The Real Crime
Just read the ArtsBeat column Witch Season in Cincinnati (issue of Oct. 18-24) and thought I would comment. I think Dr. Jonathan Tobias and Thomas Condon used art as a scapegoat.
I defend artists' right of expression etc, etc, etc., although I personally find this form of art disgusting. The problem here is the fact -- correct me if I'm wrong -- that these individuals took photographs of the deceased without permission from the family of the deceased. Therein lies the real crime, in my opinion. Had they obtained permission, I would be ready to defend their right of artistic expression.
I can't help but wonder how columnist Steve Ramos would feel if, while surfing the Internet or coming into possession of some underground rag, he suddenly viewed a picture of one of his deceased loved ones. Perhaps his father, mother, lover, wife or child? And no one had previously asked your permission to display these photos in the name of art.
-- Frank Gruber, Cincinnati
Beyond Belief
The recent case regarding Thomas Condon (Morbid Subject issue of Oct. 18-24) only serves to remind me of two previous ugly incidents here that continue to echo through our city. The first, of course, is the Mapplethorpe case, with all of its art-as-pornography issues. After a decade and a movie, Cincinnati still seems to have trouble with any art more conceptual than Elvis on black velvet.
Secondly, and more worrisome to me, is this case's similarity to The Enquirer and the banana king's legal battles. We were expected to believe then that the voice mail screwup was the work of one rogue reporter. Despite the testimony of several of the Hamilton County Coroner's employees, we're expected to believe that Dr. Jonathan Tobias acted without any cooperation or help.
At least in this case, we have the ability to vote Dr. Carl Parrot out of office in the next election.
-- Jeff Marks, Jeffrmarks@aol.com
Controlling the Citizens
I'd very much like to thank Steve Ramos for his concise and honest piece about Bill Davis' work being censored by the UC administration (Beauty's Loss at University of Cincinnati issue of Oct. 11-17).
Back in July you published a letter from me admonishing Ramos and CityBeat for becoming "boring and self-serving" in your reporting of the self-censorship that happened at the Esquire Theatre when they cut "five feet of footage" from a film in fear that its explicitness would invite prosecution from the county government. In that letter, I dared you to publish that "five feet of footage" to demonstrate that you had the courage and commitment to keep your focus on the real issue -- that the conditions of civil rights in Cincinnati, including the right to freedom of expression, are troubling at best.
By publishing Davis' censored photo, "Admonition," and writing a column that directly explains the context of the censorship, Ramos eloquently demonstrated the degree to which Cincinnati's social and political institutions attempt to control what we as citizens can and cannot think about. Please keep up the great work, as it's one of the only ways we're going to learn about how influenced and complacent we're becoming.
-- Peter White, Cincinnati
Politics and Emotions
I want to commend Gregory Flannery for an article well written (Did the U.S. Ask for It? issue of Sept. 20-26). I know the article is a few weeks old, but I just had the opportunity to read it.
He stuck to the politics of the story. I think that U.S. citizens are attaching emotions to something that politically we should have foreseen. I agree that the Cold War never truly ended, but that it was just swept under the rug so we could focus our attention to some other crisis of the moment.
Flannery didn't say anything that could be deemed heartless or cruel. He simply broke down the situation according to the paper trail.
-- Kate Crooks, CrooksK@amstan.com
Tell Her
Have you ever driven through the bad parts of Cincinnati? I mean, really? How many of you reading this have driven down Vine or Race streets and really taken a good look at what you drive by? I think not many.
The problems seen there aren't ones you want to deal with. They're not part of your world. But, I tell you, they're part of someone's world.
A girl, 10 years old, who tries to close a window curtained by a ripped plastic shower curtain. It's her problem. The two buildings next to her's are abandoned. Drugs live in those buildings. Vagrants live in those buildings. Criminals live in those buildings. But these aren't your problems.
Your problems are that the buildings you painted to look so nice three blocks from her have been attacked by deranged rioters. The places where you go to buy apples and cilantro, homegrown by farmers, are now dangerous to shop at. Let me remind you that the girl in front of the shower curtain doesn't know what cilantro is. All she knows is that she can't close the window where she lives. She doesn't have bars on her windows like some of the "better" buildings in the area. She lives on the first floor.
It isn't your problem that slum lords in that neighborhood make more money off buildings neglected and abandoned than they do buildings that house people who have no where else to go. Your problem is that some bum just asked you for 50 cents to go buy another bottle of booze while you where buying your homegrown fruit and cilantro. Just to let you know, the bum lives in that abandoned building two doors down from the girl. The building the bum lives in is owned by a man who gets a tax writeoff for the loss of profit of the building. Cincinnati has no laws that mandate the upkeep of that building. That building will stand forever, abandoned.
The little girl, trying to close her window, she has to go to school tomorrow. She has to walk past the drugs and crime in her neighborhood to get there. But it's not your problem.
Your problem is that your kid goes down to the corner two streets from where the girl lives to buy the drugs that will be used at a party your child is going to tonight. The drug dealer runs his shop from the floor above where the bum lives, two doors from that little girl who's trying to close her window.
Your problem is you want to fix all of these problems. You want to make it OK for that little girl. I know you do. It's human nature. You aren't cruel. You are kind. You plant flowers in her neighborhood. You buy homegrown fruit and cilantro three blocks from where she lives. You paint some of the buildings so that all the problems here will be fixed someday. You're making an effort. This isn't really your problem. You're the solution. Right?
Tell her that tonight, when she finally gets the window closed. When she sleeps and she hears the bums yowling in drunkenness. Tomorrow when she goes to school and the dealers ask her if she's buying or selling. Tell her how the flowers and the paint and the purchases of homegrown fruit and cilantro help. Then tell her that the building two doors down will still stand tomorrow and the tomorrow after that.
But it's not your problem. You're the solution.
-- H.A. Rhoades, travelrhoades@hotmail.com
