Users can no longer rate movies on Rotten Tomatoes before they’re out

Not long ago, Captain Marvel star Brie Larson had the temerity to suggest that maybe press junkets for movies should include reporters of different races and genders, so there can be a variety of perspectives moviegoers can sample when deciding what to go see. The internet being what it is, she was promptly descended upon by a wave of people who suggested, and this is the polite version here, that she not be so strident and that her movie was destined for failure.

Those prudent heroes also went to Rotten Tomatoes and tanked Captain Marvel’s ‘Want to See’ score, leaving a variety of well-reasoned, not-at-all reactionary and needlessly disrespectful comments while they were at it. And this is far from the first time something like this has happened. Just the other day, ComicBook.com reported on a flood or poor advance comments for Star Wars: Episode IX — Subtitle Forthcoming, even though that movie won’t be out until December. Naturally, the comments weren’t about the movie itself — how could they be? — but about problems people had with the last movie, or with Lucasfilm head Kathleen Kennedy, or with their own existential crises, and so on.

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In conclusion, humankind developed the internet before it knew how to handle it and none of us can ever have any peace again. Doing its small part to address the issue, Rotten Tomatoes has announced a number of changes designed to “more accurately and authentically represent the voice of fans, while protecting our data and public forums from bad actors.” This includes getting rid of the ‘Want to See’ and ‘Audience Score’ percentages ahead of of a movie’s release, so people can’t preemptively hate a movie before seeing it. They’re also disabling comments ahead of release.

"Unfortunately, we have seen an uptick in non-constructive input, sometimes bordering on trolling, which we believe is a disservice to our general readership. We have decided that turning off this feature for now is the best course of action. Don’t worry though, fans will still get to have their say: Once a movie is released, audiences can leave a user rating and comments as they always have."

I love good tip-toe language. “Non-constructive input” indeed. Captain Marvel hits theaters on March 8.

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