Thursday, April 4, 2013

Roger Ebert, we say goodbye...

The cinematic world lost one of the premier film critics of all time. For those curious, Roger Ebert has passed away after a lengthy battle with cancer. While I have never been a huge fan of the profession of film criticism (I am aware of the irony) since most are not good at it (myself included), I always respected Roger Ebert. Frankly, he was always a cut above the rank and file that fill the profession.

I would be hard pressed to find someone who at the very least did not respect his contribution as a journalist. Sure, I may not have agreed with him from time to time or felt that some he adopted relatively pretentious positions but damn, the man was a hell of a wordsmith. He always struck me as a man that you would not argue about film with. Simply, he ate, breathed and dreamed about... In short, you watched film to escape your life, for Ebert, film was his life.

To merely call Roger Ebert a film critic, is to him a disservice. He was for all intents and purposes, Ebert was a journalist. Some cover business and law, others might travel abroad and cover the destruction of humanity in war... Ebert covered the realm of film and his death leaves a void in the discipline that is journalism. With that being said, Roger, your wit and wisdom will be missed. Godspeed.

No comments:

Post a Comment