Line #14 Main/BiasSteamroller


1	->''"What's this next game about? Well, think: what is the least exciting genre of video game? Probably the stock market simulation game."''
2	-->-- '''WebVideo/{{Chrontendo}}''' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0VKg_dJzzQ episode 45]], on ''Kabushiki Doujou: The Stock Speculation''
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4	Despite how easy it is to criticize, critics (think Creator/RogerEbert) have a hard job of it. They need to be as fair as possible in their assessments not just to gain and maintain credibility in their audience's eyes, but also because it can completely overshadow and ruin the {{review}} itself as a work.
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6	Granted, critics are [[MostWritersAreHuman (probably)]] human and have pet peeves or favorites, and good/bad performances and dialogue are certainly open to criticism, but when these feelings get out of hand and leak into the review, things get worse.
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8	If the critic has a strong bias against or in favor of a genre, style, director, actor, or what have you, '''''and''''' they allow that acerbic vitriol or blind admiration to fill their review, they're driving a '''Bias Steamroller'''. [[AuthorFilibuster The review often stops being about the work and becomes about the element that inspires the bias]]; essentially boiling down to "I love (or hate) A; since work B has A in it, I love (or hate) work B; therefore you should (not) watch it."
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10	This may be because they [[PetPeeveTrope hate a particular trope]] or [[CausticCritic just like hating in general]]. Then again, they may be a fan of the series/franchise/creator and, out of loyalty, never fail to give the most glowing of praise. In any case, the damage to the review is such that it becomes too biased to be useful or insightful. (When a reviewer does this, people tend to ignore it, when fans often use it, it becomes a justified use of DontLikeDontRead.)
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12	In some of the worst cases, the reviewer may fixate on a particular thing they liked or disliked and give the impression that they might actually not have seen the work in question. And there are times where they actually haven't seen much of it. More honest reviewers will at least admit to their biases up front and acknowledge that any review is going to be slanted - if a reviewer says they think boxing is the most boring sport in the world, Creator/SylvesterStallone is the worst actor in history, and Philadelphia should be erased from the map, the reader will realize they aren’t going to be able to give ''Film/{{Rocky}}'' a fair shake and proceed on that basis when reading or watching the review. Alternatively, the reviewer may simply decide ''not'' to review the material since they know they cannot give the work a fair shot, thereby averting this trope.
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14	Part of the reason this trope exists is that a review that accurately informs the readers about a subject's objective qualities, and allows them to make an informed purchasing decision, can be ''very boring.'' A hugely biased review, by contrast, may not be useful as a review but may be entertaining enough to keep the audience coming back. However, this is not always the case, and it does become an issue when combined with ReviewsAreTheGospel, where said audience ends up dismissing a work because of a critic's personal hang-ups rather than any actual lack of merit. In fact, for many audience members a biased review is annoying rather than entertaining; they can tell the critic is really not giving the work a fair shot simply because it has an element that skews their opinion, and thus not be particularly informative on the subject matter. In these cases, especially when the viewers examine the work on their own and finds it is not nearly as bad or good as the reviewer claims, it can really be a stain on the reviewer's reputation and credibility.
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16	Note that this happens a lot outside of media criticism. Because it's just easier to remember particularly noticeable or dramatic experiences and events, this routinely happens in both positive and negative ways to people like politicians and celebrities.
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19	Compare FanDumb, HateDumb, CausticCritic, OpinionMyopia, PublicMediumIgnorance.
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21	Compare/Contrast UnpleasableFanbase.
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23	Peruse the GhettoIndex to see examples of when many critics develop a bias against entire genres.
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25	'''Note:''' This is not a way to complain about reviews or reviewers you don't like. Furthermore, the examples cannot be PlayedForLaughs or [[PlayedForDrama Drama]].
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27	JustForFun/NotToBeConfusedWith a ''literal'' [[ConstructionVehicleRampage steamroller used on a rampage.]]
28	----
29	!!Examples (sorted by medium being reviewed):
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31	[[foldercontrol]]
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33	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
34	* WebVideo/BennettTheSage has made it quite clear that he does not like anime revolving around [[{{Moe}} cute characters]], and tends to be more negative when reviewing them.
