What's in a review?

We are a nation obsessed with voting, and ratings take the place of voting in elections, since everyday is a popularity contest in social media, not to mention TV. We're a nation of stars like Sly Stone predicted in "Everybody is a Star," but while his song was an affirmation of the power of the people, I'm afraid the original intent has been warped, and we're a nation of sycophants looking for approval. We can't stop rating things we're so obsessed with the power of the individual, and we don't seem to care how smart or stupid we are, since any vote expresses freedom.

It's almost impossible to find objective criticism in our highly politicized environment, and I guess stars or thumbs up/down, are the closest we can get, like the A to F letter grades in school. There isn't much variance in this system, and when I went to Oakwood in elementary school we didn't even have grades, because they were seen in the same way people see standardized testing now; as a way to box the individual into a neat package, and shrink him down. But Oakwood probably has grades circa 2016 since the ideals of the citizen have been shattered by the illusion of voting on social media for the celebrity we want, which in the end is usually ourselves.

In the old days, we had publishers or movie studio bosses to take care of our egos, but now we have only ourselves, and must rate our ourselves everyday, with a thumbs up or down, like a politician in a hot campaign. In a way, this is exciting but I fear it gives the lie to our actual political elections where our vote doesn't mean much, so maybe social media is society's way of making up for what we lack in real life.

I'm publishing a book and the 5 star rating system makes some sense to me, but it's the review that really matters, since the objectivity of stars can only account for so much in art. A four or five star review implies a job well done, and that the book wasn't too boring, while a one or two star review implies a job poorly done, though so much so the book may well be entertaining, at least in the short run, but entertainment is a double edged sword. A three star review to me sounds like the worst since it's like lukewarm water.

Truthfully, you have to read the reviews to understand a book, or take into account all the stars and all the reviews, coming to a totality in your mind. I got very good at this as a kid because my parents would leave the "Calendar" section of the L.A. Times out for me to read and I'd compile an aggregate of reviews, and essentially judge the critics, and became an astute observer. Society has gotten to a point where you almost need this third eye to understand anything at all since we live in a world of national elections where everyone is distorting the truth everyday for their popularity and political ends, a nation of voters, who don't bother going to the polls, but are instilled with a fat thumb and an iPhone, ready to weigh in on every scandal. You have to distill all criticism to come to a point, and that's too much for most people, so the best books go unread, but so do the worst.