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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Guest&nbsp; 85555" data-source="post: 9636190"><p>I am not saying it isn’t ever relevant. If I am reading a review it is one factor among many I consider and for one aspects of a review it will be particularly important. If some is talking about the history and significance of Hong Kong New Wave, and where a particular director fits, I am probably going to give their opinion more weight if they have been covering Asian cinema professionally for twenty years or teach film history. But 1) they can and are sometimes wrong (I’ve certainly encountered this where an expert made a clear error about something, 2) that doesn’t make their subjective opinions on the topic more relevant to me than a die hard fan of new wave). Just because a group of critics doesn’t like a given movie or style of movie, that doesn’t mean their opinions are more valid. They may have good reasons for why they feel that way, informed by their expert understanding. But this is media and art. You don’t have to be educated into an elite culture or critical language to have opinions about art. And people can know about this stuff without an education or degree. It isn’t like learning how to build a rocket ship.</p></blockquote><p></p>