Worth it or woke? Movie critic takes aim at Hollywood

A FILM critic has created an ‘anti-woke’ film review website as part of a bid to tackle Hollywood ‘rewarding activism over quality’.

James Carrick had become infuriated by liberal values being shoehorned into new releases and classic tales on the big screen when he launched the page.

He calls his website ‘Worth it or Woke’ and has taken aim at ‘diversity quotas’ which place inclusion over historical reality.

The critic, based in the US, has three categories for movies: Woke, woke-ish and non-woke.

Recent releases including the liveaction remake of The Little Mermaid are pilloried by Mr Carrick.

He said: ‘ From the creative vacuum that is modern Disney... The Little Mermaid sacrifices all of the charm and fun of the original in the name of personal politics and photo-realistic fish.’

Peter Pan & Wendy – the retelling of the James Barrie novel – also comes in for a hammering, with the critic saying: ‘Remember the magic and excitement of Disney’s 1953 classic, Peter Pan?

‘Well, forget it because feminism is about to take a big runny dump on it.’ Mr Carrick says he is bringing the voice of ‘religious conservatism’ back to film reviewing.

He said: ‘Everyone is biased but we wear ours out in the open for all to see, so much so that we’ve built it right into our critique model. Right alongside with what we think about the story... we let you know if the woke quotient (woketient) is distractingly high, tolerable or not there at all.’

Films which perform well under Mr Carrick’s criteria include the Second World War story Saving Private Ryan, starring Tom Hanks, and The Passion Of The Christ directed by Mel Gibson. Mr Carrick argues Hollywood productions are including liberal values which alienate conservativeminded viewers.

In an interview with Rolling Stone magazine, he said: ‘Mirroring the “wokeism” that increasingly permeates the work of filmmakers, many critics artificially reward activism over quality.’

Mr Carrick said reviewers have lost touch with ordinary viewers.

Outlining his page’s purpose, he said: ‘ The growing disparity between what audiences think... and that of the “professionals” has finally increased to the point that it can no longer be ignored.’