35	* WebVideo/ThatDudeInTheSuede had a bit of a textbook example with his "Suede's Pokémon Journey" episode discussing the ''[[{{Anime/PokemonTheOriginalSeries}} Pokémon]]'' episode "[[{{Recap/PokemonS1E37DittosMysteriousMansion}} Ditto's Mysterious Mansion]]''. Initially, he gave it an "F / Dark-Ball" rating simply because of the scene where Team Rocket bullies & threatens Ditto into having his shapeshifting powers work properly, which he felt hit too close to home for him and likened it to abuse.[[note]]Suede stated that he has always struggled with Autism Spectrum Disorder, and had a history of other people insisting on him changing despite some things being beyond his control.[[/note]] Later, in a retrospect video discussing his goofs-&-errors in the videos, he does acknowledge he was too harsh with the episode since he did let his personal feelings cloud his judgement[[note]]He also admitted he should not have described Team Rocket's treatment as "Abuse", since what they did does not constitute such, and that regardless of how they treated Ditto in the episode they still [[LaserGuidedKarma get blasted off in the end]].[[/note]] and gave a more forgiving-if-[[{{SoOkayItsAverage}} average]] "C / Great-Ball" rating.
36	* In general, the "SubbingVersusDubbing" debate is filled to the brim with this. It's not uncommon for many anime reviewers or fans to take one side of the issue and ''only'' watch & review anime in their preferred way and not the other. And when they do, they frequently criticize the other version simply because it's not what they are accustomed to.
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39	[[folder:Comic Books]]
40	* ''WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall'' host Linkara is decidedly not a fan of anti-heroes in comics (mainly {{Nineties Anti Hero}}es, he's a bit more forgiving of those he perceives as having more depth and nuance). He primarily views superhero comics as escapism (not that he has a problem with them tackling serious subjects or challenging the viewpoint of the reader) and really thinks that anyone deserving of the title "superhero" should at least be trying to take the moral high road in any given situation. This can sometimes cause him to be overly harsh to Marvel comics vs. DC comics because DC doesn't have nearly as many anti-heroes, whereas Marvel has several and even has previous boy scouts like ComicBook/{{Cyclops}} become this. This bias also colors any review of any DarkerAndEdgier comic. He also really hates it when superheroes are killed off, but understands why it happens in some cases.
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42
43	[[folder:Film]]
44	* Movieguide.com identifies its Bias Steamroller right up front, not trying to pretend it doesn't have one. It reviews films from a fundamentalist Christian perspective; for instance, they criticize ''Film/TheGoldenCompass'' for its "strong pagan themes".
45	* Creator/RogerEbert:
46	** He considered movies where young children are apparently unfazed about committing serious acts of violence to be "morally reprehensible." This was a major reason why he was not a fan of the ''Film/HomeAlone'' series, why he only gave ''Film/KickAss'' a one-star review (in contrast to most critics), and why he tore apart ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirlsMovie''.
47	** Ebert has [[OldShame expressed regret]] for his previous bias against the SpaghettiWestern genre, particularly for how it drove him to give ''Film/TheGoodTheBadAndTheUgly'' a 3-star score despite writing what he acknowledged was a 4-star review.
48	** Ebert's disdain for video games led to a noticeable bias against movies based on or inspired by Video Games. When asked about not reviewing ''Film/ScottPilgrimVsTheWorld'', Ebert admitted to the bias (and a writing sabbatical). He added that he was still able to sleep despite not reviewing the movie.
49	* While guest hosting on ''Siskel and Ebert'', Ain't It Cool News founder Harry Knowles panned ''Film/SLCPunk'' because he disliked the star, Matthew Lillard. Ebert, who praised the film, made this trope rather blunt when summarizing their takes at the end of the episode. Knowles was not invited back for another episode.
50	* The Academy Awards had to put "Best Animated Feature" up as a category due to the many times this caused a very well-regarded animated film to not be elected Best Picture on account of it being animated.
51	* Creator/DougWalker in recent years has become known for his personal biases getting in the way of his various WebVideo/NostalgiaCritic and non-NC reviews. While some of these thoughts are understandable, they also cause him to suffer from a bad case of OpinionMyopia that affects how he approaches other works.
52	** He ''loathes'' the Disney Live-Action Remake films. While a lot of his criticisms of those films are reasonable and valid, he is also known for being ''very harsh'' towards them, often struggling to say anything positive about them. Whenever they are brought up (even the more generally liked ones such as ''Film/TheJungleBook2016''), he regularly bashes them, often getting sidetracked by his own ranting. Even viewers who otherwise share his dislike towards the remakes think he goes too far & is too harsh with them.
53	** He always had a dislike for the ''[[{{Franchise/StarWars}} Star Wars Prequel Trilogy]]'', which affected how he viewed many Prequel-Era Star Wars properties. In fact, during his “Disneycember” review of ''Film/ThePhantomMenace'' he stated that not only does [[OpinionMyopia he not understand why some Star Wars fans like the films]], but he also said that he thinks they are naive and/or simply in denial & should admit they don’t like them. This unsurprisingly did not sit well with his viewers. Similarly, for years he ''refused'' to watch ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'' despite fans clamoring him to do so, even admitting he thought it'd be pointless to do so.[[note]] When he finally took the time and watched the series, he fully admitted it was a great show that he shouldn't have tossed aside preemptively. [[/note]] He also gave a negative review towards ''Series/ObiWanKenobi'' simply because he felt it was too much like the prequels in his eyes.
