Watchmen creator Damon Lindelof weighs in on review-bombing shows and movies over "wokeness"
By Ashley Hurst
There are countless fantastic TV shows out there that could be considered 'woke' which have unjustly garnered poor reviews from haters. The Sandman, The Rings of Power, Doctor Who and Watchmen all spring to mind. The latter, created by Damon Lindelof, was one of the greatest TV shows of 2019, a superhero drama that built on Alan Moore's classic comic book, and yet, review-bombers decided to cancel it before giving it a chance.
Review-bombing culture is rife nowadays. There's not much creatives can do about it beyond calling out its stupidity. A recent example of review-bombers hating on 'wokeness' is the reviews on Star Wars series The Acolyte, which had a female showrunner and non-white actors. Sure, The Acolyte wasn't an amazing show, but it certainly didn't merit all the unwarranted hate.
Going back to Lindelof, his Watchmen show was fantastic, winning a number of prestigious awards including the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Limited Series. But still, people — including many of which who hadn't watched the series — decided to review-bomb it on websites like IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes.
Speaking to The Guardian, Lindelof weighed in on how he deals with nasty reviews. "I can completely and totally dismiss it, because very often the individuals haven’t even seen it,” he said. “Any criticism once you’ve seen the thing doesn’t bother me. But criticism made by individuals in a review-bombing context usually happens before they’ve even seen it."
"You have to taste my food before you spit it out,” he added.
Lindelof further explained the main reasons why people jump on the review-bombing bandwagon. “[R]eview bombing is disproportionately because a beloved piece of IP has been rendered woke, or there’s too many women in it, or there’s too many people of colour in it, or it’s sympathetic to LGBTQIA+ issues,” he said.
It's a shame that people can't appreciate good television. Speaking of which, Watchmen is currently streaming on Max. I can't recommend that show enough.
Next. Why you should watch the George R.R. Martin-produced show Dark Winds, now on Netflix. Why you should watch the George R.R. Martin-produced show Dark Winds, now on Netflix. dark
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