l
Feeling Blue about Deacon? In a huff over Hoffa? Look in the mirror,
say ‘Candyman’ five t times and write that letter to The List. The best one
printed wins a bottle of very wonderful Jose
Cuervo Gold Tequila.
XASPERATEO
I expected better of The List: ‘Silver X’s on black backgrounds have become the design status symbol of 1993.‘ Don‘t you know that the X in Malcolm X’s name is to show how millions of African Americans had their real surnames and heritage stolen from them by white slavemasters.
It’s infuriating to see white capitalists cash in on the black man‘s struggle. and in the process making sure that when we see that X. we don't think about racial inequality, we think about how cool we're likely to look out clubbing. Janice Kelly
Dalkeith Road
Edinburgh
Bloody brilliant
Last issue’s tequila winner found Reservoir Dogs an ‘amoral' film. I thought it was brilliant. It‘s certainly violent and brutal. but its brutality is given a context which makes it a far more honest and ‘moral' film than the scores of Hollywood efforts where gloss and glamour hide what spilt blood is actually about. A lot of films are violent. but not many of them make you feel and understand the pain of violence.
Reservoir Dogs is a film about this
pain. which is inevitable in a society where brutality is an accepted form of discourse. The physical pain we see (the bleeding to death and torturing) is never separated from the mental pain of
LETTERS
; the characters. caused by their
anonymity and alienation (the code names. the identical dress). The
' maleness of the film only adds to the
feeling of claustrophobia, desperation
and ultimate tragedy. which puts
Hamlet to shame. Just because Reservoir Dogs is a film
1 about amorality doesn't make it an
I amoral film. On the contrary — it’s
? giving us an important message which the odd severed ear mustn‘t stop us
hearing. Sian Bayne
l Sciennes
Edinburgh.
g";
'0‘
We wonder what you'll make of Romper Stomper. Sian. If you care to step up to our office. you 'llfind a bottle of the fittest Jose C uervo Gold Tequila waiting for you.
Raindogs
In response to Ruth Donald's letter (The List 195) regarding several of the current cinema releases (Dog/Dogs/Lieutenant) I would agree insofar that this is ideal debating material. However. I would like to point out that perhaps these three films could be exactly what the cinema needs at this time.
Citing Man Bites Dog as a particular example. here we have a film that many .trendy young cinema goers attend knowing roughly what the content of the film is. and acknowledge special warnings to the Patrons. And yet. so many of these people having sat through it. later mutter ‘rape'. ‘sick'. ‘appalling'. etc. etc.
But I think the problem. if there is one. is the people in question neither have the will nor the capacity to rationally weigh up a film and take all the pros and cons into account. This doesn‘t mean anyone is at fault; but the fact remains that no-one. presumably. is holding a gun at anyone's head (unlike in the film) in order to get them to watch the picture. Going to see this
if?
.1
5%.. -
" ,l. I;
" a"
a «v a
i film. or any film for that matter. isn't
i compulsory. so who is to blame for an
1 individual taking exception to anything I depicted on screen?
! Films such as Man aim Dog will hopeful discourage anyone from
' flippantly attending any film that has a 3 bit ofa reputation as being ‘brutal‘ or
5 ‘amoral‘: these picture exist fora
i certain audience and certain purposes — g of which keeping out of the rain and
; filling a spare afternoon most certainly i do not figure.
Darren Arnold
Lacrosse Terrace
I Glasgow.
Skin deep I I find it sad that Andrew Mason 1 believes (The List 195) that the Jim Rose Circus Sideshow is in the same class as bare-knuckle bouts or cock fighfing.
The Jim Rose Circus demonstrates the ancient art of body modification. exercises of endurance that stem from tribes such as the Sadhu Indians.
In a more female-oriented culture like in India (as opposed to ours. which is more aggressive and male-orientated.
l with much suppression of the female nature in both males and females) it is considered perfectly rational to do things like alter and ‘mutilate’ the body — that's a part of their tradition. Whereas we are taught that the carcass we live in shouldn't be meddled with. hence the view that to pierce certain parts of the anatomy. or to experiment with body endurance is somehow wrong in our ‘civilised' society.
The sideshow artists combine trained v abilities with humour. to present a I highly entertaining performance. To
suggest that the skills the Jim Rose Circus brings to town are consistent with the cheap titillation represented in the Sunday Sport (or worse still. to suggest the sideshow be banned) is ignorant and uninformed.
Jackie Day Prince Edward Street Glasgow
I feel compelled to inform any of your readers who have taken an interest in the Smart Drugs advert which appears
regularly in Tlte List. A SAE is required
to be sent to Health Development Club
(HDC) in return for an information
I pamphlet on the various ‘drugs'
available.
One which had interested me
’ personally. above all others. was one
for the treatment of ACNE (more commonly known as spots). A six- week course of Minocin (42 x 50mg antibiotics) is available from HDC at a
{cost of £30. They claimed that many :doctors in Britain were unwilling to
1 prescribe Minocin. because of the high .cost (about £60) to the NHS.
l was familiar with what they were
offering. but certainly not with what
5 they are claiming. Because. fortunately
E enough. only two weeks previously I
t was prescribed. by my own doctor
I (here in Britain) a seven-week course
i of Minocin (49 x 100mg capsules) for
I the grand stun ofjust £4.
l HDC are legally permitted — under the
l Medicine/Drugs Act — to import
‘drugs' from abroad granted the ‘drugs'
i are legal in their country of origin. I am
3 legally permitted to save you 48p; the
L price of two first-class stamps.
; Iivan l‘it/simmons
; Ballock
’ Dumbartonshire.
l A spokesmanfor HDC replies that their
If literature does say that Minocin is
1 available on the NHS.’ should a doctor
l he unwilling to give an NHS
i prescription because o/‘lnidgetary
i restrictions. a private prescription will cost £38 and they supply ll/linocinfor
; £30.
l Post Script
' Address your letters to:
: The List Letters at:
14 High Street.
Edinburgh Elll ITIS.
j or
()ld Athenaeum Theatre.
179 Buchanan Street.
Glasgow (‘11 2J2.
j or
I Fax them to: 031 557 8500.
l We will not print you/"full address or pltone number: but you must include
: them. Deadline is the l-‘riday before
i publication. Keep them pithy. as long I letters may he cut. The best letter next l issue will win a bottle oil/use ('uervo l (Io/d li’t/tti/a.
NEXT ISSUE OUT THURSDAY 25 MARCH
It 's grim up north: Surviving the recession with our exclusive
I‘S.
guide to stayin‘ alive on a shoestring.
Living on the edge: The latest stage oeuvre from hard of the bleak. Alan Bleasdale. What were they on": The secret story of those way-out (‘lange
l’lus: Mel (iibson in I-orever lining. ()scars a go-go. Livmg (‘olour (left). Boney M (ask your big sisters) and the question on everyoiie‘s lips: “So what‘s this dinosaur thing all about? .
l. E ‘ ORDER
YOUR COPY NOW!
80 The List 12 —25 March 1993
Printed by Scottish County Press. Sherwood Industrial Estate. Bonnyrigg. Midlothian. Tel: 031 663 2404.