After commenters left a series of abusive comments and death threats over negative The Dark Knight Rises reviews at Rotten Tomatoes, the site has shut down comments on the film. Rotten Tomatoes editor-in-chief Matt Atchity wrote a long post about the controversy.
Check it out: “If a critic often goes against the majority, but has well-reasoned arguments, it’s unlikely we’re going to ban them, at least not just for having a different opinion. We’re not looking for groupthink here … We’ll ban you for threats and hate speech — we’re trying to have fun here, so (to quote Wil Wheaton) don’t be a d***. And don’t try and argue about your right to free speech — this is a business, and we have the right to refuse service to anyone we feel like.”
He hinted that the network will move to a Facebook-based commenting system, forcing readers to identify themselves. “You’ll have to stand by your comments, just like a critic does,” he explained in the post. Online threats against reviewers could potentially harm all kinds of criticism. In the spirit of preserving independent criticism, we’ve linked to all the unfavorable reviews of The Dark Knight Rises below…
Negative Reviews of The Dark Knight Rises
1. Devin Faraci at Badass Digest
2. Michael Phillips at The Chicago Tribune
3. Simon Foster at sbs.com.au
4. Louise Keller at Urban Cinefile
5. Andrew L. Urban at Urban Cinefile
6. Christy Lemire at Associated Press
7. Nick Pinkerton at The Village Voice
8. Elliott Noble at Sky Movies
9. Marshall Fine at Hollywood & Fine
10. Christopher Tookey at Daily Mail
11. James Verniere at The Boston Herald
On the Morning Media Menu today, we discussed the reviewer responses and the Charles Dickens novel that inspired The Dark Knight Rises. Press play below to listen: