Letters to the Editor

What You Say

Festival Follies

I just finished reading A.D. Amorosi's humor piece, "An Arthouse Divided" [Naked City, Jan. 22]. It is a joke, isn't it? And I mean that as no reflection on or disrespect of Amorosi, whom I find to be a talented and entertaining writer. Anyway, my point is that anyone who has ever been to one of the top film festivals can attest that the Philadelphia Film Festival is routinely lousy. And it's been that way for years now because no one in the local media has the cajones to question or critique it. And blind loyalty does no justice to either the festival itself or local cinephiles who deserve better. I don't see how we can expect the same tired cast of characters to move intact from one festival to another and not expect the same pathetic results.

Carlye Benedict
Bucks County

Right on, brother [Opinion, Brian Howard, "Looking Forward, Looking Back," Jan. 22]! Seriously, we need to punish those who swore to protect our Constitution — not destroy it — to set an example for future administrations, including Obama. Besides, isn't this a country founded on principles of law and justice? These huge crimes have affected 300 million people and cannot be left unpunished.

Bob
Via citypaper.net

Like Hunter S. Thompson among the crowds, had Thompson stayed more sober [News, Isaiah Thompson, "The People's Business," Jan. 22]. The exciting experience of one man, described here, made me even better appreciate the excitement of millions.

Ian
Via citypaper.net

Bruce Schimmel's op-ed "Can We Tawk?" [Loose Canon, Jan. 15] paints an overly bleak picture of relationships between Jews with different perspectives on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. We are two Jews whose views about the conflict are vastly different yet we continue to have a constructive dialogue about these issues. One of us works with the peace movement and strongly opposes the Israeli military's recent actions in Gaza. The other is a committed pro-Israel activist who identifies with the Right and strongly supports Israel's actions. Even during this very difficult time, we have found it possible to talk with each other in ways that are respectful and to learn from each other.

We met through the Jewish Dialogue Group (jewishdialogue.org), and we attribute the success of our conversation partly from what we have learned there. In fact, recently, at a party in Center City at 4 a.m., we became engaged in a heated, lengthy, but entirely civil, debate on the war in Gaza. That we were able to remain respectful reflected the fact that neither of us thought that our arguments were compromised by sophistry or a mere will to "win" the debate but, rather, by a sincere concern for the safety and well-being of the Jewish people and a genuine commitment to achieving justice and peace for both Jews and Palestinians. Moreover, each assumed the good will and inherent decency of the other. We're both proud that our community is increasingly rejecting the incivility and vitriol which often clouds the debate over Israel and the Palestinians, and remain committed to the principle that, through respectful dialogue, people with seemingly irreconcilable positions can find ways to talk with and listen to each other, and to look for common ground.

Adam Levick and Rachel Buxbaum
Via e-mail

Bloodless war games [Naked City, Daniel Denvir, "Game Theory," Jan. 15]. Children as young as 13 are admitted to the Army "Experience" Center. What a way to recruit. The young people drawn to this center could use information about alternatives to the military and the truth about the effects of real combat on a person's health, both physical and mental. As our new president has said, we need to end the mind-set that leads to war — deceptive marketing efforts are not the way to accomplish that goal.

Liz West
Via citypaper.net