In recent years, Rotten Tomatoes has established itself as the go-to aggregator site for critical and audience consensus on movies and TV series. Score reveals have become celebrated events with considerable build-up and fan anticipation, while studios and networks utilize the "Certified Fresh" seal in promotional material.
Simultaneously, the site has been drawn into a bizarre war between fans and critics, as it's used to illustrate a disconnect between fan and critical scores. Look at 2018's Venom as an example: It has 29% on the Tomatometer but an Audience Score of 80%.
To be fair, critics and fans have disagreed on reviews for decades, but it feels heightened now due to the emphasis on critical reception by social media and entertainment publications. Many films and TV series have succeeded financially and become pop culture mainstays despite not being critical darlings -- and this will likely continue for the foreseeable future. So, it's really a non-issue.
Unfortunately, Rotten Tomatoes has been caught up in another problem: review bombing. This year alone, there have been three high-profile cases of fans barraging the site with negative reviews for Captain Marvel, Batwoman and Watchmen. The issue is, the reviews often have nothing to do with the quality of the product but more to do with the perception of it.
Batwoman, in particular, suffered the wrath of outraged fanboys for its pro-feminist stance and positioning of Kate Kane as being a better superhero than Bruce Wayne/Batman. Right now, the series is sitting on an Audience Score of 12%, which is six percent less than the audience rating for 2004's Halle Berry-starring flop, Catwoman.
While Batwoman isn't a perfect show by any means and there are legitimate criticisms to be made, it has all been lost in the noise. The showrunners are unable to sift through the feedback to improve the series because they aren't sure what is factual and what is trolling. In other words, no one is taking any criticism, however valid, seriously anymore.
For what it's worth, Rotten Tomatoes has put in measures to combat this worrisome trend, but there's only so much the site can do. Naturally, it doesn't want to shut down the audience rating section, while introducing more stringent review verification methods might deter visitors from engaging. It's a double-edged sword.
Perhaps, though, it's an omen of what's to come. With the validity of reviews a hot topic and a renewed appreciation for the subjectivity of art, society could be on the cusp of a new era when Rotten Tomatoes is deemed irrelevant.
Let's be real here: The site has diverged from its original purpose (by no fault of its own), becoming a catalyst for people to argue and promote warped agendas. Eventually, this will all come to a head, as the audience grows tired and decides their time is better spent actually watching a film or TV show rather than arguing about it with complete strangers online. With this shift could come the demise of platforms such as Rotten Tomatoes.
While a healthy passion for entertainment is wonderful, it's dangerous when it veers into radical territory. At the end of the day, it's just a film or TV show. There are bigger and more important issues than something's score on a website.
In the past, if you disliked a show or movie's premise, you'd ignore it and move on. Nowadays, there's this urge to mobilize and dissuade others from watching something through feeble activities (such as review bombing). It's counterintuitive, because if entertainment touches you emotionally -- whether positively or negatively -- it has succeeded. After all, indifference is, and always will be, the greatest punishment to art.