Taika Waititi Goes Off on KLARA AND THE SUN Critics, Calls Them “Irrelevant” and “Obsolete" Failed Artists
Taika Waititi isn’t taking the negative reviews of his latest film, Klara and the Sun, particularly well. The filmmaker recently took aim at movie critics on social media, calling them “sad lost souls” while suggesting they’re failed artists who couldn’t make it in Hollywood. Ouch!
Waititi took to Instagram on Saturday to share the film’s poster, which highlighted a pretty significant divide between critics and audiences on Rotten Tomatoes. While the movie holds a 78% audience score, critics have given it a rough 28%.
Clearly, Waititi has more faith in the audience than the professional reviewers, and he made his feelings about critics very clear in his Instagram caption:
“I haven’t read a review of anything aimed at me or my peers in almost 15 years. But I do listen to the people. So this Halloween, let’s spare a thought for those sad lost souls who couldn’t achieve their dreams of becoming artists, and thus became critics. The same people who also hated Jojo Rabbit. Irrelevant. Out of touch. Obsolete. In the bin.”
That's a pretty harsh response to people who simply didn't like his movie! I guess insulting critics and calling them failed artists is one way to win them over.
I haven't seen Klara and the Sun yet, so I can't say whether the critics are right or if audiences are onto something that reviewers are missing. But attacking people for sharing their opinions about a movie seems like a strange reaction, especially coming from a filmmaker with Waititi's experience.
You'd think someone who's spent this much time working in Hollywood would have developed thicker skin by now. Critics aren't always going to love what you make, and that's just part of putting your work out into the world. Apparently, these particular reviews hit a nerve.
Waititi also brought up his 2019 film Jojo Rabbit, suggesting that the same critics who disliked that movie are now going after Klara and the Sun. It's worth pointing out that Jojo Rabbit actually received plenty of positive reviews and went on to earn six Academy Award nominations, winning Best Adapted Screenplay.
As someone who reviews movies and writes about them, I find his comments pretty interesting. I certainly don't consider myself particularly relevant in the grand scheme of things. I write about movies because I love movies. It's fun to share my thoughts, and if people connect with what I have to say, that's awesome.
The reality is that we're living in a time when traditional movie critics seem to be becoming less and less relevant. Audiences have endless ways to discover movies, share opinions, and decide for themselves what they want to watch. You don't need a professional critic to tell you whether something is worth your time.
Still, that doesn't mean critics shouldn't be allowed to dislike a movie without being personally insulted by the person who made it. A review is just someone's opinion, whether it's coming from a professional journalist, a YouTuber, or some random movie geek posting their thoughts online.
Outside of the controversy, Klara and the Sun explores the relationship between humans and artificial intelligence through the story of an AI companion. Earlier this month, Waititi discussed the growing role of AI in Hollywood and how he believes the technology should be used.
“There’s a big discussion about AI coming in: Will people use it? How much will they use it? I know it’s probably inevitable that we end up using it in our industry, but as long as it’s used by humans as a tool, as opposed to a replacement — I don’t want to replace humans. I want to work with them,” he said.
It's an interesting subject for a filmmaker to tackle, and I'm curious to see what Waititi has done with the material.
As for his war of words with critics, everyone is entitled to their opinion, including the people reviewing his movies. Waititi doesn't have to agree with them, but dismissing them as failed artists simply because they didn't enjoy his work feels unnecessary.
What do you think about Waititi's comments? Are movie critics becoming irrelevant, or do they still have an important place in the entertainment industry? And if you've seen Klara and the Sun, do you think the critics got it wrong?