About

Welcome to Critically Touched (CT)!

History

Originally hosted over at SuperJer.com (back in 2005) with what began as a one man’s desire to unleash his unique perspective on the brilliant television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, CT Founder MikeJer eventually got his own domain to create, develop, administrate, and launch Critically Touched. Eventually, MikeJer welcomed a handful of carefully selected writers who wanted to tackle shows they felt had not been given their proper due, and thus CT kept expanding. After over a decade of cultivating its community and enhancing the site’s scope, real life (and his 30s) finally caught up with MikeJer, thus compelling him to move the site to WordPress (i.e. free) and hand the keys over to new management: Jeremy Grayson!

Mission Statement

This is a site that delivers quality retrospective reviews/analysis for quality shows and films, reviews that are built on the pillars of Depth, Emotion, Character, and Plot. Most reviews you’ll find elsewhere only skim the surface layer of the ‘text.’ Our goal here is to really dig deep into the themes, characters, and subtleties that bring a piece of fiction to life, while also always appreciating it for its surface-level fun. It’s the balance and blend of these aspects — intelligence, emotional resonance, and fun — that turns a piece of entertainment into something that transcends its format. This is where Critically Touched lives and is even where the name comes from.

Becoming a Critic

First things first: Being a critic is harder than it looks. There are times when it can be fun and gratifying, but there are other times when it can be tough and exhausting. Writers for Critically Touched don’t get paid for their work – they do it out of sheer joy and passion for the shows and films they write about. (And the glory. We love the glory.)

If you’re still with me, and you really are interested in becoming a writer for Critically Touched, I’ll walk you through the guidelines:

  • First, you must be at least 18 years old. That’s roughly the sufficient amount of life experience needed to become a world-weary critic.
  • If you would like to start your tenure at CT as a film critic, start by finding a few films you’re legitimately passionate about. Film reviews are not as long-term a commitment as TV reviews, but they can be difficult if you don’t have the drive to complete them.
  • If you’re more interested in becoming a TV critic, pick a TV series you’d like to review episode-by-episode. Should you ultimately get the job, you will be allowed to write film reviews and Blog posts as well.
  • For prospective TV critics, your initial television series:
    1. Should be roughly between 10-40 episodes. This is to ensure that you have what it takes to review a series over a reasonable period in a timely manner and of consistently strong quality. Should you succeed, you will be allowed to review a longer TV series of your choosing.
    2. Should be off the air for at least one year. This is to allow time for a show to settle into a comfortable retrospective groove, the better to approach it from a critical perspective.
    3. Should be something you love. (If it’s not, you may get bored writing about it fairly quickly.)
  • You should make it clear during your pitch why you can bring a fresh perspective to the film/series that other writers/critics have not delivered.

Each reviewer goes through a thorough “interview process” in which they are screened for passion, insight, skill, sanity, dedication, and overall intelligence. If you think you possess these qualities and wish to contribute the content on this site, please feel free to reach out to Jeremy (jeremygrayson17[at]gmail[dot]com) to start a conversation and begin the larger evaluation process.

All the reviewers writing for Critically Touched very much hope you enjoy all the passion, time, effort, sweat, and tears put into the development, design, and content of this site. The hope is that Critically Touched continues to grow over time and that it eventually becomes a bustling place for friendly yet intelligent discussion of our media’s greatest offerings. Thanks for helping make that possible by stopping by! 😀