The writer of this peace seems to believe that Amy is faking it and he has a problem with that. It offends his pure, artistic soul. Pligger Nease! I have a problem with self-righteous people (James Hannaham) who take advantage of the media to make money writing about how OTHER people shouldn't take advantage of the media to make money. She's using her media-created image to make money? Excuse me but what are you doing, exactly? Oh yeah, inflating your own importance and media image by criticizing another so that you can more effectively flog your book to the public like the corporate attention-whore you are!

As to his 'expert' opinion that Amy couldn't write if she were miserable: misery may or may not enhance creativity but then tell me this: why are most writers, poets, musicians (and comedians of all people) a bit less than little Mary Sunshine in their private lives? Clinical depression WOULD affect thinking but we are not talking about that level of dysfunctionality and in any case James Hannaham has no idea what he is talking about anyway. He is no wise sage, he is a hypocrite decrying the crassness of our culture, while at one and the same time using that very crassness to enrich himself. In the very first sentence of his article he says he expects Amy Winehouse to die. A little sensationalist perhaps? He appears to be one with the trash journalists who so dominate the rags mascarading as newspapers in London.

On your Editor's Choice letters, it is with great disappointment that I see that the very first letter in this august collection begins with a most common and ignorant racist statement: "winehouse is simply unconvincing...like nearly every other white person who insisted on singing the blues." Shall we include with this moronic statement, 'White men can't jump.', 'All black people love watermelon and fried chicken!', 'THOSE people just naturally have rythym.', 'Women are lousy at math.', 'The Irish are all drunks.', 'The Scottish are all cheap.', etc.? Of, course the Jews have NEVER suffered and couldn't possibly know anything about the blues!

Clue to the clueless (user name: had enough), Amy has jewish ancestry-I believe it even says that in the original article. And WHY would one race have the market cornered on tragedy, anyway? As to Ella, or Billy, or Aretha, or Bessie Smith, I suspect that when they were 24 or younger that a lot of what they sang about was experience that they had not had yet, either. had enough, you are either simply ignorant (best case scenario) or the most insidious kind of prejudiced scum who plays on old stereotypes, pretending to uplift one group, while actually keeping them down with your nonsense, insulting the intelligence and humanity of the rest of us in the bargain.

Thank you for replying. I did not expect one. You say Amy is playing, my position is that almost everyone who plays with fire, (of whatever sort), typically begins on a lark and only too late realizes the danger of their game. Amy may have been posing in the beginning, however I think that she has taken that one step too many and whether she was 'fronting' is irrelevant at this point. Particularly in light of my above stated opinion that most people begin on a lark only to impress peers and to appear 'cool', (posing). We will respectfully disagree.

As to the second part of my first letter, it was intended for one of my fellow posters replying to your article and not directed at you. I do not expect that you would have given voice to such a load of trash in a public forum. I stand by what I said in that part of the letter. Anyone who believes that only a certain race or ethnicity can do a specific thing and all others are incapable is just ignorant at best, a racist at worst. Do rich, happy black folks have the innate ability to reach into their families' past to successfully sing the blues? And no other group of people has ever been downtrodden. Ridiculous. In any case, again, thank you for your reply as you did not have to go to the effort.

I have read three different reviews of this particular movie and perhaps coincidentally, both female reviewers, including this one, have made statements that they would like to see more frontal nudity by males.

I am not sure if it was just serendipity or if there is some great groundswell from movie reviewers, particularly female ones, demanding more male frontal nudity. That is their own choice. For myself, unless it is organic to the story I do not NEED frontal nudity, male or female, in my movies, thank you very much.

As I say, it is their choice but if all they want is a bit of male nudity, frontal, I suspect that they could find it on the internet. The movie has yet to be released here in France but based on the reviews it does not sound that interesting and the nudity, male, frontal, is not an enticement, sorry. To each his own. Les chiens aboient, la caravane passe!