Ray Carney

Ray Carney, also known as Raymond Carney, is an American "interdisciplinary arts scholar" primarily known for his work as a film theorist. His primary field of study is the works of actor and director John Cassavetes. He teaches at Boston University and has written several books on Cassavetes.http://people.bu.edu/rcarney/aboutrc/bookstore.shtml

Criticism

Critics of Carney find him to be both elitist and obscurist, as he often champions films and filmmakers that the mainstream film critics (and even fellow "elitists") have never even heard of. The stridency of his essays and opinions have caused some to call him a fanatic; others find him annoying, cloying, and childish, particularly when he throws around words like "idiot" to describe his fellow scholars, critics, and film professionals.

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Some are quick to point out that Carney is the self-described expert on the work of Cassavetes, and that he has a tendency to dismiss other opinions on the matter in toto. Noted critic Jonathan Rosenbaum, himself a target of some of Carney's attacks, noted that in Carney's book Cassavetes on Cassavetes, Carney does not list his sources, "setting up obstacles to other researchers that are so formidable that he effectively seems to be staking a territorial claim and announcing ?No Trespassing' to other scholars." http://www.cineaste.com/cass.htm

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