A Final Thumbs Up for Roger Ebert

Today is a grim and sad day for critics and moviegoers alike – acclaimed film critic and journalist Roger Ebert has passed away following a long history of health problems, most recently his second battle with cancer, which would take his life early this morning. He was 70 years old. With a career spanning close to fifty years, his impact on journalism and cinema is both enormous and understated – starting as a freelance writer before getting a job with the Chicago Sun-Times as a columnist, and eventually a film critic in 1967, almost immediately he was hailed as one of America’s finest film critics, most notably by winning the 1975 Pulitzer Prize for Criticism, the first, and until the last few years, the only film critic to ever do so. He would continue to write reviews up until his death, and recently gained praise and infamy from some of his columns where he did everything from calling for the MPAA rating system to be abolished to his infamous claims that video games would never be a true art form. Regardless, he would leave millions debating and discussing his every opinion. Of course, what he will be best known for is his famed TV show from various incarnations, At the Movies, which he co-hosted with rival critic and journalist Gene Siskel until Siskel’s own death of cancer in 1999 – he would go through various co-hosts since then, most notably Richard Roeper, before resigning following his first bout with cancer in 2006. It would be hear where Ebert and his contemporaries would judge the movies of the day with in depth discussions of the merits of the movie, and offered what may be the simplest and best recommendation method yet devised – a simple thumps up or thumbs down. It would be here that most of America would watch them on television, and get their first impressions of many movies, and of film criticism itself – Siskel and Ebert arguably did more for making critics a part of the cultural background with this show than anything else did, with the possible exception of the Internet.

Of course, it goes without saying Ebert’s impact on critics has been enormous – this ranges from modern critics like Leonard Maltin and Richard Roeper, web critics like the Nostalgia Critic, and even I your humble narrator – most notably in regards to the fact that I don’t give my reviews a traditional or numerical rating, I merely state if I like it or if I didn’t. Of course, as mentioned previously, Ebert more than anyone else is to thank for making criticism an art form in and of itself – something any culture buff, let alone formal critics, all owe the man a serious debt for.

In the end, Roger Ebert, as a critic and a journalist, boasts an enviable legacy, an immeasurable impact, and one can proudly look over his decades spanning career and see he bridged the gap between movie lovers and critics, gave opinions that pleased both, and up until the end, loved the arts as much as he loved talking about them. One can only hope that he would be pleased that millions will be talking and giving their opinions about his opinions for years to come, and that countless others seek to follow in his footsteps. Rest in peace Ebert – we’ll miss you at the movies.

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