I've always subscribed to the train of thought that the best way to handle your ballot is to just be honest about it. Figuring out the best way to game the system doesn't appeal to me. My list of best films will actually be the list of films I like best.
While the negative votes are included on one's ballot for Best Film, it's not really a part of one's Best Film list. For example, someone has listed 1 to 47 all the films of the decade that he/she loves and has included 3 negative votes. The 47 films comprise the Best Film list. The 3 negative votes are not part of said person's Best Film list. So, that person's ballot is as honest as can be. It's not about sabotaging or gaming the system. You mention this is a project of celebration. By the inclusion of the counter-vote/negative vote, it's a celebration with an element of evaluation.
I don't think that's the same thing at all. I have no problem with people voicing their honest opinions in a respectful way, but this seems more like going out of your way to try and sabotage films you know other people love (because if they don't, what's the point?).
My issue with your reasoning is assuming malicious intent behind a negative vote. And along the lines of what Ferris said, the mods should rename that aspect of this project thing because it does sounds malicious, honestly.
When I make my best of list, I want to celebrate films I love, I'm not sure how this fits that spirit.
I agree, but what I gather from the mods' comments, they feel that that's not all what this project is about. It's about a collective representation of what Filmspotters think of the decade. Part of that is respectfully voicing that, say, Film A is top 26-50 material but not top 25.
I'm just trying to figure out the thought process here. If I were to cast a negative vote, I wouldn't waste it on something that doesn't stand a good shot of making the list in the first place. That leaves films that are widely loved. If they're widely loved, that means I'm in the minority. If I'm in the minority, why do I want to deny everybody else from having that movie on the list? And if I'm the only one that doesn't like it, does keeping it off of the list make it "representative" of the Filmspotting whole?
Collective representation are poor choices of words on my part. It's a compiled result. You see the counter-vote as an act of sabotage, politics, and/or denial; I see it as someone respectfully and honestly saying "if this is making it, I don't agree or think that it should be that high" (yes, it's conjecture). It reflects one Filmspotter's opinion of the decade in film and I think that should be factored since the final results are a compilation of the participants' opinion via shorthand (i.e., lists).
At the same time, I don't think there will be many counter-votes cast, anyway. Though, I do think it's more interesting to get a result that is arrived at via taking into account what people think are the best films
and what people think aren't the cream of the crop as opposed to arriving there just by what people think are the best because I think the former is more critical to the extent that a list can be.