Yesterday morning, Emma at The Film Geek posed an interesting question. She asked those of us who spend our time blogging about movies whether we consider ourselves film critics. After about ten seconds’ worth of reflection, my answer was to say “No. No, I’m not.”

There is the old saying that everyone’s a critic, right? That it doesn’t take much for someone looking at any type of work to offer up an opinion on what’s wrong with that piece of work. Whether or not the opinion is astute is a different story. One particular film critic – known for his tendency to swim against the current – has bemoaned the fact that in the information age, criticism has fallen into the hands of uninformed fanboys who just want to tell you how much overhyped movies suck, and how awesome fetish property films are.

Much as I usually disagree with this critic, he’s not exactly wrong on this point. However, that isn’t why I don’t see myself as a critic.

It’s my belief that to fully understand, appreciate, and deconstruct any art form, you must be well read in the art form. If one wanted to be a writer, they should know Shakespeare back and forth. If somebody wanted to be a jazz pianist, they should be able to play Thelonious Monk. Such touchstones are the building blocks…and if you can’t create the art, you only want to examine the art, you must likewise be as well versed.

This, my friends, is where I fall short.

I can argue for hours on why CARS is a better Pixar offering than people give it credit for. I could write pages on why P.T. Anderson could be the next Robert Altman. But I wouldn’t know where to begin when discussing Frederico Felinni’s body of work. Nor could I explain how BREATHLESS affected modern cinema. And while neither of these two details are essential to explaining why STEP UP 3-D is a waste of time, they are essential to insightful criticism.

My fascination with “The Essentials” is legend by now, but there is a reason why they are considered “essentials”. Basically, before we can comment on where we are headed, we really need to look back on where we have been. In time, i might have studied the history deep enough to comment on the state of affairs, but for now I’m well short.

So no – I’m no critic. I am not be in a league with A.O. Scott or Peter Travers. They understand the medium far better than I do, and can articulate why elements of film do or don’t work far better than I can on my best day. I’m a blogger to be sure, and a writer who strives to improve. I belong to a particular weight class of fighters, and have never deluded myself into thinking that I can step into the ring for a shot at the belt…and I’m OK with that.

With that in mind, this passion of mine doesn’t seem to be going away anytime soon, and there is a stripe of pride running through me that is dedicated to getting better at it (one look at some of my earlier writings tells me that it’s working).

So I will continue to expand my vocabulary…I will continue to watch as much as I can get my hands on. I will continue to hops that one day someone will pay me to do what I’m doing and up my legitimacy just that much more, and until then I will continue to carry my own equipment bag and file onto the bus with all the other bushleaguers.

I’m no critic – but that won’t stop me from striving to be one.