The Cost of Personal Criticism

I was in the bookstore the other day and saw the book cover for Carrie Fisher's "Wishful Drinking."

Star Wars fan that I am, I simply had to pick it up and take a look. I turned it over, to find the following quote on the back cover:

"Carrie Fisher is bovine and unappealing, having inherited the worst qualities of both her parents." John Simon

Wow. How mean! And mean-spirited. John Simon is a well-known critic, and despite the fact that Carrie Fisher is a celebrity and {they say} fair game for criticism, can you imagine being any woman, reading that about yourself, and being unaffected?

Immediately, an idea popped into my head. Perhaps a critic, before being allowed to publish such an opinion, should be required to give something substantial of himself first. Cut off a finger, for example. I mean, the words he's about to write will likely scar his victim for life. If he feels so committed to a negative opinion about a person that he must share it with the world, might we not ask that he similarly damage himself? Notice, he's not describing Fisher's work. He's describing her, personally.

From the bit I've read about the book, it seems Carrie Fisher has had an interesting life, which has given her many occasions to become injured in one way or another (or both, or more) so I doubt this particular criticism was single-handedly responsible for a significant portion of her troubles. {I am intrigued enough by the reviews I've read, though, to read the book and find out.}

Nevertheless, I wonder if the world might be slightly more civilized if such a rule were in place. Criticize the work all you want, but if you say something about the person, you should have to commit yourself to the effort.

I'm just sayin'.