CinemaBlend Revokes Its ‘Turning Red’ Review, Twitter Mobs Critic

It has come to our attention thanks to Sophia Narwitz’s Twitter post that CinemaBlend has decided to pull a review of Disney/Pixar’s latest animated movie Turning Red. In a statement from the outlet, CinemaBlend says that the review “never should have gone up.” It was also noted that the website would now be adding “new levels of editorial oversight.”

We failed to properly edit this review, and it never should have gone up. We have unpublished it and assigned to someone else. We have also added new levels of editorial oversight. Thank you to everyone who spoke up. – Mack Rawden, Editor-In-Chief https://t.co/kfkfwlf4q8

— CinemaBlend (@CinemaBlend) March 8, 2022

Wow. That review must have been super offensive, overtly racist, and oozing with misogyny. Did I write it? Was I sleep critiquing again? Nope, this came from the site’s managing director, Sean O’Connell. He, of course, put blood in the water by making an apology on a site that is eager to feed on someone’s perceived sins against the NuReligion of Political Correctness.

I'm genuinely sorry for my Turning Red review. Thank you to everyone who has reached out with criticism, no matter how harsh. It is clear that I didn't engage nearly enough with the movie, nor did I explain my point of view well, at all. I really appreciate your feedback.

— Sean O'Connell (@Sean_OConnell) March 8, 2022

Luckily, the original review is available on Archive.org. After reading through it, aside from yet another critic mentioning that the kids’ movie is “horny,” the criticisms appear to be pedestrian and far from anything I’d flag as being an issue. I’ve written many reviews and have had far harsher criticism, even saying stuff today’s NuPuritans’d lovingly cancel for me.

The primary issue the Twitter Thought Police Task Force has? The movie did not appeal to O’Connell.  Ah, yes. A critic thinks the targeted audience isn’t large, and he doesn’t fit into it. It’s almost like reviews are opinion pieces based on what did and did not hit with the person consuming the media.

Twitter wasn’t having any of that, with many checkmarks and randos pointing to the very end of O’Connell’s review:

There’s an audience out there for Turning Red. And when that audience finds the movie, I’ve no doubt they will celebrate it for the unique animal that it is. In my opinion, however, that audience is relatively small, and I’m not part of it.

Of course, with the blood out there, the sharks came:

This was written by your MANAGING DIRECTOR not some junior writer. As an editor, there is no amount of editing that would have erased the racism. What are you doing to make sure he is held accountable and this doesn't happen again? (has happened before!)

— Yolanda Machado (@SassyMamainLA) March 8, 2022

https://twitter.com/LaceyBanis/status/1501355455439728642?s=20&t=Zgv6Mrb0mHqNZWq0N7OKIw

Do you understand how damaging that tweet was? How much this is rooted in problems with systemic ‘isms in film criticism. Why women haven’t been able to see themselves represented in movies. You host a movie podcast with 2 other white men, you have access to many others

— Teri Hart (@TeriHart) March 9, 2022

https://twitter.com/hungrypo/status/1501332043518472195?s=20&t=Zgv6Mrb0mHqNZWq0N7OKIw

I’ve worked in this industry for a long time. Studios and companies can and have yanked media access from websites and individual journalists. Disney is well known for doing this. So, this raises the question of if CinemaBlend pulled the review down for what they considered valid concerns.

Does the outlet want to remain in Disney’s good graces? The staff of CinemBlend has been seen attending Disney press events in the past. This may all be a business decision rather than an appeal to the outrage mob.

[Source: Original Archived Review]

[Source: CinemaBlend’s Twitter Post]

[Source: Sophia Narwitz Twitter Post]