We can debate the value and impact of Rotten Tomatoes all day, but the review aggregation site isn’t going anywhere and will remain a force in Hollywood. While there are a number of criticisms that can be levied against it, one undeniable fact is that it’s still mostly dudes that make up their Top Critics. Some studies say as many as 70% of Rotten Tomatoes’ Top Critics are male. And so one website is hoping to do something to level the playing field.
Enter Cherry Picks, a new website that will feature reviews exclusively by women. The idea was hatched by Miranda Bailey and Rebecca Odes, who told IndieWire that their aim is for Cherry Picks to provide a “system that more accurately represents the range of critical and audience opinion, along with high-quality content from both established and new critical female voices” with “a new and nuanced approach to critical aggregation with women at its center.”
Yeah, okay.
Their rating system will differ from Rotten Tomatoes’ binary (and problematic) Fresh/Rotten system that has become such easy shorthand for studios and moviegoers alike. Cherry Picks will use a system that has four levels to it, but I think is just as reductive and silly as Rotten Tomatoes’ is.
Sorry, but I feel like this is a well-meaning but misguided idea. Not that I have anything against an all-female movie review site. I think it’s great to have more female critics getting their insights out there and I know a bunch of them here in DC who deserve more attention. But don’t tell me that you’re trying to “accurately represent the range of critical and audience opinion”. That’s not what you’re doing. Rotten Tomatoes may be mostly male critics, but Cherry Picks is ALL women. They aren’t representing a range of anything.
Plus, I get the sense that this site will also be appealing exclusively to women. Bailey told THR “We’re creating a platform where women can go to and see what other critics that are their gender think about art and media.”
Women were probably going to be the primary audience anyway, just be straight-up about it. The plan is for Cherry Picks to launch later this year. I’m assuming since CherryPicks.com is already taken by an Asian tech site they’ll be using something else as their destination.