54	** Perhaps the actor he hates most is Creator/MatthewBroderick... not for anything bad Broderick had done, but simply because he rubs him the wrong way. He either dislikes or outright ''despises'' every role he does, which sometimes bleeds over into the films the actor appears in, even stating he could barely tolerate him in ''Film/FerrisBuellersDayOff'' and that his role as Simba is one of the reasons he found ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKing1994'' to be (somewhat) overrated.
55	** At the other end of the spectrum, Doug did a review of the infamous ''[[WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants Spongebob]]'' episode "[[Recap/SpongeBobSquarePantsS7E5KeepBikiniBottomBeautifulAPalForGary A Pal for Gary]]" as part of his "Dark Toons" show. He is one of the ''very few'' reviewers to give the episode a glowing review, simply because he likes darker cartoons and more mean-spirited humor. Many of his viewers, particularly those who are ''Spongebob'' Fans, felt he was ''far too lenient'' towards the episode.
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58	[[folder:Live Action TV]]
59	* Troy Patterson of ''Slate'' made no attempt to hide his disdain for the fantasy genre while [[https://slate.com/culture/2011/04/game-of-thrones-reviewed-prepare-thyself-for-quasi-medieval-dragon-ridden-fantasy-crap.html reviewing]] ''Series/GameOfThrones'', resulting in Patterson getting comments (before they were disabled and removed) ranging from [[HePannedItNowHeSucks angry fans bashing Patterson for "not getting it"]] to others expressing confusion as to why Patterson was reviewing the series when he clearly wasn't going to make any effort at being objective or give it a chance. Patterson was reportedly so rattled by the experience that he recused himself from reviewing the series any further.
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62	[[folder:Music]]
63	* Robert Christgau of the Village Voice hates nearly everything related to ProgressiveRock, and infamously called ''Music/InTheCourtOfTheCrimsonKing'' "Ersatz Shit"
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66	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
67	* Mr. Welch never forgave ''Forgotten Realms'' for supplanting ''Mystara'' as the "default" ''Dungeons and Dragons'' setting, and rarely allows a mention of ''Realms'' to go by without taking a potshot (example: in a list of which film director would be the best fit for [=DnD=]'s various settings, he dismissively saddles ''Realms'' with Uwe Boll).
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70	[[folder:Video Games]]
71	* LetsPlay/{{Videogamedunkey}}:
72	** Discussed in his video "Game Critics". Dunkey notes that a critic's power lies in the consistency of their own opinions, so that a viewer can extrapolate an accurate judgment on a game based on what the critic says. He even points out some of his own steamrollers, such as TurnBasedCombat and {{Animesque}} games, but then points out that those biases should only make the viewer take a closer notice to when he gives a turn-based anime [=RPG=] like ''VideoGame/Persona5'' high praise.
73	** Dunkey has an extreme distaste for all non-Creator/StudioGhibli anime, to the point where he'll often make assumptions about anime games he plays along the lines of AllAnimeIsNaughtyTentacles (such as in his ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles2'' video) and [[HePannedItNowHeSucks come into friction with those games' fanbases]].
74	** He is quite outspoken about not liking [=JRPGs=] due to the anime influences they often have, and thus tends to be overly critical of the genre when he does discuss them. This came to a head with his ''VideoGame/OctopathTraveler'' review, where he spent most of the video complaining about the genre, with only small parts of his video discussing the game itself. The community itself was not too thrilled at the video.
75	* JoCat makes no secret of his love of the Sword and Shield in his Crap Guides to ''VideoGame/MonsterHunterWorld'' and ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'', to the point of [[CausticCritic insulting and putting down other weapons/classes just as much as he advises]] on their proper use.
76	* {{WebVideo/MarioTehPlumber}} is a {{Troll}}, so naturally his "reviews" of ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'' and Creator/{{Nintendo}} games on Website/YouTube are absolutely full of bias. Most infamously, his extreme hatred of anything that he perceives to be even remotely sexual, [[FreudWasRight even if it's not supposed to be]] (e.g. referring to Sonic's longer quills in his modern design from ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure'' onwards as "{{Hentai}} quills" and accusing anybody who enjoys any ''Sonic'' game with the current design of "liking to [[AssShove shove his quills up their asses]]"). This bias takes priority over the gameplay itself in the "reviews", owing to [=MarioTehPlumber's=] "[[SkewedPriorities Character design > Gameplay]]" beliefs.
77	* James Lewell of ''WebVideo/NitroRad'' dislikes {{Jump Scare}}s a lot in the horror genre, to the point where his reviews on ''VideoGame/TheCrookedMan'' and ''VideoGame/SubwayMidnight'' have segments breaking down why he thinks they suck.
