Letters to the Editor
domini
Published Letters: 1053 Editor's Choice: 76
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One of my mother's friends lost a baby granddaughter
[Read the article: Don't believe the hype about murder]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The child was 3 months old. She was shot in the head in her mother's arms, back in 2000 or 2001. The killers were looking for another guy, bust in the house, demanded money, and shot the woman.
The baby did nothing. Witnesses who are murdered (in Baltimore, New Orleans, LA, etc it is common for thugs to murder witnesses or suspected witnesses) are also innocent. Assuming that the majority of victims are thugs or predators ignores the victims who are not. The bullet sprays tend to be indiscriminate. Lumping in innocent with predator makes it easy to ignore the killing.
Black men are not the only victims. So many toddlers, so many babies. From car jacking to just plain wanting your stuff, nihilistic thugs kill without always being rational.
I want to be optimistic. I really do. I've seen how my husband's face and demeanor changes when we go home, out of defense of self and family. I've met the thugs. I've seen how my brothers have to think and act to protect themselves in an urban environment. I've been to the funerals of people in the wrong place and the wrong time.
I agree that drugs are a significant factor. So is education, so is institutional corruption, so is economic opportunity, so many overlapping factors. The gangbangers are organized and sophisticated. They take homes through mortgage fraud, they steal identities, they are the new organized crime without the boundaries of the old La Familia. The culture that celebrates them as outlaws (Snoop, I'm looking at you) ignores the mothers who cry on graves and cry at trials. There are so many responsible, intelligent, lawful black men out there. I want to scream when my white male students go bopping to gangsta shlock.
I know this nihilism is old. We see it as far back as the 1880s in memoirs in history. I think it is easy to dismiss if we see them all as predators. We know certain things work. I think the government has no will to deal with this.
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The play is wonderful
[Read the article: Stop! In the name of love]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The soundtrack for the play is excellent. That's the sounds dissed here. They are 80s sounds, and were never meant to be Motown sounds. If they were, there would be a copyright issue. "Family" is one of the most heartbreaking songs of all time.
Beyonce is not meant to impersonate Diana Ross. Deena Jones is modeled on here, but was never a copy. Deena is supposed to be finding herself. She is supposed to seem confused, unlike the ever scheming and manipulative Ms. Ross. That's a part of the dramatic license that keeps Gordy and Ross from being able to sue.
I love "And I am Telling You". It was a massive hit the first time around.
I think the problem here is that people make so much of the play was based on the Supremess hat they miss the fact thatthe play was an indictment of the soul killing music industry and it's relentless 80s emphasis on "crossing over" and "whitening". With pop artists like Justin Timberlake trying to sing black, the opening soliloquy on appropriation has a different meaning to people like me than to a movie critic. It is as fresh an argument today as it was then; only the sound appropriated is different.
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I hate docu dramas and fictional histories.
[Read the article: Maya in the Thunderdome]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I agree that these writers and directors want the authenticity of the historical event and narrative, without the limitations. his goes far beyond dramatic license.
As claiming a straightforward rendering of the Scottish rebellion would have been boring, I can point to movies like "Blackhawk Down", "Porkchop Hill", The Big Red One", etc. Battlefied movies have always had an audience. Watching people drown was certainly interesting on a certain small movie named "Titanic". Things that sound flat on paper can come to life if portrayed with talent. All those books about World War I, World War II, etc find audiences without cheap tricks like tacked on sappy love stories.
I agree that if they want to write fiction with a historical background, do that. Do not market it as authentic. Gibson markets this as based on extensive research, blah blah blah. Just admit that it is a fictional mishmash and don't try to link it to any sense of reality.
Some poor kid will go into a Latin American history class and get a rude awakening if they think this is accurate.
Often dramatic license is cheap and irritating. This is why a lot of people always think "The book is better".
For the record, I hated "The Da Vinci code" for the same reason.
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GF is exhausted
[Read the article: Should we go home for Christmas -- even if we can't afford it?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]That's the subtext. She's waitressing, has a young baby, and the thought of going through airports with a young child to breastfeed and staying with strangers has overwhelmed her.
The job argument sounds weak. Too exhausted and overwhelmed to be among stressful strangers sounds a lot more likely.
She's still in the wrong. There are some things a mother needs to do, and that includes allowing access to the father's family. She wants to spend Christmas with her family because they are familiar and comfortable. That's unfair, especially since he has been supporting the family.
They need to go. She needs a rest while there. He needs to shield her from any family stressors. But she must do this, because relationships are about balance and fairness.