BITING at the BITERS

Radio Record, 27 May 1938, Page 13

BITING at the BITERS

"Record" Critic Sits Up To Take A Little Of His Own Medicine

By

EMILE

INCE there is a critic lurking in every listener to a radio set in New Zealand, this little homily of the Radio Man means as much to you as to me. Criticism of radio programmes, says the Radio Man, can have a twofold object. First the guidance of public taste, and secondly the guidance of programme arrangers. All this provided the critic does not allow himself to beeome dogmatic and governed by private prejudices. FPHERE is a difference between the radio critic and the theatre critic, says the Radio Man. The theatre critic listens to the play in company with many other people. To some extent his opinion is formed by the reactions of these others. At least he is well aware, as he goes away from the theatre, if his opinion has been endorsed or not by bis audi ence, But the radio critie has been listening alone, cut off

from the thousands of other listeners, Ee can give only his own opinion. But, to the programme organiser, says the Radios Man, the consensus of opinion is what is importaut. The opinion of al! the people with whom the eritie has Innch would be more valuable than his own to the programme

organiser, So many things affect the solitary radio critic-his home life, his digestion, his wife-all of which may have some infiuence on his frame of mind toward a certain item, And there is no mass-conscousness, as there is in a theatre to rouse him out of this condition. ON’? think that programme arrangers dislike criticism," siid the Radio Man. "They welcome it, so long as it is honest and unbiased. How else could they learn their faults. In fact, they much prefer honest criticism to fulsome praise." There is a difference, however, between the art of radio aud the arts of the films and the theatre. It comes about through the nature of the services given. ADIO is, as it were, a co-operative concern in which every listener is a small shareholder, through the fact that he pays his licence fee. Ile feels he has a personal interest in the fare provided and a distinet right to voire his critical views. Tle is much more vocal about the material presented than he is about what he sees in the films aud in the theatre.

It 1s this way, says the Radio Man. If you go into a private restaurant and order lamb and you get mutton, you may be annoyed when you pick up your hat and go, but you don’t often kick up a fuss. But if you belong to a staff cafeteria-a co-opera-tive coneern-and the same thing happens to you, it would be extremely queer if you didn’t chip the cashier about it on your way out. Just as the criticism in the cafeteria, if well directed and free from personal bias, is useful, so it is most useful in radio. HE radio eritiec, however, should realise that he has tremendous power, To start with, if he strongly criticises 1 production, he may be jeopardising someone’s livelihood, the livelihood of a producer, an actor or a performer. If he is unfitted for his job, if he is weak enough to yield to the temptation to sacrifice truth for the sake of being facetious and making a "wisecrack,’ he can do a great

amount of barm.

Then, too, he should consider the effect of his criticism on the artist. The artistic temperament flourishes on praise and gets strongly set back very often by criticism. So the eritic should remember to praise where he justly can as heartily as he damns. HERE is one kind of praise, however, that

the Radio Man deplores. Sometimes, he says, through having a keen sense of publicity and a knowledge of the art of pushing his wares, one artist may prevail on periodicals to puff up his work and himself in its pages out of proportion to its merits. This can do inealeulable harm, The other artists, quieter by nature and not of the pushing type, who perhaps give a finer kind of work to the public, seo the response that is apparently won by the work of the showman. They say, "This man’s work is poorer stuff than mine, but it seems to go over better. He gets publicity for it and praise. It seems to be what the public wants. I had better go in for it, too." This means, often, that the artist will be tempted to debase his art and give work of a much lower standard, simply because of injudicious praise or publicity to a man whose art was actually much inferior to his own. HEN again, says the Radio Man, the critie should always try to keep the thing he is criticising in its proper perspective. If he goes toa (Continued on page 40.)

JFOR 364 days out of the year the radio critic has a free hand at criticising radio programme organisers. But on the 365th day, the radio programme organiser criticises the radio critic. The critic growls at him on most days; to-day he growls at the critic. . .

Biting The Biters-

FAULTS OF THE CRITIC (Continued from page 15.) musical comedy, he does not criticise it from the point of view of serious drama. lle accepts certain limitations as natural in musical comedy. He should do the same in radio erilicigsm. When he finds thrillers like "Westward Hol!’ or "Inspector Scott" put in the programmes, he should realise that. there are put in as general eniertainment, ‘They do not pretend to be serious drama, The programme organiser knows their weaknesses just as well as the critie does. But he also knows thar they are what the public wants, and if there is any need for crificism it should be merely to chide the public for having such a taste. It is absurd to write a column of material fo show. what bad plays they are, ) RADIO plays are often like magazine stories, says fhe Radio Min. No literary critic would seriously consider euch story in a popular magazine Trom the standpoint of literature. In the same way he should not judge eaen play as serious drama. What the critic should do is to accept the fact that the play caters for a certain taste. W¥e can then ask himself two questions: "Is it a leginmate taste? And, if so, is the play that eaters for this taste good of its type?" THE Radio Man believes that the "greatest eritie of all, the public. is growing more tolerant in these days of wider and more yaried radio service. It has got ont of the way of slamming the radio off and saying, "That’s a goprano; she’s no good," just because it doesn't happen to care for sopranos. Now the public is learning to say, "I don't care for sopranos-(or tenors or hasses})-but as a soprano she seems pretty good to me." HERE are several ways in which the programme organiser ean help himself to find ont the opinions of his listeners, says the Radio Man. Tle has the opinions of recognised critics. newspaper eorrespondence, the station correspondence, and the opinions of the people he encounters every day. There is, too, another guide for him in making his selectlong of jiems for the ait, Radio in New Zealand is in the same position as theafrieals in New Zealand. Much of the work is thor oughly tried out overseas-in Britaind America, and Australin-before — il comes here, The service has the choice of work that has been proyetl sneeessful in other ecotntries, And. this, though not an entirely reliable test, is an assistance to the programme organ: miser in choosing productions anid transcriptions for playing in New Zealand, ° OO ee ae