When my daughter asked me if I wanted to see the Trolls, I said, “Sure!” I don’t especially enjoy cartoons but it is one of my daughter’s favorite movies so I accepted the invitation. What a joyous evening listening to my granddaughters, ages 5 and 6, sing every word to every song while watching the movie. If you haven’t seen the movie, the songs are a definite highlight. The lead single, “Can’t Stop the Feeling,” won a Grammy award.
The movie has a great message. It is best summarized by Princess Poppy in this quote: “Happiness isn’t something you put inside, it’s already there. Sometimes you just need someone to help you find it.” The message is a good reminder for all of us.
After I watched the movie, I read the reviews. Most reviews I read gave it a 4 out of 5. However, there was one reviewer who gave it an “F,” saying it was a complete failure. I was amazed. Did they really watch the same movie I did? Sure, it is not the best movie ever produced but it was an uplifting kid’s movie. Did the critic watch a different version?
The differences between the reviews are not different versions of the movie but the difference in the watchers. The critic gets paid for judging but to criticize to the level he did, shows what lies in his heart. One of his comments was the movie was “too sweet”. I personally love “too sweet” movies. Other comments were just too absurd to quote here. The critic’s criticisms were distortions derived from his perspective. His criticisms really do say more about him than they did about the movie.
When we condemn, we are saying more about ourselves than about what we are criticizing. To quote Dale Carnegie, “Any fool can criticize, complain, and condemn–and most fools do. But it takes character and self-control to be understanding and forgiving.”
Next time you are about to criticize, why not stop and think about what your criticism is saying about you. Is there a kinder way to handle the situation? You really do get to know what is in a person’s heart when you aggregate their criticisms. If hate and fear live in a heart, destructive criticism and negativity will run rampart in their words.
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