78	* One reviewer for ''Wired'' magazine posted a ''VideoGame/HogwartsLegacy'' review, giving it 1/10 stars. This would technically make it one of the worst video games ever reviewed by the magazine. The problem is that the "review" said almost nothing about the actual game, being instead a 1600-word rant against Literature/HarryPotter author Creator/JKRowling due to her statements regarding transgender people... except Rowling herself was not directly involved in the development of the game. It was essentially emotional personal commentary rather than a legitimate game review.
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81	[[folder:Web Original]]
82	* Parodied by ''Website/TheOnion's'' video review series with Peter Rosenthal, who plays a character for each review whose personal biases and experiences, some of which are very odd, are often allowed to completely dominate his opinion of a movie. For his review of ''Film/HomeAlone'' he's a gun fanatic who spends much of the review complaining about Kevin not shooting the burglars, he spends the ''Film/TheHobbitTheDesolationOfSmaug'' review comparing it unfavorably to a series of fantasy books he himself wrote, and gives a good review to ''Film/{{Antichrist}}'' for its relatable depiction of the [[{{Squick}} normal human stages of grief.]]
83	--> As I watched this film I found myself growing ever more incensed at the [[Film/Ghostbusters2016 Ghostbusters]] for delaying God's retribution by storing ghosts in their Ecto-containment unit instead of sending the souls back to Perdition to suffer with all the other idolaters, fortune-tellers, and sodomites.
84	* WebVideo/TheMysteriousMrEnter is another reviewer known for admitting he has a Bias Steamroller. Notoriously, one of the qualifications for a show being an "Animated Atrocity" is for it using ToiletHumor in excessive amounts, something considered "meh" by professional critics' standards.
85	* [[WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic Nostalgia Critic-like]] fanfiction critic ''The Fic Critic'' (no, not The Fanfic Critic nor WebVideo/TheFanFictionCritic) has noted that he tends to be biased against fics that [[RonTheDeathEater act meanly towards certain characters or treats them badly]], especially ones he likes. One noteworthy example was when he went from disdainful but amused at the stupidity of ''Web Of Shadows'', a Spider-Man/X-Men Evolution crossover ParodySue fic, to outright anger and chain swearing after Carlie Cooper called Mary Jane Watson, who he admitted is one of his favorite Spider-Man supporting characters, a slutty model who dresses like a street walker. His reaction to her calling Mary Jane this is one of the few times he went from snarky to outright pissed, and ended up giving that chapter [[BrokeTheRatingScale a "Fuck/10"]].
86	* ''WebVideo/FeministFrequency'' has a strong bias against violent media in all forms, and argued ''Film/TrueGrit'' and ''Film/MadMaxFuryRoad'' were anti-feminist because of their violence. More specifically, she has stated the belief that these movies do not fit [[NoTrueScotsman her definition of feminism]] because they invoke masculine definitions of strength and conflict resolution.
87	* When it comes to fictional villains, film and animation reviewer [[https://www.deviantart.com/duckyworth Duckyworth]] ''loathes'' both AbusiveParents and the EnfantTerrible, and has repeatedly put characters that are either of those tropes (e.g. [[Anime/KillLaKill Ragyo Kiryuin]] and [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic Cozy Glow]]) at the bottom of many of his "least favorite" character lists.
88	* ''WebVideo/DeadMeat'': James revealed that ''Film/IllAlwaysKnowWhatYouDidLastSummer'' is his most hated horror movie of all time, and justifiably so -- it's so horrible that it scored an infamous '''0%''' on Website/RottenTomatoes. And when he finally does a Kill Count for it, he makes that fact perfectly clear. He sounds bored in his intro and opening narration, and instead of going into detail about the movie's production, he just says "this movie fucking sucks" before getting right to the recap. And before [[CouchGag getting to the numbers]], instead of doing anything from the movie, James smacks the film's DVD off his shelf and [[FlippingTheBird flips it off]]. James reiterates during the video's outro (and in earlier ''Last Summer'' videos as well) that ''I'll Always Know'' is his least-favorite horror movie of all time. He'd later call ''Film/MortalKombatAnnihilation'' the worst film to be covered on the Kill Count, although it doesn't bother him as much.
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91	[[folder:Other]]
92	* Much like ''Movieguide.com'', Website/CommonSenseMedia downright admits that it has a Bias Steamroller, not trying to pretend it doesn't have one. The organization reviews all sorts of media from a near-{{Moral Guardian\|s}} viewpoint, and often rallies against violence in media. They have tried to tone down that aspect over the years and become more rational with their views, but occasionally it still pops up now and again.
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Context Main / BiasSteamroller