These days every time you look at information about a film or book, you’ll be faced with the ubiquitous star rating system. And you will probably notice that most films and books don’t achieve 5 stars—even the books and films that you love.
What’s up with this?
Remember that rating systems are aggregations of user reviews and professional reviews. In other words, ratings are averages. And as we all know, averages don’t tell us much about specifics.
Think about this: The average height for women in the United States is 5 feet 4 inches. Does that mean that every woman you meet is going to be 5’4”? Of course not!
So if a film’s star rating is 3, does that mean the film is mediocre? Absolutely not!
- Sometimes “3 stars” means that in general, people thought it was OK.
- Other times “3 stars” means that some people thought it was the most awesome film ever and other people really hated it.
Remember to form your own judgments.
The human brain is wired to make us want to “move with the herd,” but when it comes to your enjoyment of film and literature, you’ll be happiest if you go with your own inclinations.
So when you see that your fave book ever got an average of 2 stars, remember: that probably means that some people (including you!) found it awesome!