Interesting article around review bombing, specifically focused on IMDB and recent Marvel projects.
https://screenrant.com/she-hulk-review-bombing-imdb-ratings-problem/

Quote:

---

The Internet Movie Database, popularly known as IMDb, has become a go-to resource for casting news, release dates, and audience reviews of films and shows. However, as exposed by the review bombs of She-Hulk and other recent projects, IMDb's intent to offer a credible index of genuine audience reviews has been massively undermined by one of its own rules and by the site's rise in popularity. The rise in bad-faith IMDb reviews, particularly for projects led by women and/or BIPOC, threatens to render the site's scores meaningless if the problem is not addressed.

---

Quote:

---

As of late, the review bombing of Marvel movies and shows has become a growing problem, with the theatrical feature Eternals and the TV series Ms. Marvel and Moon Knight all falling victim before their respective releases. But the problem is not for Marvel directly, as IMDb scores seem to have little effect, if any, on the popularity or commercial success of MCU projects.

---

Quote:

---

As the tactics and impact of review bombing have become more widely understood by the fan community, an equal and opposite reaction has risen up to counteract that. Before the release of its first episode, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law saw an equal number of one-star and 10-star scores left on its IMDb page. This unnecessarily clouds the picture of audience reactions for fans trying to determine whether to watch the series, and this may ultimately drive users to seek different sources, damaging IMDb's credibility.

---

Quote:

---

...the honor system began to be abused to create false narratives and a new battleground for the internet's war over topics like Disney's LGBTQIA+ representation in Marvel's Eternals and other movie and TV projects. With this being the case, the current IMDb policy leaves the LGBTQIA+ community, as well as women and BIPOC working in film and television particularly vulnerable to unnecessary vitriol and harassment.

---

I feel like most people that don't get paid to review things tend to have extreme ratings on everything. Anyone who has had experience keeping their yelp rating up can probably attest to this. Hell, the zoo used to be famous for poll manipulation. Everyone would brag about how we don't lose internet polls.

Atlas shrugged had this but for just the opposite reason. It has a lot of 10s that I can only guess were done by people that like the idea of an Atlas shrugged movie because there is no way they thought it was actually a good movie.

So She-Hulk is good?

It is good for what it is. It isn't ground breaking and the cgi is pretty far from great.

Is it wandavision? Or even Ms marvel? No.
But I enjoy it.

AGinHI said:

---

So She-Hulk is good?

---

About as good as Moon knight imo. But I wasn't the biggest moon knight fan. I think it's pretty average, like watching a friends re-run on TBS. You have heard most the jokes before, but it's comfortable and can still make you laugh.

Duncan. Not A Cop.

Thanks for the honest responses.

Although neither of your brief comments (reviews) have inspired me to even bother giving it a try.

Pretty average. Good for what it is.

I understand giving extremely low reviews before ever seeing a movie (that's the real review bombing right?), but I also wonder if people don't like any review that is not positive when what is most important to them are "projects led by women and/or BIPOC"?

Again, thanks for the honest review.

schmendeler said:

---

This is why I look at both the critic score and audience score on RT. If they are both good then there's a good chance it's a good show. If they disagree, then who knows.

---

This is my go to method as well. I've found if critics and audiences agree, I'll usually agree (good or bad). If a critic thinks it's good, and the audient bad, then I usually won't like it. If the audience thinks it's good and the critics bad, then there's a good chance I'll like it. It's not 100% accurate, but this method has worked pretty well for me.

Also, you have to take in the political aspect of the show. If it's a show with a female lead, I expect the audience reviews to be a little slanted negative and critics a little positive. If the show is some positive portrayal of family life, I expect the opposite.

Duncan Idaho said:

---

Atlas shrugged had this but for just the opposite reason. It has a lot of 10s that I can only guess were done by people that like the idea of an Atlas shrugged movie because there is no way they thought it was actually a good movie.

---

Agreed. It was a slog to watch. Pretty terrible film.

What makes it complicated is there actually are people out there who do these things they are implying.

AustinAg2K said:

---

Also, I've found there is no more nuance with anything. People are either, "That was the worst thing ever made. Everyone involved with it should be black balled from Hollywood," or they are, "OMG, that was the most amazing thing. Take my money as I go see this 19 more times, buy every piece of merchandise, and name my first born after this random character in the background."

---

A lot of this. Just people incapable of honest, nuanced, discussion (both in film, politics, society, et Al). It ls like when someone calls a movie or book "overrated", the immediate reaction is as if the person really said it was the worst thing ever. No, dumbass. You just called Xxxxxxxxx the greatest movie ever. I conversely thought it was pretty good but not great l. Hence, overrated.

You don't think there is a group of people that give bad reviews to things that they disagree with?

schmendeler said:

---

You don't think there is a group of people that give bad reviews to things that they disagree with?

---

You do know how reviews work, right?

Usually people watch the material in question first.

AGinHI said:

---

So She-Hulk is good?

---

First episode is a 2
Second episode is a 4

DallasTeleAg said:

---

Yeah... I hate this whole woke retort about people claiming these movies or shows are bad simply because the main character is a woman or person of color. There have been hundreds of past movies starring women and people of color that are beloved by audiences.

The difference is this new stuff is just not that good, and people do not like the wokesters preaching to us in their movies from their "holier than thou" pulpits.

This is the same juvenile retort as people claiming you are obsessed with them when you criticize them.

---

I don't think the OP is claiming that the shows are good, just that they aren't that bad.

The history of entertainment is full of straight white people being forced into roles where they don't belong.


The history of entertainment is also full of bad media full of straight white people. Now some bad media is staring historically ignored groups. The mistake is thinking that the media is bad BECAUSE of these casting choices. The media would probably have been bad with white people too.

I could buy that argument after folks have actually watched the show, but how can anyone justify a ton of 1 ratings before the show has even released?

Karrde said:

---

I could buy that argument after folks have actually watched the show, but how can anyone justify a ton of 1 ratings before the show has even released?

---

The same way you justify a ton of unwatched 5 star reviews. Extreme joy or hatred of casting choices or creator.

Because we get so much information and interviews before the content comes out and sometimes the creators or actors can't help but put their foot in their mouth. Sometimes it's an overreaction but sometimes it's legit gripes about how an adaptation of an existing property is being produced.

Legit complaints and the overreaction complaints end up getting bundled together so the actors and creators don't get their egos damaged.

Maybe you could justify it with the way streaming works now.
Traditionally if you hated the concept of a show or the creator or a cast member for any reason legit or otherwise you just wouldn't watch. That show would get a bad Neilsen rating and advertisers wouldn't pay money to the network. Or it would bomb at the box office. Back then I remember fan campaigns to champion a show just so the network knew you wanted that type of programming. Similar fan boycotts happened too.
Now with streaming if you hated the concept of Obi-Wan, for example, because you heard they made significant changes to his character, then the modern equivalent would be to cancel Disney+ but if you did that you'd miss out on all the other programming you love there. I don't think Disney cares if you actually watch their shows, just that you subscribe and they get your money. The only other option to voice your displeasure is to give a bad review to something you never watched.

Disney definitely cares if you watch their shows. My wife gets surveys from them and they are fairly detailed. I don't know if she still responds to them but she did for a while.