Mountain High
I just finished reading Matt Brunson’s fantastic article “Hit and Run” (Flicks, March 15), and I wanted to say thanks for putting together such a well-written piece. It really summed up exactly how I felt about the situation, and I sent it to lots of friends. I know Brokeback Mountain fans are getting flack from some folks (Roeper; surprise, surprise), but I totally agree with [Brunson’s] assessment. It’s disappointing that Brokeback didn’t win the Best Picture Oscar, but I know that it touched a lot of lives and hopefully helped pave the way for more films like it. Just curious, any idea how people actually in the Academy are handling the flack they are getting? Anyway, just wanted to say thanks and keep up the great work!
— Jen Jahnke, Chapel Hill
Thank you for the article “Hit and Run.” Matt Brunson nicely wrapped up what happened this year at the Oscars, and I agree with his theory. I know the outcome of this year’s Oscars cannot change, but what should change are the voting rules. Although the Academy is putting a spin on the Tony Curtis/Ernest Borgnine comments as being a “few” members who didn’t see Brokeback Mountain, it shouldn’t make a difference whether it was one person or 1,000 who didn’t see all of the nominees. It should be a requirement or else you can’t vote. Because if something doesn’t change, another deserving film will be stomped upon in the future. And at this point, the Academy could use something that would restore the faith of all those who are disillusioned by this year’s results.
— Brian Kleemann, Chicago
ALL A BIG JOKE
To Tara Servatius: Thank you for the real word, and for your continued efforts to keep the real word out as to what is going on for local politics (a joke to say the least), national politics and NC state security (again, a joke). Most people do not care, and it is a joke — our state, our country.
Everyone is concerned about their huge SUVs, where they buy their clothes, their jewelry, where they shop and how they look to their neighbors, but do not care about our borders or who is taking over our seaports. I have children and grandchildren, and I worry about their futures — I honestly believe it is not pretty, in large part due to our politicians, people and their choices, and I am scared for them as to what they are going to face. People like Myrick, Black and Dole — our national government — do not care about the future of our country. You are one of the few that speaks about what is really going on — you are appreciated. National security? Politicians? Taxes? Corruption? The list goes on — please help keep the fires going. Thanks also to Keith Larson for bringing your voice out. And many thanks to CL — they obviously are not afraid of the correct Charlotte business world.
— Tom Brown, Charlotte
From the Editor
Country music is as deeply embedded into the Carolina landscape as NASCAR, rasslin’ and college hoops. But like those sports, country has undergone a radical evolution from its beginnings as an emotional escape from the hardscrabble lives of farmers and factory workers. The slick sound of Martina McBride, who performs this week at Bobcats Arena, is a far cry from the raw folk ballads of the Carter Family or high-lonesome moan of Bill Monroe.
And yet many fans of modern country music still hold up their favorite stars as the purest icons of Americana. Never mind that there’s no such thing as pure Americana. There’s an ideological gulf between Toby Keith and the Dixie Chicks, just as there was an experiential gulf between black ’20s country star DeFord Bailey and his white yodeling contemporary Jimmie Rodgers.
Country music no more reflects the common American experience than Christianity does. Country is all in how individual fans describe it. When I saw the thousands of Spanish-speaking Americans in Charlotte this weekend protesting unfair illegal immigration proposals, it dawned on me that the LA norteño band Los Tigres del Norte represents American country music today far more accurately than the rock-based nostalgia of Kenny Chesney.
In this issue, Jared Neumark takes country music’s political temperature. Turn to page 26 and see how it’s doing. — Mark Kemp, Editor
This article appears in Mar 29 – Apr 4, 2006.
