Hypocrisy On Paper
When I first moved to Charlotte back in the 80s, I used to read CL often. It seemed sort of reminiscent of the “Underground Newspapers” from the 60s and 70s.
Now, however, I just can’t stomach it anymore. This front page story about the sex offender list (“Howdy, Neighbor!” by Tara Servatius, June 25) is the last straw. You finance your publication by filling the back pages with sex ad after sex ad, and then print an article containing such drivel as: “The purpose of the registry law is not to punish sex offenders again for their crimes, but to provide the public easy access to centralized information about them — information that is already part of the public record — including their picture, what they were convicted of, and where they live.”
If the information is already available, and the purpose is not to punish these people again, then the only real reason for you to do this is in order to humiliate them. Are you going to do a follow-up piece in a few months so you can brag about how many of them were run out of their homes by the neighbors who read about them in CL?
Between the hypocrisy of your editorial and management policies, and the radical left ranting of Hal Crowther, you have lost a reader forever.
— Theo Bellamy, Charlotte
Consider The Fangirls
Slashfiction is not a recent phenomenon, and it is not simply limited to Harry Potter (“Potter Porn,” by Christopher Noxon, June 25). There is a veritable smorgasbord of slashfiction dating all the way back to the original Star Trek series, and I’m sure beyond that. The only real difference, that I can see, is that Harry Potter slashfiction is on the Internet, which is, in and of itself, a globally developing community under much scrutiny.
This article is, like most mainstream articles, hurtful to the fanfiction community. It rejects the idea that there is any value or respect given to Rowling in the practice of pushing the ages of the characters forward at least far enough to suit statutory rape laws in our respective states, neglects to mention the sheer mass of fan mail she gets from adult readers, discounts the possibility that slashfiction is healthy sexual fantasy, and completely neglects to take into account the sheer number of slashfiction sites, stories and followings that exist for series other than Harry Potter. (Try searching for Lord of the Rings at some point.)
This article also doesn’t pause to consider the idea that, while the Harry Potter franchise was originally aimed at children, Warner Bros. is far more likely to get direct cash from the “fangirls” who are old enough to have jobs and have money to buy their own merchandise, which is, after all, generally available in adult sizes. That is probably a good chunk of the reason they’ve decided not to sue us (for the moment).
I am disgusted at the lack of research evident in this article. I suppose it’s easy to avoid noticing that fangirls are an astoundingly literate community. We band together and keep each other informed of all of these legal developments, no matter how trivial they seem to everyone else.
— GM Kernisan, Webmistress, Legend of the Slashfiend
Liberal Media Myth
To the writers of “Bludgeoned Conservatives” and “Crowther’s Hissy Fit” (Letters, June 18): OK, I’ll admit that Hal Crowther’s piece (“Weapons of Mass Stupidity,” June 4) was a bit heavy-handed. I think some of the message got overshadowed by his ranting. He did some name-calling and made some references without references. I’ll give you that.
What I won’t give you is credence to the myth of the “liberal media.” That’s got to be one of the most asinine statements I’ve ever heard. There are liberals in the media and there are conservatives and everything in between. Such is life. So often I hear references to the “loony left” and their agenda and how they control the government and the media. I thought it was only the loony left that believed in conspiracy theories. These guys are starting to make Fox Mulder look conservative.
Everybody merchandised the war for ratings (I’m still waiting for the action figures), though Fox did stand out from the rest on a propaganda level. Every network was guilty, from CNN to ABC to Fox, etc. They all donned their flags and spoon-fed us a nice, easily digestible war that wasn’t too spicy, and didn’t have any bones or substance.
Of course, it was all a little too rich for me.
— Bobby Blue, Charlotte
More Thoughtful Letters, Please
It seems a shame that you can’t get enough people to write thoughtful letters to your forum. Instead, you print letters like the one from cartoon character Kelly Boatright (“Hal the Twisted Liberal,” Letters, June 11) in which he slings the same old “liberal” word as if it’s an epithet. Yawn. What, isn’t Candy [Cook] writing anymore?
— Robert Dulin, Charlotte
This article appears in Jul 2-8, 2003.
