Letters to the Editor
SlightHiccup
Published Letters: 5 Editor's Choice: 2
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Well yes but...
[Read the article: "Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I didn't find Aqua Teen funny when I first saw it but after a friend subjected me to several episodes it was like something in my brain painlessly broke and it all was suddenly hilarious. I agree that's a bit much to expect for a reviewer who's never seen the show. So probably it won't appeal that much to people who haven't seen the show.
I'm surprised she didn't mention the thing with the lightboxes in Boston though. That was something that even people who hate the film can find funny.
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I'm not sure about the revisionism.
[Read the article: "Lonely Hearts"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]There's something odd about the way filmakers always want female killers of this kind to be smoking hot femme fatales instead of mundane or even ugly. A large part of the Beck and Fernandez story was about her insecurity and lack of allure.
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The golden rule of being in the minority.
[Read the article: "Bitches-and-hos" lesbian subculture]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Speaking as someone gay, albeit male, I've formulated a personal rule that I think covers everyone who's a member of a minority.
It's not cool just because you're the one doing it.
This may seem simplistic but I think that there are people in minorities or disempowered groups (women for example) tend to feel that they can behave horribly and because of their minoritie status it's OK. I'm thinking of antisemitism in the black community, of racism among jews, of women who think being violent is somehow OK because they're women and of the many vile behaviours that are unfortuntely practiced in the gay community.
I should point out that I don't think minority groups behave worse on average and that the most powerful groups (wealthy white men) have an entire system of self-justification that's more far reaching and sophisticated than any other.
This is a long winded way of saying that calling your girlfriend a ho and treating her like shit is not cool just because you lack a Y chromosone.
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The nightmare will not end.
[Read the article: Paris isn't free -- and neither are we]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The really annoying thing is that nothing, certainly not this jail time, will make Paris realize that she is not above the rules of ordinary mortals. It will however make her very unhappy. Morally I'm opposed to the idea of punitive justice which I feel is a luxury that we cannot really afford, enjoying the feeling that vengeance has been served while the recidivism rate and trumped up convictions make a mockery of the idea of fairness.
In this case though I might be persuaded to make an exception. Sure it won't make Paris a better person but it will make her wear an orange jumpsuit and possibly make the aquaintence of those who are unimpressed by a career of showing up at parties and more interested in the many fascinating ways bladed weapons can be manufactured from innocuous objects and hidden about ones person.
See, now I'm doing it.
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When it works, it works. When it doesn't...
[Read the article: The body electric]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]A close friend of mine was given ECT and did experience the full horror story. She lost portions of her memory (there are still several months that are foggy for her) and on one occasion received burns from poorly placed electrodes. So my immediate reaction is to argue against this treatment.
However my friend had also not been given a formal diagnosis (she is now believed to be bipolar) and was on the receiving end of the "mud on the wall" theory of medicine. Her story may say more about the poor treatment of mental health problems on the NHS (I'm in the UK).
In general I think that it's a treatment that should be considered, but only when other treatments aren't going to be effective, as in this case.
I hope the author's son has as good a recovery as possible. This must have been a horribly traumatic experience, I can't imagine how bad.