Reviews can be posted by anyone where as a critique requires someone to be an expert in the field in order to claim that title. That being said I hate reviewers. They tend to be long winded uninformed and claim to know what they are talking about. The common person can not tell the difference between a reviewer or a critic so as an artist your work is constantly subjected to scrutiny by laymen who are bored and do not have anything better to do than bitch about things they do not like, understand or are jealous of.
Recently a story I wrote last year has come under attack by one such reviewer. I normally would not respond to this type of criticism but it just seems to be a sign of the times. The reviewer is an 18 year old boy in Alabama who didn't like a story I wrote because he thought it was inappropriate and should never have been written. Granted the story is provocative and it is controversial but there is a huge difference between saying I don't like something and it does not deserve to exist. That I have somehow brought a perversion into the world.
Frankly I like the story, a lot of people seem to like the story. It's not perfect. It can use work I will be the first to admit that, but it was good enough to get published. The reality with art is that you are never done. You can always go back and change things if you choose to. The problem with that is if you never leave it alone and say it is good enough you will never produce anything.
I used the Twilight series as a symbol for bad writing. I used Stephenie Meyer as a character in the story without ever saying yes this is Stephenie Meyer, I named the character Stephenie and alluded to her with character traits and exposition. This became a horrible thing because I used an actual person in a fictional story. Oh dear God the world is coming to an end. The thing this reviewer did not pick up on that a critic may have is that the other character was Stephen King who was recreating a scene from Misery.
The well of ideas is only so deep. There are no original ideas. It is what you do with the idea your voice your take on it that makes the story your own and interesting and new. What is ironic is that the piece was about bad art and censorship. And so a piece about bad art and censorship has elicited a response from a reviewer that declares the piece bad art and demand its censorship.
Perhaps this reader got the concept more than he realized. To the point where it required him to subconsciously act out against the piece. Um... I guess it was a good story then.
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