Letters to the Editor
Christopher1988
Published Letters: 567 Editor's Choice: 40
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Wow, I So Don't Relate to the Vitriol
[Read the article: Firing Imus was the right thing]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]His comment seems so obviously meant as a joke, and it's so similar to speech heard across this country every day, I don't get where all these people come from who are shocked, shocked, SHOCKED. And I say this even though friends I know and respect are among the offened.
First clarification: the majority engaging in an activity does not make it right. Segregation was never okay. National Socialism was never acceptable. But the widespread use of street language by people in every facet of society (usually lightheartedly) is recognized as a playful, non-aggressive act.
Second clarification: I think the anger is generated by Imus and not by what he said. He's been disliked for quite awhile. It would take a Hannity or O'Reilly to beat him in this category. Had Rosie O'Donnell screamed it on The View three times an episode for a week, she'd probably still be able to sign a multi-million dollar deal for her own syndicated show. It's about the man, not the words.
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Mike,
[Read the article: The dark legacy of Carlos Castaneda]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I know this is going to sound unkind, and I don't mean for it to, but did occur to you that if it hadn't have been Castaneda, it would have been someone else? I'm sorry for what happened to this girl you loved, but I suspect she would have given herself to another charleton in his absence.
I keep noticing no one was coerced, subjected to mind controlling drugs, deprived of sleep or food, in an effort to brainwash them. The girls (and a few guys) were willing. They wanted to give their power away. They kept making a choice.
Makes it very hard to hold Castaneda responsible, or put him in the same camp with the Moonies, Jim Jones, etc. He doesn't seem to have deprived anyone of their freedom. They did that themselves. He's comes across as a dick, but if people want to follow, they'll follow.
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On Fiction vs. Non-Fiction
[Read the article: The dark legacy of Carlos Castaneda]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I don't have much tolerance for the JT Leroys of the world. And thought James Frey did in fact state at the front of his book that some things had been altered from what actually occurred, he seems to be a sham, too.
But Castaneda's use of Don Juan reminds me more of another writer in history: Plato. We don't have a clue if, and many people strongly suspect that, Socrates never said the things attributed to him. It is possible that Plato put his own philosophy into Socrates's mouth because it was safer than owning the ideas himself (and risking imprisonment and hemlock).
And, really, we can't prove there was no Don Juan, or if perhaps Don Juan is an amalgamation of people spouting various philosoophies. To use a less auspicious example than Plato, Shirley MacLaine made her various teachers into one reappearing character in Out on a Limb. In her various books, she describes out of body experiences, spiritual beings guiding and even physically aiding her, and a face-to-face encounter with her androgynous "Higher Self."
No one's calling for Plato or MacLaine to be repackaged as fiction. I really don't get why Castaneda's works should be treated differently. Exactly how seriously do people take the New Age selections that fill the "Mataphysics" shelves of their bookstores?
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Mike,
[Read the article: The dark legacy of Carlos Castaneda]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I do get that the guy was a slime, and believe me, I don’t think he was right to do what he did. I am sorry that Caren was hurting, and rather than finding help she found a group of users. Personally, I don’t think you let her down, because it sounds to me that everyone who knew and loved her did what they could, but the situation was beyond everyone’s ability. You couldn't know how some books on your shelf might influence her. A very sad story.
And I realize others have gone through this, too. One of the reasons my first post compared him to Salinger is that in many ways Salinger has practiced the same sort of emotional abuse on the people in his life. He just didn’t use religious terms or re-name his female companions to initiate them as “witches.” Some men, to put it simply, are abusive assholes.
It’s just interesting to me that Castaneda didn’t seem to take money or coerce these people. There was money made through the seminars, but that doesn’t seem to have anything to do with the inner cult. I’m not even sure “cult” is the right term. It sounds more like emotional abuse or, to use a tired clichéd phrase, co-dependant relationships. Taken to the extreme.
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If you try to defend it, you miss the point.
[Read the article: "Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I'm not a college student and I'm not a stoner, but often as not I get a kick out of the show. It's just for laughs.
Boy is Zacharek a dufus. Those first pretentious sentences! She seems to think she's exposing something somehow, like we'd be lead into considering this movie the epitome of hip if she were't here to tell us otherwise. She doesn't have a clue, does she? Doesn't have a clue, at all.
All right. Back to only reading the reviews by O'Hehir.
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Evens Evens,
[Read the article: Porn in theory, porn in practice]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Um, what would be the opposite of that? Is there a kind of sexual expression (in art, pop culture, or life) that would be defined as "intellectually rigorous"?
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How Did Fergie's Song Set Back Feminism Half a Century?
[Read the article: The lessons of "My Humps"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Will someone explain?