INSULTING YOURSELF

I am writing in response to Jeffrey Fields' letter (2/7) in response to
Patrick S. Charles' letter (1/24). I would like to add my retort.

First of all, by your facetious commendation of EW's readers, are you not
insulting yourself? Secondly, I think it's obvious that the point Mr.
Charles was trying to make was that our television-controlled culture is
oblivious to the power and thus evils of a small portion of the population
who are distinctively different from the rest of us. Furthermore, Mr.
Fields fails to recognize that comparing our political system to The Matrix
is valid because of the extreme state in which our apathy has found us.

We are not worthy of being compared to "more noteworthy films." The themes
represented in The Matrix directly reflects the state of our culture, which
affects the whole of humanity. If Yosemite Sam, hot off the lethal
injection wagon from Texas, can be our hero, then Keanu Reeves is a god.

Lastly, hemp liberation has more to do with sustainable resources than with
getting high. Where has Mr. Fields been sleeping that he can't see the
potential for hemp as an alternative to the slaughter of old-growth
forests, and the draining of petroleum, which may cause our destruction
faster than you can say Enron scandal? It's obvious that the legalization
and incorporation of industrialized hemp could quite possibly solve many of
the problems we face on this planet. That is reality, American or what have
you.

A word of advice for Mr. Fields: Turn off your TV, put down your
Register-Guard, and pick up a copy of The Emporer Wears No Clothes. It's a
start.

Heather Lorenz,
Eugene