Current Events > Why do so many people not understand how Rotten Tomatoes works?

(+) Yeah! (+)

A movie can be 100% Fresh and get literally 6.5/10 from every single critic.

The only thing the "Fresh Meter" looks at is if the movie is at least better than a 5/10 (from the best I can gather).

So, lets look at some examples.

Jumanji Welcome To the Jungle has a 76% on Rotten Tomatoes. A lot of people seem to gather that means that... "Oh, so it averages out to like, a 7.6 out of 10 or something!"

If you look at the actual ratings, it has an average rating of 6.1. A lot of critics rated it a 3/5. That is still "Fresh" on the Tomato Meter because it isn't lower than a 5/10, but it definitely inflates it to look a lot better than it is.

Now if we look at Black Panther, they have a 97% Fresh, but an average critics rating of 8.3. So while the Tomato Meter is super high, it is tracking at an 8.3. Definitely great for Black Panther, but it isn't like it's going to be a perfect film. (User reviews are tracking at a 3.9/5, or a 7.8/10. Not much different from the critical reception, despite having a "74% liked it" rating)

One more example. Shape of Water. It has a Tomato Meter of 92%, but an average critic rating of 8.4. Technically critics are enjoying Shape of Water MORE than Black Panther, but the Tomato Meter doesn't really look at that, only looking at the number of critics who thought it was "Fresh" or not. 78% from audience "liked it" at a clip of again 3.9/5. Same audience rating, but more "liked it" than they did for Black Panther.
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New and interesting

Right. It like or dislike.
Doesn't bother me people don't know that, though.
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now do imdb!
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