Letters to the Editor
MomoCat
Published Letters: 39 Editor's Choice: 15
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Loved it
[Read the article: "Spider-Man 3"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I'm not sure why Spiderman 3 opened everywhere else before it hit the US, but we saw it the day it opened in Europe, May 1. I am a huge Spiderman fan from way back, probably one of the only girls in my class who actually looked forward to the next Spidey comic book. So I am a bit biased.
I was passing my time during the film being in a lovely state of suspended disbelief and thoroughly enjoying everything from the filmic references to Frodo and the Ring, to The Mask, to a bit of Gene Kelly, to the old 'thirties musicals, to the grey shading of all the characters (there isn't a single one-dimensional character here of note, except perhaps for JJ, Peter Parker's choleric editor - and even he is good at being the comic relief). All the main characters, including the villians, actually have some depth, thanks to the writing/directing/acting.
I didn't care that the origin/motivation of the malicious black goo from beyond is never explained and strains credulity even for people like me. I thought it moved itself around in a groovy, insect-like fashion, and the way to get rid of it is super cool. I thought James Franco was fab, and Thomas Hayden Church just keeps blowing me away (pun intended) with his choice of roles. I loved Peter Parker trying to be cool - a sort of latter-day Nutty Professor high on space goo. I loved how the movie gets into different perceptions of what the characters see as right, wrong, and their responsibility towards being truthful with themselves.
So, in the middle of this, my 12-year-old daughter turns to me and says with a sigh, "I'm bored." Then she apologized for dissing my favorite superhero, and politely sat through the rest of the film.
What to say? I loved it, she was just killing a couple of hours. The movie is long, a bit convoluted, and bites almost but not quite more than it can chew. Can't wait to see it again...but I'll probably have to take a different date.
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Relax, Gordon, and enjoy the pretty pictures
[Read the article: "Spider-Man 3"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Oh, and for those who consider it irrelevant to discuss movies like Spiderman, remember: Many, many more people will see this than will ever see the amazing Seven Samurai, or Woman in the Dunes, or The Lives of Others, or Fanny & Alexander. So you can get all culturally huffy, but this is it, baby. Either you find out what all the morons and hicks are watching so you are informed, or you look down your nose at it and then wonder why no one outside your select circle knows what you are talking about.
Did you want to have a discussion, or did you want to rant? 'Cause if you just want to rant, why are you wasting your time even reading a review on a mega-blockbuster? You already know what you think. Go over to the political articles and thrash around there. And if you think Salon shouldn't talk about Spiderman, go read something else for awhile. It's that easy.
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Something's missing
[Read the article: Should I tell my daughter about her mother's two abortions?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I don't think the foremost question on most girls' minds regarding sex is whether their mom had one or more abortions, but I might be wrong. There is nothing in the LW's letter to indicate that the daughter has ASKED about this issue. So this is purely his own little train of thought regarding sexual education. If he's so concerned about unwanted pregnancy, then the fact that he failed not once but twice to practice effective contraception with his ex says something about his level of competency in this area. Maybe he'd rather explain that part of the whole story to his daughter...?
So, get her some good information, make sure she knows her options and the consequences of her choices, remind her that any form of birth control is only as good as its regular use, and be there for her if she has questions.
And if she asks that particular question, refer her to her mother.
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Fuddy-duddy
[Read the article: College girls gone wild (and proud of it)]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I must be missing something here. Where did all these young'uns posting here (I mean college-age folks) get the idea that the older generations (I guess the over-30 crowd...?) had less sex and was ashamed of what they did get outside the sanctity of marriage. I'm sorry - what part of all that nostalgia for the 'sixties did you not understand?
Many people of my generation (over 40) grew up either in or at the tail end of the promiscuous free love free-for-all - I don't remember anyone talking about being ashamed about much of anything, I don't remember anyone keeping count (especially when the numbers got beyond all toes and fingers). And on top of it, the worst STD we had to worry about was herpes (which, frankly, worried us quite a bit back before HIV stole its thunder). The others were curable with antibiotics, and otherwise, the aftermath of Roe vs. Wade was still expanding women's reproductive and sex education options rather than contracting them as is currently the case.
See, now it all sounds so good compared to what you are defending, I almost feel sorry to tell you that female promiscuity is nothing new or special.
So screw around with whomever you please, but get over yourselves. When the grown-ups are voicing dismay about the whole girls-gone-wild thing, believe me, it isn't about the mere fun-n-sex aspect of it, or whether you get to wear short skirts, or whether you are empowered by calling yourself a 'ho'.
It's easy enough to get your little knickers in a twist over uptight so-called feminists or evangelicals or whoever trying to steal your mojo. But honestly, honestly, honestly, that isn't what it's about.
If you're all so smart, why don't you shut up and listen to what people are actually saying. You might just learn something.