record does not match the hate...

M. Night's a popular target of disdain. I get it--he's had a string of less-than-stellar movies and he seems to take himself very seriously. Fine. But his haters would have you believe that his first movie (which they say is The Sixth Sense) was a huge success, but it was a fluke, and he has sucked ever since. But here's the real record, which is much more nuanced:

Praying With Anger - Indie film, almost nobody saw it
Wide Awake - Minor film, mixed reviews
The Sixth Sense - Huge success, critically and in the box office
Stuart Little - Mixed success
Unbreakable - Favorably reviewed by critics and auds
Signs - Critical and box office success
The Village - good box office, reviews and audience response mixed
The Lady in the Water - a failure in almost every way
The Happening - decent box office numbers, but not well received
Devil - mixed reviews and audience response
The Last Airbender - decent box office, bad reception by critics and audience

By my count, I see 3 or 4 successes, 3 or 4 mixed, and 3 or 4 failures. This is hardly the record of a 1-hit-wonder. And considering that he is only in his 40s, I suspect (hope?) that this mixed bag of films is not the end of his career, but the end of the beginning of his career.

"I put a quote here so I could be cool."