Another year has come and gone and I have yet to be invited to become a Rotten Tomatoes certified critic. No, I didn't get a rejection letter, but judging by the fact that many of my friends and fellow social media bloggers are sharing letters they received from the company inviting them to become members, it is more than like I missed the cut again. To add some context to all of this: becoming a Rotten Tomatoes certified critic has been a dream of mine. It would sort of signal to me that I "made it" in this business after more than twenty years. Granted, I haven't been as active in my writing for the past several years, but I still do my writing and have been updating this site more often these past few months.
I have a fire in my belly that I haven't had for years, and now that superhero movies have started to die down I find myself enjoying the process of writing about movies again. Sites like Letterboxd (where you can follow me and read many of my reviews as well) have given me new ways to interact with fellow movie fans and friends, and the world of cinema has become exciting again as ambitious projects are released along with sequels that have been mostly of high quality this year.
But I still didn't get Rotten Tomatoes certified...
After I've published hundreds of reviews, released videos that have gotten hundreds of thousands of views, and have even conducted some interviews with people high up in this business I still don't qualify to have a red tomato in my X profile? What is wrong with me? Turns out: nothing. I remember reading a story from Scott Kurtz, creator of the webcomic "PvP" and author of the graphic novel "Table Titans Club." This is a man who started drawing comics for free and then turned it into a thriving business for years (and continues to be successful in the publishing world). Yet he suffered from feelings of inadequacy because his father always wanted him to be published in the newspapers, which (in his mind) would mean he'd "made it."
Yet on the outside anyone can see that Kurtz made it (and he made it without needing to sell out to the syndicates). So, no, I don't get to officially claim I'm part of the Rotten Tomatoes club. My fellow critics can probably hold that over my head when it comes time to disagreeing on movies with me. However, I have an audience. I have a growing YouTube channel. I've self-published a couple of books (and am working on more as we speak). Most of all though I found a love for writing again. Whether it be about movies, life, or even *gasp* politics, I'm enjoying being at the keyboard and typing out my thoughts once again.
That is worth more than being able to put a tomato on my social media accounts, and success means more than being invited into a club. I need to remember that, and to anyone reading this who feels they should be farther along in their life need to also understand that you are successful in your own way. Plus, as Dory said, in situations like these you just need to "keep on swimming, keep on swimming..."
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