TRASHY?
I read the movie reviews last week in the Reporter. Generally, I try not to read reviews. Being a filmmaker, I believe that it is far easier to write a review than make a film. And it is still far easier to bash a film one might not understand than to try to understand, even, the misaligned pieces of redemption to that film. I don't tend to love a great number of films, but I think this is a bigger comment on my own self-criticism than on the criticism of the film. Most of the films I tend not to love are probably entertaining. I don't usually go to films for entertainment, I go to them for deeper personal and societal understanding. I go to them in the name of brave art. So, you see, this is my problem. And it will be my problem when the reviewer gets even.
So, the review written on
Searching for the Wrong-Eyed Jesus
[Screener, Sept. 14] made me feel so sad and so angry that we as a people, locally, in this miraculous and rich, struggling climate of Santa Fe, supposedly diverse and tolerant of each other, supposedly, even, open-minded, would stand for calling other human beings "trailer trash."
Trailer trash. Can you imagine that being printed in one of the supposedly progressive and energetically correct newspapers in Santa Fe?
I tried to figure out the root of my dismay, the pain of my disappointment, the shock in my confusion. I read the words and the blurb over and over, completely, to see if I had missed the irony or missed the intonation. But then I found the reviewer only continued her judgment on these people by mocking their language, which has likely come from not being so "worldly and sophisticated or well-schooled" as those of us residing in Santa Fe. Hmmm. This was, for me, troublesome to say the least. Not only was "trailer trash" used to describe my fellow people, but their misfortune, miseducation, or misplacement in the social queue, was mocked in the most callous of ways.
I shall see the film, and based on this review, I shall expect the worst in social behavior, etiquette and the education of these people. I shall expect them to behave in crude and lewd ways that we Santa Feans would not. I shall expect the worst display of humanity.
But no matter what I find, I shall hope to find tolerance and understanding in myself, rather than judgment and prejudice. Is this self-righteous behavior not, ultimately, what led to the extent of the tragedy in New Orleans? Were the people there not, in some way, condemned and judged by our nation rather than understood in their struggle? Who are we to call our neighbors names when we do not walk in their shoes? How many of us know what it would be like to grow up in poverty in New Orleans, or be black for that matter or be, in the words of our film reviewer, "trailer trash."
How dare we.
But if nothing else, I hope the Reporter has the courage to publish this letter, so we may be one step closer to understanding and one step farther from believing we are better than any other human being, simply because we have something out of their reach.
Laura Napier
Santa Fe
KUDOS I
Just a note to say how much I enjoy Jennifer Lowe's wonderfully articulate film reviews, even those clever little descriptions of upcoming films which ran a few weeks ago [Fall Guide, August 31: "
"]. Makes me wish I could write good also, and could say something more about a film than "I liked it" or "I didn't."
Jim Terr
Santa Fe
KUDOS II (sort of)
First off, kudos to Duncan (and all those lovely volunteers!) on the rockin' benefit auction last week at Swig. That was a meaningful, fun and expensive evening.
And since I'm here, let me just say: I like the Pig, Zane rocks, and Tom Tomorrow would complete the trifecta.
Now if you could just get J ("Politness") Spot a 24-7 copy editor [J Spot, Sept. 14: "
Now is the Time for Politeness
], you guys would be smokin'…
Michael Polera
Santa Fe
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