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BaftaBaby 
"Always entranced by cinema."
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 Posted - 05/21/2008 : 07:50:57
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 ONE OF MY RANTS
YOU LUCKY PEOPLE 
FOLLOWED BY A WONDERFUL AMAZING SIMPLE SUGGESTION! 
THE RANTY BIT
During my two-ish years on this unique site there has been an [almost predictable] flurry of ranty-ravey threads by fwfrers frustrated by this decision or that affecting their reviews.
Some of these - in the distant past - have even been mine!
Some of them start out with best intent then turn nasty, others just bring out the worst in people. But they all wind up making benj feel bad before the blow-hards blow themselves out and we all get back to our carefree fwfr-ing.
benj and the MERPs [my favorite band] are human - of course they make mistakes. Don't you?! But pelting them with your lunch-crumbs really doesn't help. It probably doesn't even make you feel better.
So, leave benj alone and let's get practical!
I dunno why I feel so maternal about benj but as I've said here many times - he's my online hero. Bat-Super-Spider-and other Such -- PAH! You can keep 'em. Benj is the bizniz!
He's selflessly, generously taken his passion for film and programming expertise and built a playground for film-fans to share. No fee, no advertising ... just a bunch of good fun. Like any site owner, he's got rules. Pretty straightforward and fair rules, too, compared with most of the restrictive sites around.
And he gives us a 4UM to discuss films and filmmaking and to help cohere a fwfr community. Sadly - although far less than most forums which allow open debate without censorship - some of the threads turn into bruised ego bunfights and arrogant subversion. Whether or not the poster has a point. That's an important phrase so I'm going to type it again. WHETHER OR NOT THE POSTER HAS A POINT.
We're writing four word film reviews. We are not claiming cures for cancer.
This is benj's gift to us. Use it, love it for what it is. The point of the site is to have fun. Why would you choose to stay somewhere if you're not happy?
If someone invites you into their home and feeds you a lovely meal, but you don't like potatoes or something, would you really, really start stamping your little feet and shouting that you SAID you hated potatoes, and besides, they're not cooked properly, and while we're at it, the salad dressing has too much lemon juice and no alfalfa sprouts and you would have made a far better wine choice.
Now, in the interests of honesty, I must confess when I first started here I also posted my pouty frustration about this or that, about declines I couldn't understand or something.
Well, I don't participate in this stuff anymore and haven't for well over a year. And especially not since I found out how much to heart benj takes all the petty squabbling those bunfights engender. WHETHER OR NOT THE POSTER HAS A POINT.
There's so much to celebrate about fwfr. And I know I'm 400 years old and you are cutting-edge feisty youngsters who wanna change the world. But let's stop acting like we're in kindergarten. Please.
OKAY PREPARE YOURSELVES HERE COMES THE PROMISED SUGGESTION 
A SUGGESTION BOX
Structured like Josh_the_Cat's wonderful idea of Accolade Central, which has made it a pleasure to be able to keep track of the acc - both old and new. Structured like the threads for Cast Corrections or Film Titles or Year of Release, etc.
THE SUGGESTION BOX
would be the thread where we could each post dis-satisfactions about the way any particular review was handled. No discussion, just a posting - perhaps with your explanation - BUT NO DISCUSSION WITH OTHERS. If others want to post their own gripes, do it in your own thread.
And no repeats. Here I quote from benj's FAQ on the subject:
quote:
if, after resubmitting with this additional information, the review is still declined THE EDITOR'S DECISION IS FINAL. We mean this. No further discussion is expected, partly to avoid delays in approving the remaining (usually sizeable) backlog of reviews, but mostly because these discussions can get lengthy and, to be brutally honest, "a bit fucking irritating".
WHY?
1. Well, - with a full-time day job and a loyal and understanding wife - benj already has plenty to do just keeping the site running smoothly, never mind having to deal with a jumble of me-me-me type posts which may or may not contain a gem of an idea or valid point buried in the muck of replies.
2. But he does look to fixing site errors and gets around to them eventually. It's not like the world will fall apart if he doesn't fix something the minute it's posted. So if points are clear and valid, he will eventually see them.
3. It is far easier for benj to be able to address valid points if they're sequential. He wants us to be happy, but he really doesn't have time to wade through pages of rages. WHETHER OR NOT THE POSTER HAS A POINT.
Okay, so - once this posting has been read by lots of you - I'm going to start a SUGGESTION BOX thread - in the Site Maintenance Section - and let's see if we can use it to help benj and ourselves with real and genuine queries about how our reviews are being handled. He wants us to be happy, to have fun here. He wants to make the site better, not provide a platform for accusation and insult.
Because if the whole point of those current posts that become bunfights is to address your reviews, this is a more constructive way. But if the point is to allow you to see a cyber footprint of your ego, well - that's sad.
So: THE SUGGESTION BOX
One fwfr per post. No replies. NO REPLIES.
And just to get you in the mood of not replying, I challenge you all NOT TO REPLY TO THIS POST.
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Edited by - BaftaBaby on 05/21/2008 07:55:16 |
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Suggestion Box
