[Nick Zwar]

Yes, I think that art should be evaluated on its own terms, of course. I don’t gage a low-budget horror movie of a first time director against Lawrence of Arabia. I take things for what they are.
It should be noted though that the term “critical” in Academia, the way you mentioned it (“always be critical to every text you encounter”) does not mean or imply to be critical of something, two very different things. In the context of “be critical to every text”), “critical” means basically just to actively analyze and evaluate information, books, art, movies etc. yourself, rather than just passively accepting it or accepting what someone else wrote or thought or said about it.