Everyone has an opinion nowadays. Obviously that’s an incredibly generalized statement, but doesn’t it feel that way? Social media has opened up the floodgates for the impassioned to express every belief that comes to mind, much to the praise or dismay of their audience. For years, publications like

Rolling Stone

,

Pitchfork

and

Complex

have posted ranked lists or reviews of the highest — or lowest — caliber of art. Two focal points of the media have been the reception of film and music. Artists, actors and other creative minds seem much more accessible due to the constant content overdose that is provided about them from moodboard accounts on Instagram, review channels on YouTube and various viral TikToks featuring controversial opinions about them that permeate the current media zeitgeist. Some might call these internet warriors amateurs, but certain figureheads in pop culture have opinions that are often given more weight than juggernaut corporations that pump out polished pieces of perspective.

In the world of music reviews, no one is more impactful online than the YouTube channel titled TheNeedleDrop, also known as Anthony Fantano. Fantano’s channel has over 2.5 million subscribers, and he has only grown in popularity in 2022. Known for his polarizing album reviews, Fantano’s most popular takes have reached millions of fans. Fantano’s 10/10 rating for Kendrick Lamar’s

To Pimp A Butterfly

was met with the tune of 6 million views and many who shared his sentiment. In contrast, his 6/10 review of Kanye West’s

My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

, an album that is widely considered to be West’s magnum opus, was received with utter disgust from many hip-hop faithfuls. The video was posted almost 12 years ago, amassing over 1.5 million views, and still receives comments by offended fans to this day. One such commenter responded in the past year to Fantano’s stance by mocking his rating scale with this simple rebuttal: “I agree. This is a 6/6 album.” The YouTuber’s reach does not stop on his own platform. Fantano has provided relatively negative feedback to Canadian rapper Drake’s last few musical efforts. Just like the aforementioned disgruntled commenter, even Drake found himself conveying his discontent with the reaction; the rapper personally messaged Fantano to dish some unsavory remarks that personally attacked the critic’s character.

All of this has made it abundantly clear that disputes that were originally restricted to online debate have now become reality. This notion applies to film reviewers as well. The YouTube channel by the name of I Hate Everything (IHE) earned his following through comical analyses of mostly under-produced direct-to-video films or box office disappointments. One of IHE’s reviews includes one about a low-budget film titled

Cool Cat Saves The Kids

. After spending the entirety of the video’s runtime criticizing the movie’s quality, it prompted retaliation from its creator in the form of threatening legal action and unjustifiably copyright claiming the YouTuber’s content. IHE’s original video about the film has collected over 5.7 million views, emphasizing the significant breadth of officially unaffiliated personas’ opinions on pop culture.

If YouTube platforms the layman’s critic, then TikTok is the ultimate hotbed for unwarranted opinions on art. The informal nature of the application allows absolutely anybody to deliver their thoughts in an eye-catching format that could either incite backlash or overblown applause. Accounts such as @nicksmusictaste and @jaydotbell pump out almost daily content of thoughts about media that encourage discourse within their audience. Although, the line between passion and borderline propaganda becomes blurry as larger conglomerates begin to understand the influence of these formerly minor creators. TikTok accounts like @hzjoe and @supes consistently bolster the image of creative companies like Marvel and DC with the clear bias of unrivaled access to their celebrity-level events. Invitations to premieres, as well as algorithm-friendly content, clouds the premise of authentic thoughts that propelled those like Fantano and IHE to internet glory. Occurrences such as these run the risk of commodifying art rather than consuming it at face-value. This is unfortunately the paradox that social media causes users to compromise with though; the leniency of having virtually no repercussions to express your thoughts online can develop into malleable promotional outlets for megacorporations or it can remain a genuine source of diverse points of view.