To Rage or Not to Rage

To Rage or Not to Rage

The smarmy, fawning tone of Linda Immediato’s Coachella coverage [“Where the Wave Broke,” May 4–10] makes me wince at being a Gen X’er. Immediato’s glistening plea for apathy and solipsism (“The machine is so broken now, it’s almost redundant to rage against it. What’s left is to fight the power in our own quieter lives”) reveals just what is so wrong with today’s young voting public. Likening a visit to Coachella, a for-profit festival, to a peaceful personal awakening, especially in the midst of the ugliness and horror that is now a daily part of our lives, is a sad statement indeed.

I’m moved by Linda Immediato’s story on Arcade Fire at Coachella. The fact the she experienced an awakening, that she saw that just throwing rage around has little long-term effect, is encouraging.

In current times, people’s experience of reality is mediated by commercial interests. I think real hope lies in living in the real world, thinking for oneself. To those who want change, who are interested in awakening, I say: What you create is what has an influence. Merely opposing what someone else creates does not foster long-term change. Create something that embodies the values you care about. The organic food movement and the Internet are the results of people doing what I’m suggesting. These things started small and have become huge. Change is possible.

The Real Grind

Interesting that in all the coverage of Grindhouse [“Grindhouse Gang” plus two articles, April 6–12], the proverbial elephant in the room is never mentioned: namely, the legitimacy of spending a reported $50 million to $70 million (plus $30 million for promotion) to evoke memories of films that usually cost a fraction of 1 percent of that figure! It’s ironic that the budget for this one film almost certainly is more than the combined budgets of the indie filmmakers assembled to a summit by Scott Foundas — a pretty neat read, by the way.

Would the disappointing opening-weekendbox office grosses have looked so bad if Grindhouse had cost a more reasonable (and, I would argue, more authentic) say, $5 million or $10 million? Further, if Tarantino and Rodriguez had gone all the way and made a real grindhouse-budgeted feature, audiences would have been far more impressed by their achievement.

Our Broken Record

Thank you, Marc Cooper, for your rational article on immigration [“Be Afraid. Be Very Afraid,” May 24–30]. Too many times politicians’ rhetoric and journalistic sensationalism only fuels the fire of ignorance that surrounds the broken immigration system in the U.S. The fact is, there are approximately 12 million people here illegally and this cannot be ignored — nor is it realistic to think that these human beings can be rounded up like cattle and shipped over the border. A fact too often ignored is that the system also brutally impacts skilled legal immigrants and their families. Most of these skilled immigrants face a long road of delays, backlogs and restrictions. Politicians need to work together to approve a bill that truly is comprehensive to address all areas of the broken system. Failure to do this will have a negative impact on U.S. competitiveness.

No More Gilmores

I wanted to say that Kate Sullivan’s article “Gilmore Girls Goodbye” [May 25–31] was spot on! She captured how I felt watching the entire series. When I first started watching, I felt a sense of panic: “It’s too good! They’re gonna cancel it!” I am glad we got to keep it for seven years. On Tuesdays, there will always be a little sadness in my heart when I realize I won’t be able to watch “my show.”

Hardy Praise

Congratulations to longtime L.A. Weekly writer Ernest Hardy, who won a PEN Beyond Margins award for his essay collection, Blood Beats, Vol. 1.

Corrections

The L.A. Weekly’s review of In Search of Mozart [May 18–24] mistakenly stated that there were no subtitles for the film. The theatrical release will have complete subtitles.

The artwork reproduced in last week’s “MustSeeArt” column should have been credited to Lynn Hershman and titled “Roberta Being Trapped (There Are Times Also When I Can Feel Myself Being Trapped . . .)”.

And apologies to Dave Shulman, whose credit for the photo on last week’s Hoopla column was omitted.

Advertising disclosure: We may receive compensation for some of the links in our stories. Thank you for supporting LA Weekly and our advertisers.