If I think about the people who are part of my day-to-day life--acquaintances, good friends, online-only contacts, and even the odd nemesis or two--a vast majority of them trace back to the blog and/or Benten Films, and for that I consider myself very lucky. I've met a wide variety of people, and the time I've spent with them has been incredibly enriching in so many ways

If I think about the people who are part of my day-to-day life--acquaintances, good friends, online-only contacts, and even the odd nemesis or two--a vast majority of them trace back to the blog and/or Benten Films, and for that I consider myself very lucky. I've met a wide variety of people, and the time I've spent with them has been incredibly enriching in so many ways. Yet at the same time there's been an unpleasant shift in recent years, significantly souring the mood, and the poor economic climate has only served to make matters worse. Too many gifted critics with years of experience are unable to find steady work, while younger writers willing to do more for less are churning out serviceable but ultimately uninspired content at an alarming rate. Okay, fair enough, everybody has the right to earn a living. But that some fancy themselves modern-day Manny Farbers and use Twitter and Facebook as tools to worship at the temple of their own narcissism is disconcerting to say the least.1 On top of that, critics have been spending way too much time bashing other critics' opinions (or simply the critics themselves) and second-guessing why it is that their peers don't share their views. It stifles rather than encourages discussion, and it's fucking depressing if you must know the truth.