A history of anti-LGBTQ+ ‘review-bombing’ as Rotten Tomatoes introduces new measures to prevent it
Anti-LGBTQ+ ‘review-bombing’ was blamed for tanking gay rom-com Bros (Universal Pictures)
It’s hoped that a new Rotten Tomatoes ranking will help prevent the “review-bombing” of LGBTQ+ cinema – where negative reviews are left of a film just because it features lesbian, gay, bi, trans or queer themes.
The film rating platform’s new update has introduced preventions to make review-bombing more difficult – by only accepting reviews from people who can prove they’ve bought a ticket to the film.
On Rotten Tomatoes, a film is rated on two scales, by critics and then by cinemagoers.
Certified Fresh means that a large percentage of critics deem the film worthy of watching. On the other end, Rotten is a label given to poorly-reviewed films.
For wider audiences, the Popcornmeter is a second ranking system comprised of public scoring and reviews.
This new update will add a new rating – Verified Hot – for audience reviews.
This will only pull in reviews from people who have purchased tickets through Fandango – Rotten Tomatoes is owned by Fandango, a joint venture of majority owner NBCUniversal and minority owner Warner Bros.
So, if someone wants to negatively impact a film’s score, they must now at least purchase a ticket first.
Ultimately, this either helps the film’s box office gain, or it could sway an individual away from review bombing in the first place.
“In order provide a more accurate reflection of critical and audience sentiment, the thresholds for when Tomatometer and Popcornmeter scores populate will now be based on domestic box office projections,” Rotten Tomatoes’ press release on the update reads.
“Additionally, our audience scores – “Popcornmeters” – will now be eligible for a new designation: “Verified Hot,” which celebrates movies with the highest scores (90% or above) among audiences who bought tickets to see them.
“Verified Hot is to the Popcornmeter and audience reviews what Certified Fresh is to the Tomatometer and critic reviews – an elevated status that celebrates the most beloved titles on Rotten Tomatoes.”
Alex Schmider, GLAAD’s Senior Director of Entertainment & Transgender Inclusion, shared a statement of support for the ranking update: “This move by Rotten Tomatoes will enable LGBTQ audiences to more directly support the careers of LGBTQ filmmakers, talent, and inclusive films by having their ticket dollars and votes weighed more significantly in what titles receive greater industry recognition.”
“While critic reviews are important to the life of a film, so too is audience reception—especially from audiences underserved with authentic stories.
“This feature will provide informative data on the demand for diverse LGBTQ+ stories and lead to larger marketing and production budgets put behind those titles.”
What is review-bombing?
Review-bombing is an internet phenomenon when a group of people post negative user reviews online in an attempt to harm the sales or popularity of a certain product or service.
In the realm of film and TV, review-bombing often takes place when a film includes diverse talent and characters in inclusive stories. It is usually done because of the bigoted views of the review bombers – with homophobia, racism and sexism being among the driving forces.
Individuals, who quite possibly have never even seen the film, leave negative reviews to sink a film’s success ahead of release. Rotten Tomatoes’ Verified Hot rating will hopefully help to at least partly reduce the overall negative impact of review-bombing.
The history of review-bombing
Sadly, it has been happening for a very long time.
There have been a number of recent productions impacted by this tactic including Star Wars series The Acolyte which became “the lowest user-scored product in 50 years of Star Wars history,” according to Forbes.
The outlet reported the low approval rates are linked to the “racism, misogyny and overall harassment of the cast which has poisoned every conversation about this show.”
The Acolyte was slammed by right-wingers for being “woke” – because (gasp!) creator Leslye Headland is a lesbian and (double gasp!) it starred trans actress Abigail Thorn and (triple gasp!) it featured a force-sensitive couple who were dubbed “lesbian space witches” by critics.
Despite breaking streaming records, the show was cancelled after just one season.
True Detective: Night Country premiered to positive reviews by critics but an audience score lower than fans of the show’s first season.
Showrunner Issa López has slammed “hardcore fanboys” of the show who she stated were purposefully dragging down ratings for the latest, female-led, season with LGBTQ+ actress Jodie Foster.
Similarly, specific episodes of both House of the Dragon season 2 and The Last of Us were targeted for their lesbian and gay narratives.
It seems trolls targeted these episodes in particular because of their focus on queer intimacy.
Additionally, review-bombing has been blamed for tanking Billy Eichner’s history-making gay rom-com Bros.
After the film’s IMDb score plummeted with 312 one-star reviews despite the film not yet being released. The reviews were then completely scrubbed from the movie’s page to prevent further hate.
Now, with Rotten Tomatoes’ new Verified Hot update, the platform’s film scoring will be a more measured reflection of cinemagoers’ views towards films, especially LGBTQ+ movies.
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