Rotten Tomatoes reviews have become integral in many people's decisions over the past year, providing viewers with a preview of the movie or show they are planning to watch.
Awaiting Rotten Tomatoes reviews has even become a tradition in many online communities, particularly on X (formerly Twitter), as a way for people to gauge a title before ever watching it.
So, do the Rotten Tomatoes scores really reflect the actual quality of a media? Or at least the public consensus about the film or series?
Rotten Tomatoes is Prone to Biases
The short answer is no. It has been no secret that Rotten Tomatoes, or any other media review board, has been immune to biases and preconceptions about the media they are watching.
And it is not the public users' review alone. Accredited cinema and TV critics are also known for basing their Rotten Tomatoes ratings on the people who appeared or produced the project, as seen with the recent reviews on the live film adaptation of "Borderlands."
Rating Scores Can be Manipulated
Not only that movies and show critics prone to biases, but external factors could also affect how a media would be viewed on the platform, at least based on its scoring.
A New York Magazine investigative report in September last year claimed that critics' review on Rotten Tomatoes are vulnerable to exploits that could allow companies to manipulate critics' scores to their favor.
The loophole essentially centers around publicity firms employing self-publishing critics to boost the "Tomatometer" on the site, making it more appealing to first-time viewers not careful enough to read the reviews.
While it is not as severe as it was back then, Rotten Tomatoes' audience rating could still be manipulated in some ways, as well.
User-led inline campaigns have attempted to downvote certain shows and films before but have ultimately failed as Rotten Tomatoes removed spam accounts intended to boost the audience rating.
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Prone to Changes
In the same sense, Rotten Tomatoes scores, at least during the initial week of the film or show's screening, are not considered as a final score in rating the media.
Audience ratings for many films and shows often change over time as more people are able to view the title, much different when talk-of-the-mouth is the prominent basis for rating titles during their initial release.
