WritingarticlesaboutfilmsforTheFrontPagewasmyfirstproperjob.BeforethenIhaddonebitsofreviewing---novelsforothernewspapersfilmsforamagazineandanythingIwasaskedtodofortheradio.ThatwashowImetTomSeatonthefirstartseditorofTheFrontPagewhohadalsowrittenfortelevision.HehiredmebutTomwasnotprimarilyajournalistorhewouldcertainlyhavebeenmorecarefulinchoosinghisstaff.
Atfirsthisideawasthatateamofcriticsshouldtakecareoftheartformsthatdidn’trequirespecializedknowledge:booksTVtheatrefilmandradio.TherewouldbeaweeklylunchatwhichwewouldmakeourchoicesfromtheartisticmaterialthatTomhaddecidedweshouldcoverthoughtherewouldalsobegueststomaketheatmospheresociable.
Tom’soriginalplanforateamofcriticsfortheartsnevertookoff.Itwasagoodideabutwedidn’tgettogetherasplannedandsoeverythingwasdonebyphone.ItturnedouttoothatthegeneralpublicouttherepreferredtoassociateareviewerwithasinglesubjectareaandsoIchosefilm.WithoutTom’sinitialpushthoughwewouldhardlyhavecomeupwiththepresentarrangementbywhichIwriteanextendedweeklypieceusuallyononefilm.
ThespaceIamgivenallowsmetobroadenmyargument---orforcesmeinanuninterestingweektomakesomethingoutofnothing.Butwhatismyroleinthepublicarena(舞台)?Isupposethatpeoplechoosewhatfilmstogotoonthebasisofthestarsthepublicityofthedirector.Soifafilmreviewisn’treallyaconsumerguidewhatisit?Icertainlydon’tfeelIhavearesponsibilitytobe‘right’aboutamovie.NordoIthinkthereshouldbeacertainnumberof‘great’and‘bad’filmseachyear.AllIhavetodoisputforwardanargument.I’mnotajudgeandnorwouldIwanttobe.
WhatdowelearnaboutTomSeatonfromthefirstparagraph?
A.HeencouragedMarktobecomeawriter.
B.Hehadworkedinvariousareasofthemedia.
C.HemetMarkwhenworkingforafilmcompany.
D.Hepreferstoemploypeoplethatheknows.
Theweeklyluncheswereplannedinorderto______.
A.helpthewritersgettoknoweachother
B.provideaninformalinformationparty
C.dividetheworkthathadtobedone
D.entertainimportantvisitorsfromthearts