Blame Armond

Armond White’s review of Costa-Gravas’ Z, “The Era of Radical Chic” (March 11-17) sparked a bit of patriotic furor. One retaliator, known only as Jsommersby, commented: “‘Always blame the USA, even if you’re wrong,’ says a lefty—proof anti- Americanism didn’t originate with the Iraq War.’ (groan) Armond, what does it take to get through to you? Criticizing America’s foreign policy is not anti-American.You, of course, know this perfectly well but continue such myopic-minded poppycock because, like Rush Limbaugh, you don’t have to worry about people calling you on it in a political debate that you’re too scared to engage in. Grow up, man.” But that only riled up kungfufelon, who retorted with: “As the use of the quote clearly implies, the article doesn’t suggest that a critique of American foreign policy is anti-American, only that the form of critique en vogue then and now is anti-American. [It] is clearly used by both White and Costas-Gavras to suggest a critique that is clearly less about policy and more about political bias. In turn, both suggest that the quote reveals less about American foreign policy and more the realities of those who see themselves subject to this policy.”

That led to another comment: “Agreed, he was probably referring to U.S. misadventures in Vietnam, or dropping atom bombs when WW2 was already over, or Zapata-era machinations. ‘Yankee Go Home!’ sentiments always come from somewhere. Otherwise, interesting review. There aren’t many genuine film critics left in the U.S.A.”

Thrilled at Bollywood

Although Vikram Kumar’s 13B is only showing at Imaginasian, Simon Abrams’ review had enough traction to get one reply: “This Bollywood movie was awesome. It is not the usual stuff you would expect from a Bollywood thriller. The details in the script, everything about this movie, is A-class. I differ with the writer about this being a baby step, this is a giant leap for a Bollywood thriller.”

No More St. Patty’s

And then Bridgit O’Neill’s 8 Million Stories column, “The (Bad) Luck of the Irish,” had a simple, yet sweet, sentiment: Bad boyfriend. Great ending! —Jennu

Soup’s Not Up

The “No Soup For You!” story (March 4- 10) continues to rile, with one person stating: “Quiet government decisions like this are why we need reporters—once people know what is going on, they can do something. Thank you for this piece—I hope it runs in more news organizations!”