Marlon Wayans Is Right: Rotten Tomatoes Ratings Don’t Matter
Yes, Rotten Tomatoes is broken and needs to be fixed.
The year is 2025, and audiences still want to argue about Rotten Tomatoes scores.
It’s a futile experience, with even veteran entertainment journalist Matthew Belloni discussing how the system has been gamed by Hollywood in a recent article for Puck. What started off as an aggregator to provide a snapshot of a film or television show’s quality among critics and viewers has turned into, well, something else.
Now, another unexpected voice has entered this conversation: Marlon Wayans. The actor, who appears in the Justin Tipping-directed and Jordan Peele-produced Him, let his fans know that everyone should make up their own minds about a movie. What a novel concept, right?
What did Marlon Wayans post about Rotten Tomatoes?
Posting on his Threads account, Marlon Wayans shared screenshots of the Rotten Tomatoes scores for White Chicks, Don’t Be a Menace, Scary Movie, Scary Movie 2, A Haunted Mansion, and Him (all films with rotten scores). He added the caption:
Just to be clear… I respect critics. Their job is to critique. I respect their work. It shapes our industry. But an opinion does not always mean it’s everyone’s opinion. Some movies are ahead of the curve. Innovation is not always embraced and art is to be interpreted and it’s subjective. I’ve had a career of making classic movies that weren’t critically received and those movies went on to be CLASSICS. So don’t take anyone’s opinion, just go see for yourself. Love to all. Him in theaters now.
Now, calling White Chicks and Scary Movie “ahead of the curve” or “art” might be stretching it, but Wayans makes a valid point here. There are a number of movies that have received critical beatdowns, though they are now looked at through a different set of eyes by critics and viewers. Home Alone, The Boondock Saints, and Kingdom of Heaven are all notable examples that come to mind, because if those are bad movies, oh boy – let me introduce you to Tyler Perry or Tom Green’s filmography.
Back to Wayans’ point, yes, it’s the audience who determines if a movie is successful or not. At the end of the day, film is entirely subjective, and one person’s trash is another’s treasure. Sure, a critic is able to critique through a different lens, but sometimes, even with all the flaws and holes, a movie finds a way of connecting with people. After all, not every classic film is considered a 10/10 production.
Yes, Rotten Tomatoes is broken and needs to be fixed
From review-bombing to the curation of critics, Rotten Tomatoes isn’t a flawless system. In fact, it needs a drastic reform if it wants to maintain its relevance. Absolutely, there is a place for aggregators, but it also needs to evolve with the times and stop sinking its heels in when the criticism comes its way.
Let’s discuss its reviewer selection criteria as a prime example. There’s no two ways to say it, so let’s spit it out: there’s a Western bias. Scroll through the reviews covered and most of them come from Western media houses, with American publications receiving added emphasis. Now, there’s no argument that Western media possesses the most publications and reviewers just in terms of numbers, but what about the marginalized voices from around the world? The film expert who sits in Accra or Bangkok is just as relevant as the one who is in New York. We need to stop thinking tastemakers only come from select countries. If Rotten Tomatoes wants to become the true global aggregator, it needs to widen the net.
Second of all, it needs to start wisening up to the studios gaming the system. For example: the studios showcasing their films to a select group of favorable journalists at festivals to secure a hot score on Rotten Tomatoes then using that bragging point as a publicity drive. That needs to stop. There’s an easy solution here: don’t aggregate any reviews until closer to the wider release date.
Finally, Rotten Tomatoes needs to get a handle on all the influencers and paid reviewers posing as critics. It’s well-documented that there’s a PR firm handing out checks to people in exchange for positive reviews. It isn’t too difficult to figure out who’s doing it, so why aren’t bans being put in place? As an aggregator that holds power and influence among the film community, it’s Rotten Tomatoes’ responsibility to weed out the bad actors here. Until then, Marlon Wayans is 100% correct – Rotten Tomatoes scores don’t matter.
