Rotten Tomatoes Is Finally Fighting Back Against Trolls

Rotten Tomatoes, like many websites and YouTube channels, has been facing a growing problem for a number of years now – TROLLS! Trolls and trolling culture has grown exponentially in recent times, and unfortunately, they can negatively influence public perceptions, particularly that of the general “movie going” audience. Rotten Tomatoes, a review aggregation website for film and television, know this better than most and have recently stated they are trying to tackle the issue.

Before I get into it, let me just say on behalf of everyone – TROLLS ARE DICKS!!

**Regains Composure**

Rotten Tomatoes is mainly known for aggregating the reviews of a film, and giving it a percentage score. Critics leave reviews, whilst fans have been allowed to leave there audience scores and reviews on the website too. Unfortunately for most, trolls have abused this system for far too long and its led to bad publicity and fake news around certain films. The tipping point was all the “crap” Captain Marvel was getting on Rotten Tomatoes from people who had “seen” the film (they hadn’t considering the film wasn’t yet released). Trolls were posting negative reviews, making sexist comments, and skewing the stats to make it appear as though audiences weren’t interested in watching the film. For the general movie-going audience, this could hinder their perceptions of the film (not knowing these views are fake), and potentially lose the studio box office revenue as people do not want to spend their money on a film which is being reviewed (wrongly) as bad.

The Last Jedi, Black Panther, and numerous other franchise films have been targeted by trolls with disgusting comments around gender, race, political views, etc, and have contributed to negative press and perceptions of the films in popular culture (The Last Jedi has had it particularly tough, still battling with unwarranted hate). Because of this, Rotten Tomatoes has decided to overhaul its user rating systems in order to facilitate more HONEST reviews from fans. Last month, the site removed user ratings and comments prior to a film’s release, and last week stated it was looking at ways to “evolve” the review process for audiences. As of yet, no details have been provided on how this will be done, but a system in which users must verify they have seen the film is the most likely. This improvement will have immediate impacts and is beneficial for a couple of reasons:
  • It makes trolling more difficult for trolls. Although not completely solving the problem, adding obstacles to posting reviews will help filter out trolls (making those which still troll all the more pathetic).
  • Films will be fairly judged. Film is subjective, and if you think a film is bad, you have every right to express that, however at least this way your negative comments would be based on truth, rather than a pre-disposed opinion.
Rotten Tomatoes understands the influence its site can have, and I’m thrilled they are taking steps to eliminate trolling (well trying to) from its site. As a film community, it is important for us to tackle trolling head on, and by doing this, sites like Rotten Tomatoes can remain a safe place that allow film fans to express their views, without the influence of “fake” reviews.


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