The Top Ten List: A Primer
Here’s the thing about critics’ top 10 lists that they don’t want you to know, as the end of year deluge approaches:
It’s not really a top 10 list. The #1 may be accurate, but the rest are mostly lies.
Now, don’t get me wrong. The critic genuinely loves those movies/shows/albums. But the ranking is wrong. Like reviews themselves, they aren’t really talking about the art so much as they are themselves. There may be pieces that didn’t make the list that a critic may like more, but the critic wants more exposure for certain titles, or they want to appear more well-rounded as critics, or they don’t want to show just how much they loved the popular blockbuster and instead choose a smaller piece of art to keep their credibility intact.
All top 10 lists are inherently political. This isn’t just an examination of the year in film, or television, or music. It’s an examination of the year the critic had in general. These lists are as inherently personal as they are political. Because of this, these lists are more about showing the world and their readership who that critic is than it is about the quality of the art.
Quantifying art is tricky, because it places a number value on ephemeral things, and themes and ideas that are more important in the critic’s mind than others will find themselves higher in the list, and those values may not necessarily be your own. For example, as of this writing my number one film is THE FABELMANS, but those values I hold dear may not be your values, and you may find you are more moved by the values of a film like WOMEN TALKING, or even TOP GUN: MAVERICK. And that’s okay! If you understand that going in, you’ll feel a lot better about exploring these lists and the films in them.
If you want a truly accurate top ten list of any given year (accuracy being a spurious notion to begin with), wait ten years from the year in question and ask again. The critic won’t be so concerned with optics and will give you a genuine list of films that they feel are the best of that year. Perception of art changes with time, and what feels true in the moment changes with perspective and distance. My top ten of 2012 is more tempered; but this year’s is what I’m feeling right now, and what I think in my view you should pay attention to.
Don’t get the idea that top ten lists are bullshit (I mean, in the sense that all quantifying of art is mostly bullshit, love what you love), but it’s not as important as even the critic writing it would want you to think. It’s a guide to the critic, not the art.
In the end, these are guides, not holy writ. As we get into that season again, it would be good to remember that. If you really want to know what I think about the year of film 2022, you’re going to have to wait ten years. I suspect that’s true for everyone.