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Joyful pursuit of excellence

I was as captivated by James Parker’s article on Joy Division as I was disappointed by Peter Keough’s review of Anton Corbijn’s fantastic film Control. Parker creatively and intelligently delves into Joy Division’s work and produces the kind of criticism that is truly illuminating. His concluding critique of Corbijn’s film addresses specific creative choices with which one may agree or disagree, but it comes from a clear take on both the film and the band. Keough, however, wrote a poor review that is crap. I won’t count the ways here, but I would like to emphasize to readers that Control is a visually beautiful film with a stark and jagged power that echoes the music it portrays. Its ability to avoid Hollywood bio-pic histrionics is central to its success, so I’m not sure Keough and I are even speaking about the same film. Fans and non-fans alike: Control merits much more than the confused dismissal it received in Keough’s review.

Stephen Ramos
Cambridge

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Weather update
Clif Garboden did a nice job placing the story of Weatherman’s domestic terrorism in context. I engaged in a good deal of mischief-making in Minnesota during the golden era of radicalism. Your story reminded me of all the non-thinking sectarian loonies who constantly disrupted and undermined legitimate efforts to make progress in forging an intelligent alternative to our “system.”

My own take is that those attracted to fanatical sectarianism were developmentally challenged. They seemed to have gotten themselves stuck in a time freeze; they couldn’t get themselves beyond thinking like 13 year olds: self-absorbed, self-righteous, arrogant, and pissy.

Now that this stuff is dusty and old, I see a certain nonchalance in these groups’ alumni. What’s the big deal? Who cares how much damage we caused? We got attention, didn’t we?

I had pretty much edited out of my memory all the distraction the loonies caused. Thanks to Garboden’s article, that weird strain of dysfunction that coursed its way through the movement is again with me.

Al Wroblewski
Executive Director
AIDS Project Rhode Island

Multiple personalities in disorder
Matt Ashare is clearly not a true Tori Amos fan and should be ashamed of his article “Tori Amos: In Characters." First of all, Isabel and Santa may both be blondes, but it’s easy enough not to confuse them! Santa is the “glittery glamour queen” and is seen with a cocktail in hand. Isabel is the historian and is hardly glamorous.

And to say that “Space Dog” is from Little Earthquakes is just poor sense of basic Tori knowledge! “Space Dog” is from Under the Pink! This lackluster review barely touches on any of the praise that this utterly amazing show deserved. Shame on you!

Scott Tirrell
Taunton

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