originally written: September 15, 2020
revamped: February 10, 2022
This is going to make me sound like some sort of high school English teacher, but I don’t even care.
The SJ Rating (“SJ” being a shortened version of Simply Jamilah) is a rating system I came up with for reviewing books, movies, & television shows.
The rating system is broken down into five categories, and each category is worth 20 points. Within those categories, there are four questions I ask myself, worth five points each. Each point equates to one percent, which is how I come up with the percentages on my literary reviews (and any future movie or TV review).
Here are the five categories:
1. APPEAL
2. ACCESSIBILITY
3. OUTSIDE OPINIONS
4. INGREDIENTS
5. EXPERIENCE
1. appeal
- Is the title catchy or pleasing to the ear?
- Is the cover visually appealing?
- Does the trailer or synopsis obviously give away the whole thing?
- Overall, did it give a good first impression?
2. accessibility
- How much time was spent trying to obtain it?
- Did I have to pay an arm and a leg to access it?
- Did I have to travel for the experience?
- Was it easily obtainable?
3. outside opinions
- Is it award-winning or a big hit among the press & festivals?
- Is it popular? How long from the original release date did it gain popularity?
- What are other people and bloggers saying about it?
- Do people who know me think I’ll enjoy it?
4. ingredients
- Who are the cast, crew, and/or characters? Anyone familiar?
- Is this similar to other works by the author/director?
- Is there a good plot, and does it flow?
- Are there any themes or topics I can relate to?
5. experience
- Was the initial look and title deceiving? In a good or bad way?
- How was the overall style of the piece (writing, editing, cinematography)?
- Was it worth the time & energy?
- Were my expectations met or exceeded?
When I rate things, this is the categorical system I use; I hope this provides more insight on my thinking when reviewing and recommending books, movies, and television shows.
