I am not an expert writer, or even a good one for that matter, in fact most would probably correctly label me as the very definition of a novice writer. I am also not a critic, though sometimes I try on the cap just to see how it fits. So why do I pedant then? I do it often. Maybe not in text, but verbally, and usually among friends. There is a sense of power in sharp cynicism. I feel intelligent when I'm the first to point out a flaw in something. But is that why so many of us do it so often? Is that why we snark? Because it makes us feel intelligent? Maybe it's because that's the only way many of us know how to speak.

Roger Ebert writes:

A snarker is one who snarks. The word is said to be a combination of snide and remark. There are slithering undertones of shark, bark, and stark. There is also, for me, an association with snipe. The practice involves holding someone up to ridicule not so much for anything they actually did, as for having the presumption to be who they are.

In his article Hunt not the Snark but the Snarker he correctly labels the phenomenon at work here as cultural vandalism. And that's exactly what it is. There seems to be a rush among fans of things like movies, video games, art, etc to take a shit on the first thing/person that, as Ebert puts it, steps out of line. It's like a game to see who can be the first to capitalize of off a moment of vulnerability.

Ebert:

[Snarking] has operated almost as a reflex to smack down behavior that upsets our expectations. It essentially says: Get back in line, Phoenix! Think now of Howard Dean's scream, Janet Jackson's wardrobe malfunction, Sarah Palin's inability to name her reading material. Did we really think, even at the height of political passion, that the governor didn't read any newspapers? That would be George Bush, who said he didn't.

It's true, at the first sign of weakness we go in for the kill, or to be more accurate, the buzz kill. I know, I know I'm just as much of a purveyor snapshot criticism as anyone. But I wish not to be. Criticism is good, but sniping is not so good. There's a problem when we point out the flaws in others to massage our own intellect. It's also problematic when the only way we know how to celebrate the things we love is to vandalize them. It's ironic, I feel that often those who profess to be fans really have derisive and subversive intentions.

The line is not so subtle. Think about what you are really criticizing the next time you have the urge to say something scornfully witty. I'm not calling criticism itself problematic, it's not, I'm saying that criticism overwhelmingly driven by personal politics can indeed be harmful and unjustified.

Anyway, I'm sorry for digressing. This probably wont make sense to most. Moving on...