Captcrisis- there is a difference between observing that some black women (Alice Walker, Maya Angelou, Sapphire, Oprah) create and support art that addresses issues of sexual violence against black women, and assuming every black woman has been sexually abused.

It is your failure to grasp that point that makes your ridiculous umbrage deserving of nothing but contempt.

Christopher1988- Your attempt to set yourself up as the arbiter of what sort of art different minority groups should be making (and that IS the gist of your comments) make this gay man want to vomit himself inside out. (Seriously, WHO ARE YOU to tell any black female artist what the "proportionate" amount of sexual abuse should be IN HER FICTION? Who are you to take potshots at a movie you haven't seen, based on some assumption of the "correct" amount of tragedy?)

For that matter, WHAT THE HELL does "middle class audience" and "white consumers" have to do with an analysis of the text? Sapphire's book and movie are bad, because you dislike the assumed reactions of the assumed audience? Seriously?

I picked a terrible day to stop sniffing glue.

After all, who does Oprah think she is, supporting art that speaks to her experience and that of other black women? Why won't someone make some art directed at you, the poor neglected 18-25 year old male? Life is so unfair.

Thank goodness we're here to tell black women how to tell their own stories, and indeed what kind of stories they should be telling.

(I mean, what was up with Maya Angelou, pushing our buttons with her tale of sexual abuse and prostitution in "...Caged Bird.." and "Gather Together..." If only she had checked here, she could have saved herself all that embarrassment.)

/end sarcasm.

If K Street pays people money to do filthy things (and they do), then they are "Johns", not "Whores". Of course, it's probably easier to single out a female employee with a sexualized slur then lay it where it belongs- on all those "distiguished gentleman" down on their knees for that sweet, sweet corporate cash.

Of course, calling sitting Congressmen and -women "whores" to their faces would take actual courage, as opposed to whatever it is Grayson was displaying.

I'm as anti-Men's Rights Group whining as they get, but judging women's bodies and choices is no more attractive when done by a female.

Where to start?

#1. Declaring that people can learn things from movies but not the lives of actual people (which includes the "sordid", "private" lives of "celebrities") is glib bullshit lacking anything resembling support. (Paul Blart: Mall Cop? Educational. Rock Hudson's decades of fear and shame in the closet? Not worth considering.)

#2. While people are welcome to view "noble intentions" as pointless, the rest of us live under, and are protected by, a Justice system that only exists because of such "pointless" intentions. It is not perfect by any means, but it allows for incremental improvement, as opposed to the nihlist bullshit of "doomed human endeavors".

#3. Chinatown is a masterpiece, not because it conveys some self-satisfied "social truth", but because it is a PROVOCATION. Polanski said it himself- "the audience leaves and forgets about the problem right over their dinner..." without such provocation. He even identifies the ending he wrote (and by extension, his supporters desire) as a PROBLEM. He apparently has those same pointless noble intentions the rest of us have. That he failed to honor them does not negate their value, or our obligation to act on them as best we can.

(Curiously, while attempting a "pox on both your houses", Mr. O'Hehir never explains exactly how the Rape-Rape apologists are animated by Chinatowns' vision of normative cosmic injustice, but I'm sure O'Hehir will be updating at any moment to explain.)

To say "Forget it, Jake" is to deny the possibility of human progress, and to absolve others for your unwillingness

It's like Homer Simpson parenting lessons-

Kids, You Tried Your Best and You Failed Miserably. The Lesson Is, Never Try

Tinylizardballs-

There's a key on your keyboard called "Caps Lock", and below that, one called "Shift". You use those to create capital letters, which appear at the begining of sentences and proper nouns. It is necessary to do so if you want to critique a piece of writing, as otherwise you look like a lazy hypocrite and fool.

That is all.

If you don't understand why anecdotes about yourself and Jesus and Beethoven are irrelevant to multivariate statistic analysis, you probably shouldn't be commenting on it, regardless of your birth month.

I believe that your right to be free from the threat of violence also outweighs concerns about Don't ask, Don't tell and gay marriage. I believe equating my desire to get married to your desire to be free from violence and fear would also be an act of moral idiocy.

That said, violence against sexual minorities (lesbian, gay, trans with the exception of Iran) is an order of magnitude greater in the countries under discussion, and to minimize their persecution by comparing our own is to do a grave diservice to both.