5 Star Rating!

 In the past I used to listen to many “The American Life” podcasts; I think they are fascinating! The podcast I listened to this week was titled “Everyone’s a Critic”, and spoke about differing perspectives on issues as important as the coronavirus, down to seemingly trivial matters such as the movie Cats. This specific episode for lack of a better word consisted of 4 very  different parts labeled as “acts”. For this blog, I’d like to share my thoughts on the first act of the episode.

The prologue, or first part of the episode, related directly to the title. It was an interview between Ira Glass, an American Life host, and author Michael Shulman about the topic of Amazon reviews, specifically on Shulman’s latest book. Rather than focus on the majority of positive reviews on his book, Shulman confessed to diving deeply into the black hole that is the world of negative reviews. The over ⅔ of positive 4 and 5 star reviews were appreciated by

Michael, but the 1 and 2 star reviews stole center stage in his mind. It’s a common theme in life overall to focus on the negativity we face rather than appreciate all of the positivity that should outshine it all. Key word in that sentence is outshine, yet we never let it, why not? For some reason one itty bitty teensy weensy bad thing can act as a rainy cloud that doesn’t even have a possibility for light to shine through or a rainbow to come after the storm. This 9 minute episode also spoke about how as a society we tend to judge many different and seemingly non comparable objects, people, and places on the same “5 star scale”.  This was all too reminiscent of a Black Mirror episode titled “Nosedive”. In this episode, everything you did in life was based on your public social ranking. Literally

everything you do is determined off of a 5 star rating you receive after each and every interaction you have had. Linked here  is the trailer for the episode, and highlights the destructive nature of these intense ratings and social judging. For anyone more interested about the episode rather than just listening to the director speak about the meaning behind the episode for 59 seconds here I have linked the first couple minutes of the episode which detail the premise of it as a whole. Why do we care so much about what others think of us? I mean, we’re all just bones and flesh on a giant rock floating through space. This episode really spurred a self reflection, and connected to the far too many “meta thoughts” I’ve been having, especially as I go through pivotal moments in my life. I think about Nosedive and the amazon reviews Shulman received, and I ask myself, why do they care so much? The Nosedive episode is obviously satirical (as all Black Mirror episodes are) and is commenting on the issue of putting on a mask to face society,

yet I still cannot help but do the same thing. I see the issue and irony with it, does that make me hypocritical, a human, or both? Going back to the episode of The American Life, Ira Glass emphasizes how insane it is for society to find such value in how others perceive us, that we forget about everything else. We all advise that we shouldn’t care about what others think and just be kind, then we all go against that and fuel the environment that we all supposedly are against! Even though society doesn’t plan on changing any time soon, I find that it is very important and crucial for one’s sanity to reflect on what we focus our energy into, and whether it’s worth it or not. Personally, I know that I can internally be a very judgy person subconsciously, and actively try to avoid it. While that stems from self esteem and self consciousness issues, I acknowledge that it is most definitely not worth this limited time I have to drown myself in all the negativity the world holds. As Harry Styles would say, “treat people with kindness”, and go

against the judgemental norms of society! Who has the right to judge anyone else? Everyone deserves to live life free of the fear of judgement. If you need some inspiration for that, listen to the “old” classic, Brave by the icon herself Sarah Bareilles! (wow saying that makes me feel old and I'm only 17...)