Ripe(rīp) for a kicking(ˈkikiNG): Hollywood’s(ˈhälēˌwo͝od) love-hate(hāt) relationship with Rotten(ˈrätn) Tomatoes(-ˈmätō,təˈmātō)

Ripe(rīp) for a kicking(ˈkikiNG): Hollywood’s(ˈhälēˌwo͝od) love-hate(hāt) relationship with Rotten(ˈrätn) Tomatoes(-ˈmätō,təˈmātō)

Twenty years after its launch, the movie-review aggregator’s(ˈagriˌgātər) verdict(ˈvərdikt) is now seen as vital(ˈvītl) to a film’s success or failure(ˈfālyər). Is the site too influential(ˌinflo͞oˈenCHəl) for its own good?

By Steve Rose

Twenty years ago, the internet was a very different place. Google was a fresh(freSH) rival(ˈrīvəl) to Alta Vista(ˈvistə) and Lycos. Apple computers looked like boiled(boil) sweets, and we dialed(ˈdī(ə)l) up to “surf(sərf) the net”, having installed the software via(ˈvēə,ˈvīə) CD-Rom. The movie world of 1998 was also somewhat different: the box office was ruled by meteorite(ˈmētēəˌrīt) movies and Adam(ˈadəm) Sandler; Harvey Weinstein(wī) was an Oscar(ˈäskər) winner; and The Avengers(əvangər) was a lame(lām), retro(ˈretrō) spy comedy(ˈkämədē) with Ralph Fiennes(fīnz) and Uma Thurman. It was into this climate(ˈklīmit) that Senh Duong launched Rotten Tomatoes – known in the business as RT – a site that has transformed both worlds, although nobody seems quite sure if it has done so for better or worse.

Duong’s idea was simple – to compile(kəmˈpīl) movie(ˈmo͞ovē) reviews – and it still drives Rotten Tomatoes. He was inspired by his love of Jackie Chan and Jet Li movies and would scour(skou(ə)r) the internet looking for reviews of them. So why not put them in one place? Duong already had a full-time job, he says. “Rotten Tomatoes was a side project I worked on in the evenings.” He single-handedly designed and coded the site in just two weeks. “It was very laborious(ləˈbôrēəs). Every page was manually(ˈmanyə(wə)l) assembled(əˈsembəl) using HTML. Every review was manually searched for, read and quoted(kwōt).”

In the same way that, say, lastminute.com and Expedia(ikspidēə) compare plane ticket prices, Rotten Tomatoes’ review aggregation has turned out to be super-useful, particularly(pə(r)ˈtikyələrlē) as it boils all those reviews down to a single, convenient(kənˈvēnyənt) percentage(pərˈsentij) score. It then boils down that score even further(ˈfərT͟Hər), to a simple graphic(ˈgrafik) of a tomato. In the same way that Siskel and Ebert(i) gave a “thumbs up” or a “thumbs down”, or the man from Del Monte(ˈmäntē) tasted(tāst) a pineapple(ˈpīˌnapəl) and said “yes” or “no”, so Rotten Tomatoes’ “Tomatometer” separates(ˈsep(ə)rit) movies into “fresh”(freSH) or “rotten”. If at least 60% of a movie’s reviews are positive, it is graded(grād) “fresh”, signified(ˈsignəˌfīd) by a ripe(rīp), red tomato. Less than 60% and it is “rotten”, signified by a green splat(splat). Over 75% gets you a “certified(ˈsərtəˌfī) fresh” logo, like a sticker(ˈstikər) on a quality(ˈkwälətē) piece(pēs) of fruit(fro͞ot). (The 1998 Avengers movie, if you were wondering, scored a supremely(so͞o-,səˈprēm) rotten 5%.)

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https://www.theguardian.com/film/2018/feb/26/rotten-tomatoes-hollywood-love-hate-relationship