If you are gonna say something to Billy Bob Thornton, say it to his face. A guy like Thornton – who has been in the industry for close to 40 years – has had to deal with plenty of journalists and critics throughout his career. Fortunately, the 70-year-old actor has been a part of plenty of successful projects over the years, with the latest one being the hit Paramount+ show Landman.
The Taylor Sheridan created series – starring Thornton, Demi Moore and Ali Larter, among others – has been a massive streaming success. Millions of fans have tuned in to watch the Texas oil drama, and that population of people can’t wait for the premiere of the second season to hit Paramount+ on November 16.
Billy Bob Thornton is certainly excited for fans to see how everything shakes out in Season 2. He was recently a guest on The Joe Rogan Experience to talk a little bit about the upcoming season, and also took a moment to encourage fans to watch the show and come up with their own opinions. Thornton went on a bit of an anti-critic rant, and even called out journalists who compliment what he does in person, only to turn around and criticize it online:
“The ones I don’t dig are… let’s say you hated ‘Landman.’ And you tell me that. You say, ‘You know what, I don’t get it.’ I can accept that. I’d go, ‘I’m sorry you don’t dig it. We’re having a great time on it. A lot of people like it, but I respect that.’ It’s the ones – this is with journalists mostly – who say, ‘Hey I love (Landman). It’s the best show on TV.’
Then you read their article and they just rip you a new a******. That’s what I don’t respect. If you don’t like it, tell me you don’t like right now. Don’t get me to say a bunch of s*** about it, and then (rip it). That’s what’s wrong.”
Have to agree with Billy Bob Thornton on that one. Later on in the interview, the Landman leading man took his thoughts a step further, and proposed that critics should change their system altogether. Like a show or movie? Tell the world about it. Dislike something that you saw? Don’t say a word about it, and let people decided for themselves. Thornton described it with a little bit more specificity:
“I actually think that critics should only do reviews on things they like. Because what are you trying to do with the terrible review? They claim that they are trying to protect the public from this atrocity. I don’t understand why they think that they are the savior of everybody’s $15 bucks or whatever.
Go in there, and if you don’t dig it, don’t dig it, and don’t worry about it. Just tell the public, ‘Hey, I’m nobody, but I saw this movie recently and it was pretty f***ing good. You might want to go see it.’ As opposed to, ‘This vile piece of s***.’ To have that type of arrogance, to think that you are informing them that they should stay away from something like you know s***. I don’t get that part.”
Pretty interesting thought process, right?
In a way, I see where he’s coming from. I definitely think it’s negative for the opinions of a couple of critics to sway people from experiencing art, which is always up for interpretation. However, reviews can help viewers make informed opinions, and a world where every critic only reviews things in a positive manner could lead to their purpose being diluted. All in all though, Thornton has been at it long enough to know what works in the industry and what doesn’t, so I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt when it comes to his perspective on critics. You can hear him talk more about it in the interview below:
The Joe Rogan Experience – Billy Bob Thornton
