It's fucked up that RT and similar sites with their ratings are so important for so many filmgoers. I would guess it's because film theatre tickets have become more expensive so people are trying to be as selective as possible with what films they spend their money on.

So people listen to the "average", go to the movies based on predigested opinions, and end up making their own filmgoing experiences, horizon and taste closer to the average as well. The risk in filmgoing is being minimised (which kind of mirrors the behaviour of the film industry so it's not without reason that the audiences behave like that, I guess; but it still sucks).