Cloverfield Lover Castigates Critics

Reviewers who have written about Cloverfield fall largely into two categories: (1) those who appreciate the horror and sci-fi genres and who are more than willing to applaud when a genuinely innovative and entertaining genre film comes along; and (2) those who would never be caught dead praising a "giant monster movie" and can think of nothing better to write than that the film "exploits 9/11 imagery." Kimberly Lindbergs of Cinebeats has a response to the latter group:

"Critics who want filmmakers to treat 9/11 and the events that have followed it with kid gloves should be ashamed of themselves for calling for a form of censorship masquerading as ‘sensitivity.’ If Cloverfield is merely ‘exploitive’ then President Bush’s State of the Union speeches must be downright pornographic. How can a society possibly begin to heal itself, much less understand what it’s suffering from, if filmmakers and artists are berated for confronting it head on unless it’s done ‘respectfully’ according to some vague standards outlined by a bunch of film critics? Since most critics have refused to treat horror and science fiction films with any kind of respect for decades, they’re naturally more than willing to attack them when a filmmaker decides to use horrific elements in an artistic or creative way to explore current events. In other words, its okay to make a film with 9/11 imagery that’s laden with social commentary if - and only if - it isn’t a horror or science fiction film, which are by their very nature exploitive according to most critics. I would argue that the film critics who propose that kind of narrow view are just carrying water for the current administration and frankly, I find that much more destructive to our democracy then a well-done giant monster movie that features collapsing buildings and terrified citizens running from an unknown threat."

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