excellent premise, but if the characters are shallow and cliched, or if the plot is poorly structured, or the grammar incorrect, its quality should be questioned. Now, there may still be elements to it that people find entertaining, and for that it can be said to have some quality, but it would be disingenuous to describe it as superlative. Good? Probably not. Entertaining? For some, possibly. But the shortcomings in the execution of the story will likely prevent many people from enjoying it. Since one of the goals of publishing a story is to entertain people, it would be accurate to say that this story failed in at least one of its goals. For a further example, lets say that a new anime series is released and billed as "Naruto meets Ninja Scroll". Its goal is to be an entertaining and thought-provoking series about ninjas. However, if I discover that the characters and plots are literally a mish-mash of Naruto and Ninja Scroll, I would certainly be justified in questioning its quality. Now, I might find myself enjoying the show despite its shortcomings, but when describing it to someone I'd likely call it "fun but really derivative" (which, incidentally, is how I describe the band Wolfmother). So really, art can -- and should -- be judged in the context of its own goals (and to an extent, within its own genre). Where things get sticky is when the piece in question largely meets those objective criteria; that is where you get into personal opinion being the deciding factor. That grey-area is why I avoid loudly proclaiming things as "crap"; not only is it frequently difficult to back such a claim up, but it tends to diminish the quality of my opinion.</blockquote>

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