Roger Ebert

Unfortunately, the world has lost a truly great human being today. Roger Ebert arguably the most famous movie critic in the world or at least certainly the most famous American film critic has passed away after a long battle with cancer. He was 70 years old and those in the know probably saw this coming as he has not posted movie reviews on his website in quite some time. Still even expecting something like this I have to say that this is a really sad day for the world. What Roger has meant to the film industry cannot be understated and the studios knew that his "thumbs up" of a movie very often added a touch of credibility to a film that often in many cases helped these films to make more money and be seen by a much wider array of people. He did an excellent job at being able to bridge the gap between the academic and the general film going public. His reviews often touched upon film craft and structure as well as on the films ideology. In recent years he had taken to writing op ed pieces on his website that focused on his view of life and often he would comment on world events. He was a Catholic and his faith was a very important part of his life. He adored his wife Chaz the way that men are supposed to adore their wife and in a cynical age with divorce rates being sky high it was refreshing to see how devoted he and his wife were to each other. Additionally, his wife was African American and with all the recent talk about who has the "right" to get married it is worth mentioning that at one time not too long ago in America interracial marriage was seen as something that was abominable. Roger and Chaz are an inspiration because they were a constant reminder of how love is the only key for a marriage to be meaningful and successful. Roger was also very much liberal on many political issues and his opinion pieces about world events were often accurate. More then being labeled as a simple "liberal" Roger was a free thinker who was not afraid to express his thoughts about films and the world at large based on his life experiences, his Catholic faith and his desire to see us all try to be decent towards each other. Roger was the only film critic who's reviews I would respect without question even if I did not agree with them. This was a man that I realize as I am writing this that I deeply admired and respected. The word "hero" is a loaded term that is thrown around way too easily in our society today. In many respects Roger Ebert is absolutely a hero of mine! As a film professor Roger's thoughts and writings on film have been hugely influential on me and he would have been one of the people that I would have most wanted to meet in the world today. I am saddened by this loss and can only be grateful that Roger changed the way that people look at the film critic. In short thank you Roger.
http://www.imdb.com/news/ni50555553/?ref_=hm_nw_tp_t1