Month: July 2011

July 28, 2011

I Watched “Sucker Punch” and Decided to Write About it Here

Currently I’m busy with work and writing for Gapers Block, which means that I don’t have much time or ideas for long posts for here. Sometimes, I do need a great motivation to constantly blog, like The Great 90’s Animated Film Project, which means I’m turning again to writing about movies here.

So tonight I bring you a time-delay blog post on Zack Snyder’s film Sucker Punch. (I don’t think it’s possible to really live blog unless you use software like Cover it Live.) Why would I want to watch Sucker Punch? Because otherwise Beginners is the worst film I’ve seen this year and it wasn’t even that bad, it just needed some work and more Christopher Plummer. Rather than give a deep analysis of the film, like I did for The Great 90’s Animated Film Project and Can’t Stop the Music, I’ve decided to just do the closest thing I can to live blogging the film.

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July 12, 2011

Anonymous Comments

I was informed last night that almost a year ago someone sharing the same IP address as I have sometimes used has anonymously written comments on the blog Confessions of a Chicago Theatre Addict. Because of the shared IP addresses, the writer of the blog, Robert Bullen, had been led to believe that I was posing as someone else in order to criticize his writing.

While there are multiple possibilities as to why someone might share the same IP address as the one that appeared when I commented, that is not the point of this post. The point is that I am deeply hurt that people would think I would stoop to such a low level as to hide behind anonymous commenting in order to criticize individuals, to draw attention to myself, or to start arguments with myself. I find anonymous commenting, particularly when using comments as a form of criticizing a writer, to be one of the greatest forms of cowardice and deeply unprofessional. After my own experiences with anonymous commenters, I am in favor of requiring people to connect their comments to Facebook or Twitter accounts in order to hold them more accountable for their actions. I would never hide behind an alias in order to attack someone or criticize them and would rather send them an email or discuss a matter over coffee. I am saddened people would jump to such a conclusion about me as a writer and a journalist because that does affect my credibility and integrity. If there is anyone else that has been led to believe I have attacked them anonymously, I am immensely sorry that you were led to believe this since it is something I would not do.

That being said, this is the second time in less than a month I have written on this blog about anonymous commenters on theater-related blogs. I am tired of writing about this topic because anonymous comments as a form of attacking a writer is something I deeply despise after my own experiences on this blog. I would like to think that the theater portion of the blogosphere is not as filled with vitriol as it tends to be, particularly in comments, but the past month has shown to me this is not the case.

As a result of my disdain for those who comment anonymously, I have decided to implement a new commenting policy for Fragments. Starting immediately, I will no longer approve comments in which a person does not use their full first and last name, unless their comment is linked to a WordPress blog. This applies to everyone, even members of my family and close friends. I have decided that if I am really annoyed by this, I should try to do something.

That is all. I will return to blogging about non-theater related topics next week because I’m in the middle of finals right now.

July 8, 2011

More On Mob Attacks

While the situation in Boystown keeps getting a bit crazier and more depressing, Milwaukee experienced mob violence in the Riverwest neighborhood on Monday evening. In the incidents, about 22 teenagers looted a BP convenience store, prior to about 11 people being assaulted and robbed in Reservoir Park. With this incident, there is surveillance video footage from the store posted online for people to possibly help identify the suspects. As of yesterday, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that eight teenagers have turned themselves in, although another article from the Journal Sentinel says that on Wednesday four teenagers had been cited for disorderly conduct, theft, and curfew violation after their mothers called the Milwaukee police. (For a perspective from a mother that reported her children, Milwaukee’s ABC affiliate, WISN, spoke to one*.)

Today, charges were made against one person in connection to the Boystown stabbing. A longer window of time has elapsed between Sunday’s stabbing and a person being charged than the incident in Riverwest and seven people being charged. There are quite a few differences between the incidents, including that Riverwest residents haven’t started a Facebook page, there are two different police forces involved here, and Milwaukee is a little more than a fourth the size of Chicago. Another interesting aspect is that with the Milwaukee violence, both Milwaukee Police Chief Edward Flynn and Mayor Tom Barrett were present at a community meeting and addressed the crowd.

Although my mother and sister live in the Milwaukee area and I visit there frequently, I know very little about Riverwest and among the things I do know, I can tell you that Lakefront Brewery has a lager named after the neighborhood. I can tell you more about the climate in Boystown because I used to patronize some businesses in that area. But first, a discussion on identity.
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July 5, 2011

Racism, Crime, and Facebook

You see these all over BoystownThere have recently been stabbings and attacks in the trendy Boystown area of Lakeview, which is home to several gay bars and the annual Pride Festival and Pride Parade. As a result of these attacks, some Boystown residents have taken to Facebook, creating a Facebook page with some blatant racist remarks. (Sample quote: “‎I’m not racist, but those black kids have got to go!”) I would have been completely oblivious to the Facebook page had it not been for a friend posting a link for the page on his Facebook profile, showing disgust.

Sunday night, a 25-year-old man was attacked and stabbed by a mob of young people in Boystown. The attack was recorded and posted on YouTube, although the video is attached to the Tribune article I linked to. Judging from that video, some of the assailants appear to African-American, although I can’t say that accurately say what the ethnicities of all the assailants are because of lighting, angles, and the quality of the video. My immediate thought after viewing the video is why some residents are jumping to the idea that African-American youths should not be welcomed in their neighborhood.

But first, some background.

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