My Philosophy

As I began writing another review, I realized that I feel uncomfortable not speaking about who I am as a reviewer, beyond someone with an interest and some background in storytelling/story absorbing.

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I grew up in Houston suburbia, and didn't like it a bit. Growing up, I hadn't been exposed to much art or literature. I was more liberal than my surroundings. I hated high school, frustrated with my classes and my teachers, most of my classmates. I felt severely uncomfortable in social situations, and simply did not know many people with similar interests or ideas, and did not feel enough confidence in myself to interact with those who did not. In high school, I flocked to Christianity for what I look back on now as an attempt at finding community, an attempt at understanding the world. I had always been a goody goody, less because I wanted to be one and more because of nervousness, and the church allowed me to feel comfortable in my inexperience.

College began; I went to school in San Antonio for a year before transferring to University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. I had always been a reader, and for the longest time wanted to get into the publishing business, so I started out studying English. Once I learned of the study of Comparative Literature (a combination of film & literature, the social sciences, history, philosophy, language...), I was sold without a second though, and never looked back.

The church, despite how strongly I had attached myself to it in Texas, became grossly wrong for me in North Carolina. I thrust myself into buffing up my knowledge of the world around me, a knowledge which I felt was very lacking, growing up in the bubble I had. I read books, watched films, honed my mind to create a critical voice. I tried to position myself in the world, tried to understand how the world works. I became confident calling bullshit, I became confident saying with my own voice what is great, instead of relying on others to navigate me. In short, I grew up a little.

I am keenly interested in how media and entertainment shapes the world as we experience and understand it, and this is usually a major part of my reviews. I am interested in pursuing documentary work or nonprofit communications/development as a career, which illustrates some of my interests.

When I watch or read something, I don't have any checklist to judge it. I have to trust my gut, as well as try to wrangle those gut feelings into actual words. Parts I may find great may outweigh the bad, making me more forgiving, or vice versa.

I like stories that feel honest--if they are set in our reality, let it feel real; if it is set in a more fantastic space, use the performance aspect meaningfully. I hate unnecessary storylines, cheap laughs, sloppy character development. I hate when films try too hard; I hate when they feed into stereotypes in an attempt to be real--because stereotypes aren't truly real, they are perpetuated by media. I hate bad camerawork.

I love films that respect how complicated human beings are. I love films that take into consideration how society, the world, works. I love when films explore complicated notions of power and identity. I love when films are subtle, when actors believe in their characters and every line they say, when costume/camera/music are all very intentional. I love intention in film, unless it is the intention to please an audience. Entertainment does not have to mean pleasure. I think that entertainment made solely to please can be dangerous.


So that is a little bit of me, my position, my philosophy. Ultimately, I have my opinions. I will fight tooth and nail for those opinions if I see fit, but I will also change them if I feel proven wrong, or proven different. I love arguing, and I don't (much) mind losing an argument if my opponent is right.