News flash: “Not all white males are racist, sexist or conservative,” insists a reader. Others address an error in a recent film review and Bill Gates’ weaselly, money grubbing ways.
Un-Hitched
I have been reading Richard von Busack’s fine film reviews for many years, and this is the first time I have found an error. In his review of Hitchcock (online, Nov. 28), he writes, “Anthony Hopkins inhabits the famous silhouette as the strains of Barodin’s familiar theme play on the soundtrack.” The composition used for the Hitchcock TV show was the “Funeral March of a Marionette” by Charles Gounod, not Alexander Borodin.
David Hickey
White Man’s Burden?
I wanted to say that I found the Nov. 14 cartoon of This Modern World to be both a racist and sexist stereotype of white males. Not all white males are racist, sexist or conservative. That is politically correct BS propoganda [sic]. Is Joe Biden racist, sexist or conservative? What about Jerry Brown?
I’ve noticed how quickly some people will rush to say: “not all Muslims are terrorists.” The white male appears to be the one group of people you can get away with bashing these days. Those of the politically correct persuasion would very zealously defend anyone else. Also, it has been many white males who have made the biggest contributions to our modern world. Our Founding Fathers gave us the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. The Wright Brothers gave us the airplane. Gary Watson gave us IBM. Henry Ford gave us the automobile.
Have you forgot that domestic violence is more prevalent in South Asia and the Middle East? There is also a practice of “honor killings”—females are usually the target of these. Courts in those countries are very lenient in those cases. The Taliban kills women before letting them go to school. Yet the white male is always the one who gets put on the hot seat for racism and sexism.
Accusing any other ethnicity of racism or sexism appears to be a serious faux pas, even if it’s true. I also know from personal experience that white people get racially discriminated against. Tom Tomorrow’s cartoon is flawed and misinformed. Let’s get down to it, all ethnicities are capable of being racist and sexist. It’s only white males who you can bash for it. That’s also a racist stereotype. Please at least get that right.
Ken Stout
Superfund
We’ve seen the massive destruction of superstorm Sandy, costing perhaps $50 billion. For the sake of a conceptual illustration, such a cost could easily be covered by Bill Gates’ wealth, with a dozen billions left over for him. Yet all he ever cleverly did was be the lucky first who crossed a “t” and dotted an “i.” Philanthropy is an obsolete and poor substitute for fairness and justice in the world.
Gunther Ostermann
