To talk about the history of film criticism in Canada is to speak of Jay Scott, a man born Jeffrey Scott Beaven. His sharp analyses and a change-of-lens approach to journalism have made him a giant in the history of Canadian arts criticism. This website takes his story as an inspiration for critics in the making and for the larger Canadian cultural consciousness.
Early Life and Career Beginnings
Born on October 4, 1949, in Lincoln, Nebraska, and raised in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Scott comes from a rather strictly Seventh-Day Adventist background in which movies were all but forbidden. However, his love for the arts was not suppressed. He earned a degree in art history at New College of Florida and later took up acting at the University of New Mexico.
He fled Vietnam as a conscription evader and moved to Canada in 1969.Scott is based in Calgary, where he started his journalism career in the movies as a critic for the Calgary Albertan. In 1975, he received his first National Newspaper Award with his review of The Alberta Cowboy Show under his belt, and it’s on that trajectory that he continued to make an upward climb on the ladder of Canadian journalism.
In 1977, Scott began writing for The Globe and Mail, a column of entertainment gossip. The next year he moved to film criticism; that was the beginning of his metamorphosis into Canada’s most influential film critic. His writing style brought bright colour, bygone glee to The Globe and Mail as opposed to the stuffiness of arts reporting.
A Film Critic Pioneer
A conversational tone end, coupled with scholarly insight in balance, always made Scott a favorite reader. He was that kind of rare film critic: he didn’t review a movie per se; he placed it in the broader framework of artistic, social, and cultural strands. He received National Newspaper Awards, three times for contributions to journalism.
Off the page, Scott hosted Jay Scott‘s Film International on TVOntario and published three non-fiction books: Midnight Matinees, Changing Woman: The Life and Art of Helen Hardin, and The Prints of Christopher Pratt. These activities continued to prove him a renaissance soul who lived and breathed art.
Personal Life and Challenges
The private life of Scott reflected the complexity in his professional one. Between 1967 and 1980, he was in marriage with Mary Bloom whom he met in Sarasota, where he was studying. After the divorce, Scott declared as gay. Scott stepped into a new dimension of self-discovery toward openness.
He tested HIV positive in 1986 which was a discovery that seemed to make him more resilient and committed to his writing skills. While continuing to write for The Globe and Mail*,Scott died on July 30, 1993 from complications of AIDS. He had left an incomplete biography of filmmaker Norman Jewison.
Image : Radio CanadaTributes and Legacy
The valedictory flow of tributes for Jay Scott continues. TVOntario broadcast a special tribute to his favourite film, Jean-Luc Godard’s Breathless. Great critics like Roger Ebert praised his work, writing that he was “supremely well-informed critic whose prose gets at what helps to make his passion cinematic.”.
Scott’s work was words alone. Clint Eastwood donated $5,000 to Toronto’s Casey House AIDS hospice in his honour. John Greyson honoured Scott’s memory with his Special Jury Citation for Zero Patience at the 1993 Toronto International Film Festival.
Great Scott! The Best of Jay Scott’s Movie Reviews was released in 1994, and the Canadian Foundation for AIDS Research benefited from the sales. In 2009, the Toronto Film Critics Association established the Jay Scott Prize, an annual award for emerging Canadian filmmakers, further cementing his influence on the arts. End
Jay Scott’s legacy isn’t just in the work he produced but also in the cultural shift he ignited. By injecting arts journalism with energetic, creative writing, he created a model for other critics to follow. The openness with which he embraced diverse views and gave underrepresented voices a chance remains a hallmark of his work.
Conclusion
Jay Scott’s voyage from a Seventh-Day Adventist family in Albuquerque to the summit of Canadian arts criticism is a testament to his passion and resilience. He left a deeply personal imprint on Canada’s artistic landscape as critic, writer, and cultural commentator. His journey is testament also to professional greatness but to courage, authenticity, and an abiding love for the arts.
Breaking all types of barriers and redefining film standards, Scott ensured that long after his departure from this earth, the legacy will continue to inspire. Through the Jay Scott Prize as well as a work of huge influence in his life, his contributions to Canadian cinema and culture remain equally valued today as they were during his lifetime
FAQs About Jay Scott
1. What made Jay Scott such a special film critic?
Jay Scott was known to marry deep artistic insight to an engaging, conversational tone, rendering films within broader cultural and social frameworks, in his reviews, both accessible and thought-provoking. Through his vibrant writing style, he helped reshape the approach taken to Canadian arts journalism.
2. What are the most notable works by Jay Scott?
Besides his film reviews for The Globe and Mail, Scott wrote three books: Midnight Matinees, Changing Woman: The Life and Art of Helen Hardin, and The Prints of Christopher Pratt. Another posthumous publication that is well acclaimed is the collection Great Scott!
3. How did Jay Scott contribute to Canadian arts and culture?
Scott’s reach in Canadian arts was well beyond the scope of his own film critiques. He was instrumental in shaping The Globe and Mail into a newspaper of record in arts journalism. Through his series on TVOntario and books, he looked at art in all its forms, making people love and appreciate the idea of film and visual art.
4. What is the Jay Scott Prize?
Established in 2009, the Toronto Film Critics Association bestows the Jay Scott Prize annually. The prize involves a cash award of $10,000, symbolizing promising filmmakers as well as paying homage to Scott.