Friday, October 13, 2006

Ratings Systems

As we go through life judging this movie and judging that video game, there are typically two ratings systems we use: the 1-10 System and the Letter System. Here is why the 1-10 System is better:

-there are more choices in the 1-10 System. 10, in fact. 11 if you count the 0. Sure the Letter System has plusses and minuses...that is cowardly.

-the Letter System is reliant upon an assumption of quality. A high degree of quality in fact. In order to get an F, you have to score below 65% (or even 70% in some places I've heard of but have never seen). That means if anyone gives a movie any grade other than an F, they are saying right off the bat that it is at least 65% good. And I refuse to believe the AV Club thought Grudge 2 was more than 65% good.

-along the same lines, the 1-10 System offers gradations of bad. In the 1-10 system, you can give the boring but fair A Very Long Engagement a 4 or 5 and give the awful Avengers an awful 1, or an even worse 0. In the Letter System? Both F's.

In conclusion, I give the Letter System a 4 and the 1-10 System an A-.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I give 30 Rock a 6.7

Maybe I'll like it more when I see an episode without all the best parts ruined by promos.

Geoff, which ratings system does fneh fit into?

N K said...

What are your opinions of the 5 star system? Or taking into consideration the possibility of half stars, do you group it with the 1-10 system?

I bet you love tv.com which combines 10 point ratings scales with detailed reviews of individual episodes

Anonymous said...

Not everything can be mapped to a single value on an arbitrary continuum and then ranked against other unique things using that continuum.

I give this post a 0, F-, thumbs down, zero stars, a Principe, etc.

Geoffrey said...

Ted: Fneh would be like a four. It's like a four that's worse than a one for being so boring that it's not even fun to watch ironically.

Neal: I have major problems with the five star system, especially the Netflix five star system. A 3 is something I "like"? How about something I feel nothing on? That's a 2? No, that should be a 3. I'm gonna stop, this makes me mad. If you're gonna do stars, stick with four.

Anonymous: Yes, everything can.