These were two tweets by @h_suarez, who runs the web presence of the Brisbane Festival, including the Critical Mass blog that I’ve been contributing to. They were in response to my displeased, angry review of The Problem with Evil.
Tweet #1:
@tiaramerchgirl I had a read and thought it was a harsh opinion post of the #UTR10 show. Still yet to see and now curious of the reaction.
Tweet #2:
@tiaramerchgirl Did you have a chance to look at the material sent earlier in August re: critiquing? You seem to be nitpicky w/ details.
I thought those were rather curious responses to my review. Certainly my reviews to date (I’m trying to get links but the blog’s acting up) have often focused on specific aspects of shows - the use of the male as sexual object, for instance. The Problem with Evil incensed me so much that I was almost shaking, waiting to write up about it - I had just talked to Sunny that morning about voices like mine being heard on stage, and am currently reading Audre Lorde’s Sister Outsider, so issues of representation in creativity and media with regards to privilege have been moreso on the forefront of my mind.
Are we not allowed to be harsh and critical of the shows we watch? We weren’t under any contractual obligation to be positive of what we watched. I was strongly affected by The Problem with Evil’s position in the festival - why not speak about it? When did focusing on certain aspects become “nitpicky”? I pick up on semiotic images in the shows, I read performances in relation to the larger social sphere; is that “nitpicky”?
That it came from the main person in charge of Brisbane Festival’s web presence is even more curious. Part of the point of Critical Mass was to collect a wide range of people’s views towards the programming - surely visceral raw reactions would be valuable? Telling me I’m being “nitpicky” and “harsh” especially on a public forum just seems like a way to devalue my input - it says to the world “oh don’t read Tiara’s reviews or take her too seriously”. This interaction just weirds me out.
I saw these tweets Tiara and I wasn’t really surprised. I’ve seen how Hannah responds to criticism (even if it’s constructive!) and it’s not usually discussed productively. The vibes I got were “if you’re not going to post glowing reviews, it’s inappropriate”. That’s not what I want from reviews.
I don’t want to live in a Brisbane that covers up the nasty, unhelpful stuff!!!