I have come to learn that rating things, like movies, on a five star system can give people anxiety. This, apparently, is why some online and streaming services have moved to a more simplistic like/dislike system.

I don’t know for sure, but it seems to me that people think there is a meaning to each number of stars they do not fully understand, and are uncomfortable creating their own meaning. (I blame our education system for this.)

This is how I rate movies on a five star system:

• One star is a movie that I stop watching within ten or twenty minutes.
• Two stars is a movie that I cannot finish, but make it more than twenty minutes.
• I can finish a three star movie, but am still somewhat cool on it.
• I like four star movies, and
• I love five star movies.

My default is to make my own meaning and rules about things. It is a blessing and a curse, but that is evolution.