A local critic's quiet praise for a bad sequel shifted my view

I always dismissed critics who found something nice to say about terrible sequels, thinking they were just being soft. Then I read one from our city paper that pointed out how the new cast tried to salvage a weak script with their timing. He broke down a single awkward joke that almost landed because of the delivery, which I had written off completely. Now I check for those tiny efforts, even in flops, and it makes the whole experience less frustrating.

3 comments

3 Comments

cole_patel141mo ago

Honestly I used to think that way too but now I get it.

verah381mo ago

Okay but what flipped for you? Like was there a specific time a terrible coffee or a useless meeting had one tiny bright spot that actually made you go "oh, fine, point taken"? I burnt my toast this morning but the butter melted perfectly. Now I'm wondering if I'm turning into one of those people who finds joy in correctly sorted recycling.

caleb_walker61mo ago

That mindset actually translates pretty well to dealing with bad coffee or a coworker's messy report. Looking for the one thing that didn't go totally wrong, like the barista remembering the extra shot or the report having decent page numbers, makes the whole day less annoying. It turns a complete loss into just a mostly bad thing with one okay part. You start to see that tiny effort in a lot of places once you look for it.