Letters to the Editor
-
And the misanthrope of the month is...
OK, I love Harlan's writing. I've devoured his work since I was in college, especially incredible essays like "From Alabamy With Hate" that stay with you for decades like a splinter in the eye. I was fortunate enough to interview him for a few minutes when I was an intern with Los Angeles magazine back in 1986. He's a genius, and his refusal to budge one inch toward compromise with the dehumanizing crap machine that is corporate pop culture is an act of pure bravery.
But Salon, what's up with the bitter old farts? I mean, first George Carlin and now Ellison? What, you couldn't dig up Vonnegut and let him wax miserable about the human condition from beyond the grave? Carlin, Ellison, Zappa and their ilk all suffer from a common disease of the truly visionary and passionately gifted: they are blind to the truth that most human beings are not geniuses who are driven by otherworldly fire to create and defy and rage against the dying of the intellect. They're just ordinary folks shuffling along trying to get by, trying to maintain some sort of moral center while beating their heads against the wall of a culture and economic system that wants to suck the money out of their marrow. And they've made your career possible, Harlan, by buying your books and watching your teleplays. Shoot them in the head for not knowing who Bessie Smith is? Fuck you, Jack.
Is this the start of a Misanthrope of the Month column or something? You gonna do a fireside chat with Chuck Manson next? How about a three-way with Osama bin Laden and the Unabomber? Better yet, try mixing in some geniuses who know how goddamned lucky they are to have spend decades making a great living doing something most people only dream about doing. You know, folks with perspective and humility.