the critic should criticize the art, not just the artist.

This is a really good point, and I agree! And I also agree that I would like to see the actual film before making a clear judgment on it.

It raises a question, though, which is: in order for me to see the work in order to decide whether or not I support it, I need to support it by seeing it. The reason eredien started this conversation is that she has no access to the film unless she brings it to a local theater, to be seen by many other people. Which, if it turns out to be exploitative, would be a mistake. But she can't know whether or not it is exploitative until she forks over the money to the creator to see it. And there's enough debate among the critics, as seen above, that she can't just trust their judgment.

So what to do?