Understanding why a piece of art works—and perhaps even more importantly, accepting that it works and knowing who it works for even if you don’t quite understand why it works—is, I think, a fairly key critical function. Part of that revolves around having some idea of how the business of showbiz works: “Her tastes weren’t populist, but they weren’t snobbish, either; one reason few people realize that Didion worked for years as a film critic before beginning a career as a screenwriter may simply be that her criticism is short, punchy, and more preoccupied with the business and aura of the Hollywood star machine than arguments about film as art.” (This is also, likely, a reason she was so good at covering the world of politics as it devolved into a funhouse mirror of the entertainment industry.)