for 11 November 1999. Updated every WEEKDAY.
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I'm Spinning Out Subject: You spun me out Sucksters. G'day from Down Under (I say that because I live in Sydney and want to meet your stereotypical expectations of what Aussies are like, but no one in Australia would actually greet you like that). I am a 21-year-old Iranian who migrated to Australia with my parents at the age of seven during the bloody match of Iran vs. Iraq. I bumped into your site via a friend who thought it was very funny. I have to totally agree, but one very massive element of your site struck me as strange. We, living in Sydney, see Yanks as either loudmouthed, belief (Bible) bashing, patriots (because of Hollywood), or extremist, Christian terrorists (because of the news), but you guys don't seem to fit into either of these categories. Not only do you seem to criticize your motherland to no end and think freely from the pledge of allegiance that seems to brainwash most US kids, but you do it with sarcasm and great illustrations. I have to say I love your articles and I agree with a lot of what you have to say. The underlying fact is the United States is not the center of the world and that history did not start after 1492. Your site gives me (and I am sure most others not living in the United States) great insight into the other side of the coin — the fact that no matter what delusional propaganda the US government tries to push overseas of a united, God-fearing, patriotic, and rich United States, the truth is you're like the rest of us and do actually have people (and more importantly, writers) who do actually express what they think about the stupid hypocrisy around them. I thoroughly look forward to reading your site in the future. Thanks, Saman Jebeli-Javan <dr.yen@ tokyo-3.com> Yeah, isn't it weird how there are people in every country who don't fit the worst possible stereotypes you have of the citizens of that country? Really boggles the mind, huh? Now we really must run — time to eat bean dip and beat the shit out of our kids with the butt of our rifles, the Sucksters  You're getting some remarkably good responses to your article. Partly this suggests you've hit a nerve; partly it suggests you wrote well enough to encourage others to write well. Either way, it's a compliment. Congratulations. However, I've been wondering if you can really establish a genre of "shamesploitation," or if it is simply a critique of a work you don't like. Compare, if you will, Your Friends and Neighbors with The Sweet Hereafter. The former leaves you feeling dirty; the latter, you leave the theater feeling as if you've just come out of a frozen lake. One is nasty bathos; the other offers the redemption of true tragedy. (It also gives Atom a free pass, as far as I'm concerned, for the rest of his life; like any film by Rohmer, I'll now go to anything his name is on.) Still, when you try to dissect them, are not the pieces pretty much the same — people behaving badly; some trying to do better, others not; pain; "we are born astride the grave." Yada yada. The difference is partly skill, partly caring. Consider the recent Dreamlife of Angels, which, incredibly, played briefly here and there and never had any marketing dollars behind it. It should be a shamesploitation movie; in many ways — looked at mechanically — that's just what it is. But the director's obvious caring for his characters gave its somewhat sour viewpoint a transcendent humanity. Or consider Mike Leigh's films: unpleasant people, unpleasant deeds (especially his earlier work and his stage work). But Mike cares about his people. It's not shamesploitation; it's drama. If the difference between tragedy and shamesploitation lies in a director's skill, you don't have a genre — you have a nice, nasty word to criticize bad drama. Now, if a director deliberately sets out to make a movie that says nothing more than life sucks and so do you, with no further motive or subtext, sure — that's a genre. But does any such film ever get made that deliberately? I don't think so, at least not by anyone who's taking his meds in the morning. And it's not financed by anyone who's taking his meds. See, you got me thinking. That was a fine piece you wrote. Alan Kornheiser <ASKornheiser@prodigy.net> I didn't see Your Fs and Ns, but for some reason, I suspect it may be underrated. In any case, I should catch up with it, if only to watch Jason Patric try to prove what an acting genius he is. I'm not the biggest fan of Egoyan. Even though his films are unique and intelligent, they just don't do it for me for some reason. He's the Bergman of the '90s in some ways, with all the good and bad that that implies. I like parts of his films, but rarely the whole. His films don't jump, as I find, for instance, Eric Rohmer's do. (Since you brought him up.) Egoyan is incredibly novelistic, an increasing problem in serious movies today, even though most people think it's the other way around and serious novels are too cinematic. I think serious novels are too novelistic too. But what Fs and Ns and The Sweet Hereafter have in common, I suspect, is that they are not shamesploitation because both have a strong presence with an original view behind them. So also with Leigh. This is not true thus far of shamesploitation. You're right to say that "shamesploitation" may be a name for a bunch of films with similar thematic interests and settings that all happen to, well, suck, but film noir is not really a genre either. Since it's unlikely the category I've come up with will ever have the cachet of film noir, I'm not overly worried about having given the world a critical bastard. Slotcar Heathbar Filler (Un)Empowered Polly, A few things: You state that Mr. Flinchy is supposed to be thinking mostly about "chili cheeseburgers or beating off." Since I am male, I feel that this statement is completely erroneous. Most of the time Mr. Flinchy will be thinking about sex. Period. How he gets off is by his own personal taste, but sex is the foremost thought in his mind. Actually, more times than not, it's his only thought. To intimate chili cheeseburgers might take center stage is just plain wrong. I don't know any guy who has a thing for Jodi Foster. Now, if you meant this as a backhanded insult to the dumpee (which I am sure you did), it still doesn't fit with Mr. Flinchy. Remember, he is thinking about sex, and when the challenge is presented, he is not going to have the presence of mind to say something witty right then. Oh, sure, he'll tell his buddies that's what he said, but odds are he'll blurt out something like "the cast of Baywatch" or any other large-breasted girl. Also, Mr. Flinchy would turn on the radio during the monologue. Which would have also gotten him in trouble. Just some thoughts on Mr. Flinchy. Thoughtlessly yours, Russell May <russmebs@hotmail.com> You're confusing Mr. Flinchy, an intelligent slice of hell, with someone far less interesting, and therefore, far less damaging — yourself, perhaps. Ha, ha, ha. Grrrrr. Just kidding. Even more thoughtlessly, Polly Oh, Polly, Polly, Polly. You're not funny. So goddamn unfunny I'd like to insert several score of rusty staples into your arid cunt and make you do the Terry Fox Indefatigable Gimp Run. The final satisfaction would come when you've realized it was all for your self betterment. Jeff Exner <hotttbunzz@hotmail.com> Oh, baby! You read my secret desires like a book! Polly Subject: Canada ROCKS and the United States SUCKS I read your topic on Canada recently, and that is completely wrong. The United States is a bunch of crap. You are the only place that still uses inches and feet and Fahrenheit, which shows how damn bullheaded you are. Also, no other country in the world likes the United States. With all your goddamn crap you do, everyone hates you. Canada, on the other hand — EVERY OTHER COUNTRY LOVES CANADIANS. No other country likes Americans. Some goddamn piece-of-crap Americans like you even pretend you're Canadian so other people are nice to you when you're in a foreign country — because everywhere people think the United States is crap. CANADA ROCKS AND THE UNITED STATES SUCKS!!!!!! Canada ROCKS <canada_rocks_the_world@hotmail.com> Thank you for your compelling argument that the United States is a bunch of crap. You've inspired us to reassess all our former preconceptions about our homeland. Only pretending we're Canadian when imitating Celine Dion, Sucksters |
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