Taylor’s Media Criticism System
Use these categories to rate media:
| ☆☆☆☆☆ | feels | How deeply did it make you feel? |
| ☆☆☆☆☆ | impact | What did you learn about yourself and the universe? |
| ☆☆☆☆☆ | structure | Was it structural? What symmetries did you observe? Does the layout itself say anything? |
| ☆☆☆☆☆ | density | How dense was it? How many layers did you identify? |
| ☆☆☆☆☆ | technique | How technical was the production? What efforts went into creating the work? |
This system can apply to novels, films, academic articles, albums, theater, screenplays, etc.
Redefine 2/5
When you eschew the new, you consume mostly good media. Good art is commonplace.
Use a scale that weights nuance towards masterpieces.
| ★★★★★ | Masterpiece |
| ★★★★☆ | Great |
| ★★★☆☆ | Good |
| ★★☆☆☆ | Fair |
| ★☆☆☆☆ | Bad |
| ☆☆☆☆☆ | Undecided |
Notable Examples
I’ll be updating this list periodically. Please email me if you have any suggestions.
| F | I | S | D | T | total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gödel Escher Bach | 3 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 23 |
| Citizen Kane | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 21 |
| Gurren Lagann | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 21 |
| Breaking Bad | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 20 |
| Good Bad Ugly | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 20 |
| Inside | 5 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 20 |
| Arrested Development | 4 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 20 |
| Have One On Me | 5 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 20 |
| The Good Earth | 5 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 20 |
| The Rehearsal | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 20 |
| The Last Airbender | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 19 |
| House of Leaves | 4 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 19 |
| Jurassic Park | 4 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 17 |
| If I | 4 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 17 |
| In And Of Itself | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 17 |
| Funny Games | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 16 |
| Pathologic | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 16 |
| Star Wars | 5 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 16 |
| Guns Germs Steel | 3 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 15 |
| Only Revolutions | 2 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 15 |
| The Moth Joke | 4 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 14 |
| Primer | 2 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 14 |
| Tim’s Vermeer | 3 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 13 |