Letters to the Editor Taking the Heat on "Heat"
The current "question on my mind" is: How does Andrew Ross get $2 for lopsided reviews like the hatchet job he did on "Heat." Considering it's the only negative review I've read, could the entire rest of the world be sooooo wrong? To anyone who reads this letter: "Heat" is easily the best film of the year, and one of the finest I have ever seen. Let's talk on Oscar night, Mr. Ross.
Jerry Careaga
Ventura, California
CD-ROM: A Closed System
I thought the article on the horrible mess of the CD-ROM industry was very impressive. I liked the interview with "Eep Throat," and the points about the whole retail situation with CD-ROM were right on target.
A few years or so ago, people looked to the CD-ROM as a way to get a huge chunk of information in a small bite that they could buy and take home with them. It was quite appealing to them to have multimedia presentations with all the eye-candy on a little disc they could manipulate. But the problem that no one forecasted was that the CD-ROM, at least in its current state, is a "closed system." A consumer buys the media on CD and cannot change it (sure, recordable CD-ROM for consumer use is out there, but no one can afford it right now).
The Internet offers a constantly changing source of multimedia. The "open system" of the Internet has the appeal of the CD-ROM (graphics, eye-candy, etc.) but users can actively go in and manipulate and alter the borders that they encounter. The interactive CD-ROM games and virtual tours allow user choice and preferences, but they are set to a number of variations due to the nature of the "closed-system" of the CD-ROM. This is the glowing problem the multimedia industry must face if they wish to survive. Once people experience the Internet, CD-ROM looks like the 8-track cassette. Keep up the great work!
Jonathan Mergy
San Francisco
Witches are People, Too
What a rude title ["Children Want the Witch to Die"]! It's true that many children's books represent Witches as evil, but can we be a little enlightened here in the Salon? There are tens of thousands of Pagans in America today, many of whom are proud to call themselves Witches or Wiccans. Most children, if allowed to know about what a real Witch is, would never want one to die. Witches believe that all people have, and should follow, a personal spiritual path, that by hurting others one can only hurt oneself, and honor and duty are high ideals consisting of being true to yourself, keeping promises you have made, and helping others in need.
Jeff Rich
Stop Blaming the Messenger
Bob Dole's insipid "insights" blaming the movie "Money Train" as the cause of violence in New York subways are ludicrous. I thought the days of pretending everything was Ward and June Cleaveresque were over. Does anyone really believe that the "Leave it to Beaver" mentality EVER existed. I know the Republicans will always have the best political answers money can buy, but if you ask me, they are pandering to people who "can't handle the TRUTH." Life isn't all dandelions and poseys, it's brutally ugly if you are on the wrong side of the tracks.
I wish all the people who insist that life imitates art would spend less time criticizing others and more time finding ways to curb the violence. Going after the messenger isn't the solution to our problems.
Corey King
Praise, Near and Far
Am enjoying the magazine immensely. It's nice to find some "social" intelligence on the web. Only one criticism: that for an international medium you still seem to be quite US-centric (your first issue was so parochical it made me want to scream). But that is definitely improving with each issue. Keep up the very good work.
Melissa Richards
United Kingdom
Just went to peek at your current issue. I can't ever manage to read the whole thing at once so I scan the whole issue and sample chunks of it. Tried the cartoons first... LOVED "Tom the Dancing Bug." Very funny. Also liked the Newt take-off, particularly the line from the second Christmas spirit, "Are you trying to put the nation's political satirists out of business by becoming a living self-caricature?" Also enjoyed the Barbara Kingsolver interview. Will go back a different time for the feature stories and the Jon Katz Five Minute Mystery. Like your graphics. Also am pleased that you've already dealt with the problem of getting to back issues---the stacks. You're good! Keep up the excellent work!
Carol Johnsen
Kudos for the best site on the Net! Your site is full of good, provocative, contemporary information. I love net-news and net-info, but you folks go far beyond that stuff, and address literary and thought issues in a very friendly way.
It's pure pleasure to access your page, which downloads quickly, has terrific graphics, and touches the right sensibilities. Thanks for doing a great job!
Dorothy Reidelbach
Zurich
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